"I'm Just a Bill [Schoolhouse Rock]" by Jack Sheldon

}} {Woof! You sure gotta climb a lotta steps to get to this
Capitol
}} Building here in Washington! But I wonder who that sad
little
}} scrap of paper is?}

I'm just a bill,
Yes, I'm only a bill,
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city,
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law someday...
At least I hope and pray that I will,
But today I'm still just a bill.

}} {Gee, bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and
courage!}
{Well I got *this* far. When I started, I wasn't even a
*bill* - I
was just an idea. Some folks back home decided they wanted a
law
passed, so they called their local congressman and he
'You're right,
there ought to be a law.' Then he sat down and wrote me out
and
introduced me to Congress, and I became a bill. And I'll
remain a
bill until they decide to make me a law.}

I'm just a bill,
Yes I'm only a bill,
And I got as far as Capitol Hill.
Well now I'm stuck in committee
And I sit here and wait
While a few key congressmen
Discuss and debate
Whether they should
Let me be a law...
Oh how I hope and pray that they will,
But today I am still just a bill.

}} {Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that
discussion and
}} debate about you?}
{Yes. I'm one of the lucky ones. Most bills never even get
this far.
I hope they decide to report on me favourably, otherwise I
may die.}
}} {'Die?'}
{Yeah: die in committee. Oooh! But it looks like I'm gonna
live.
Now I go to the House of Representatives and they vote on
me.}
}} {If they vote 'yes', what happens?}
{Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over
again.}
}} {Oh no!}
{Oh yes!}

I'm just a bill,
Yes I'm only a bill,
And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill,
Well then I'm off to the White House
Where I'll wait in a line
With a lot of other bills
For the President to sign.
And if he signs me then I'll be a law...
Oh, how I hope and pray that he will,
But today I am still just a bill.

}} {You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a
law, the
}} President can still say no?}
{Yes, that's called a 'veto'. If the President vetoes me, I
have to
go back to Congress, and they vote on me again, and by that
time
it's...}
}} {By that time, it's very unlikely that you'll *become* a
law! It's
}} not easy to become a law, is it?}

No! But how I hope and I pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill!

}} {He signed you, bill! Now you're a law!}
{Oh yes!}


Notes:
Words in "{}" brackets are spoken. 
Words prefaced by "}}" are sung by back-up singers (anyone
other than the lead singer). 
Words in "[]" brackets are sung by back-up singers
simultaneously with whatever the lead is singing. 
Words bracketed by "%" are questionable -- just can't quite
figure them out...