Hearings can develop a record, test claims, expose implementation problems, and signal priorities. Witness selection and questioning also let majority and minority members frame the dispute publicly. Testimony informs legislation but does not amend the bill.

Markup is the committee's working session on legislative text. Members offer amendments, debate them, and vote on whether to order the measure reported. A committee may report a clean bill or substitute language, so the text leaving committee can differ substantially from the introduced proposal.

Look for verbs. Witnesses testify at a hearing; committee members amend and vote in markup. Neither stage substitutes for a chamber vote, and a favorable committee result still leaves scheduling, floor action, the other chamber, and presentment ahead.

Video lesson: Congressional Committees: Crash Course Government and Politics #7