During This Period, the Legislative Process Was at Its Most Ridiculous and Inscrutable

Congressional aids and the legislation sponsors privately finalized the text of the bill that would later become law. Out of dozens of bills passed the same day, the forced labor measure was the only one. Lawmakers who hadn't played the slightest role in the bill sought to score political points. Democratic leaders withheld republicans sounded alarms, anxious that democrats were stalling the measure and sending it into legislative purgatory.