First, it is possible to search for proposed federal legislation here: https://www.congress.gov.
For details on the status of proposed federal legislation this is the link: https://www.govtrack.us and https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/#find.
For example, a search for “Peace,” would bring up one potential law: H.R. 1111: Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2021.
Govtrack.us has a page for each “Congressional Bill” (which means a proposed federal law).
The webpage for H.R. 1111 is https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr1111. It shows basic information about this Congressional Bill.
- Sponsor: Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA13]
- Introduced
- Feb 18, 2021
- Cosponsors 28 (28D)
- Prognosis 3%
The link about H.R. 1111’s cosponsors says the “bill has 28 cosponsors — 28 Democrats — not including its sponsor.” (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr1111/cosponsors)
If there are so many cosponsors, why are the odds of this law passing only 3%?
By clicking on the (details) link, further detail about the odds of this law passing is available:
Rep. Barbara Lee’s press release about H. R. 1111 is here: https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-renews-call-for-department-of-peacebuilding.
“Prognosis Details – this bill has a 3% chance of being enacted. Factors considered: The bill’s primary sponsor is a Democrat. The bill is assigned to the House Oversight and Reform committee. The bill’s primary subject is Government operations and politics. (Factors are based on correlations which may not indicate causation.) Predictions are by Skopos labs.”
By reading through the cosponsors link, it is possible to see that H.R. 1111 has two Massachusetts cosponsors:
1) Rep. Ayanna Pressley. Congresswoman Pressley represents Massachusetts’s 7th District. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/ayanna_pressley/412782).
2) Rep. James “Jim” McGovern, Representative for Massachusetts’s 2nd congressional district. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/james_mcgovern/400263).
Interestingly, the concept of establishing a Department of Peace within the United States Government goes back to 1793 and has had numerous supporters since then. Source: “Department of Peace – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Peace.
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