A signing ceremony is a ceremony in which a bill passed by a legislature is signed (approved) by an executive, thus becoming a law.
Modern-day signing ceremonies are derived from ceremonies that occurred when the British monarch gave Royal Assent to acts of Parliament. Signing ceremonies are an aspect of American politics.
Signing ceremonies may be performed by state governors upon signing an act of the state legislature into law or may be performed by the President of the United States upon signing an act of Congress into law. The President often invites leaders from the Congress that were instrumental in the passage of the bill as well as interested members of the community. One practice is to use several pens and honor individuals by giving them the pens used in the signing ceremony.
Signing ceremonies are associated with acts that are viewed as legislative triumphs for the executive. Conversely, laws that are passed reluctantly or are controversial are often signed into law quietly and privately without any public ceremony.
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Famous quotes containing the word ceremony:
“Friends, both the imaginary ones you build for yourself out of phrases taken from a living writer, or real ones from college, and relatives, despite all the waste of ceremony and fakery and the fact that out of an hour of conversation you may have only five minutes in which the old entente reappears, are the only real means for foreign ideas to enter your brain.”
—Nicholson Baker (b. 1957)