Essential Question

What is the basic structure and organization of Congress as it represents the interests of the voters?

Congress:• Bicameral Legislature = Two Houses

– Senate (Upper House)

– 6 year terms

– House of Representatives (Lower House)

– 2 year terms

• Congressional term = two sessions (meetings)– Session: Lasts one year and includes

breaks for holidays and vacations.

House of Representatives:• 435 members: (Proportional Representation)

• California (53); Multiple States (1)

• Qualifications:

• 25 years old

• U.S. Citizen for 7 years

• Resident of state that elects them

• Census (Population Count):

• Every 10 years

• Representatives based on population

• Reapportionment: Each state’s population determines the number of representatives it will have for the next 10 years.

House of Representatives: (cont.)

Senate:• Composed of 100 members (2 per state)

- Equal Representation

• Qualifications:

• 30 years old

• U.S. Citizen for 9 years

• Resident of state that elects them

• Censure: Punish a member for disorderly conduct.

Congress:• 535 voting members:

• 100 Senators

• 435 Representatives.

Rules for Lawmaking• The House and Senate have organized

themselves in a way that will help them carry out their obligation to make the laws.

• House rules are aimed at defining the actions an individual representative can take.

• Committees of Congress perform most legislative activity.

• Representatives tend to specialize in issues that are important to their constituents—the people in the districts they represent.

Rules for Lawmaking (cont.)

• In each house, the majority party gets to select the leaders to control the flow of legislative work and appoint the chairs of all committees.

A. AB. BC. CD. D A B C D

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Who gets to select the leaders of the House and Senate?

A. the minority partyB. the Speaker of the

HouseC. the majority partyD. the president

House Leadership• Leaders of the House coordinate the work of

435 individual members by meeting six goals:

– organizing and unifying party members,

– scheduling work,

– making certain that lawmakers are present for key floor votes,

– distributing and collecting information,

– keeping the House in touch with the president, and

– influencing lawmakers to support their party’s positions.

• The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer and its most powerful leader.

• A caucus, or closed meeting, of the majority party chooses the House Speaker at the start of each session of Congress.

House Leadership (cont.)

• The Speaker has several powers, including:

– influencing proceedings by deciding which members to recognize first,

– appointing the members of some committees,

– scheduling bills for action and referring bills to the proper House committee, and

– following the vice president in the line of succession to the presidency.

House Leadership (cont.)

• The majority leader, the Speaker’s top assistant, is responsible for:

– helping plan the party’s legislative program,

– steering important bills through the House, and

House Leadership (cont.)

– making sure the chairpersons of the many committees finish work on bills that are important to the party.

• The majority leader is the floor leader of his or her political party in the House and is elected by the majority party.

• Majority whips and deputy whips are assistant floor leaders in the House.

House Leadership (cont.)

• The majority whip’s job is to monitor how majority-party members vote on bills.

• The minority party in the House elects its own leader and whip with responsibilities that parallel the duties of the majority party.

A. AB. BC. CD. D A B C D

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The presiding officer and most powerful leader of the House is

A. the majority leader.B. the president pro

tempore.C. the Speaker of the

House.D. the vice president.

Lawmaking in the House• A proposed law is called a bill until both

houses of Congress pass it and the president signs it.

• The Speaker of the House sends bills to the appropriate committee for review.

• Only 10 to 20 percent of bills ever get to the full House for a vote.

• Bills that survive the committee process are put on one of the House calendars, which list bills that are up for consideration.

• After a committee has considered and approved a major bill, it usually goes to the House Rules Committee.

• Major bills that reach the floor of the House do so by a special order from the Rules Committee.

Lawmaking in the House (cont.)

• The Rules Committee has the power to delay or block bills that representatives and House leaders do not want to come to a vote on the floor.

• A quorum is the minimum number of members needed for official legislative action.

• For a regular session, a quorum requires a majority of 218 members.

Lawmaking in the House (cont.)

A. AB. BC. CD. D A B C D

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The House calendar that deals with money issues is the

A. Discharge Calendar.B. Consent Calendar.C. Private Calendar.D. Union Calendar.

Content Vocabulary• president pro tempore• filibuster• cloture

Academic Vocabulary• specific• assistant• devote

Reading StrategyUse a graphic organizer like the one below to list the differences in the everyday operations of the House and the Senate.

A. AB. BC. C

A. yesB. noC. sometimes

Is employing a filibuster an effective way of preventing a bill from coming to a vote?

A B C

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The Senate at Work• The Senate deliberates, or formally

discusses, public policies.

• The vice president presides over the Senate but cannot vote except to break a tie.

• In the absence of the vice president, the president pro tempore—elected by the Senate from the majority party—presides.

• The Senate majority leader steers the party’s bills through the Senate and makes sure that party members attend important sessions and gets support for key bills.

• The Senate minority leader critiques the majority party’s bills and keeps his or her own party united.

The Senate at Work (cont.)

• The Senate brings bills to the floor by unanimous consent.

• To filibuster means to extend debate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote.

• A vote for cloture limits the debate by allowing each senator only one hour for speaking on a bill.

The Senate at Work (cont.)

• The majority party controls the flow of bills in the Senate.

A. AB. BC. C

How does a vote of cloture limit debate on the Senate floor?

A. It allows one senator to speak endlessly.

B. It prevents Senators from the minority party from speaking.

C. It allows each senator to speak for no more than one hour. A B C

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Purposes of Committees• 3 Purposes:

1. Divide work into smaller groups.

2. Committees determine the bills that receive further consideration.

3. Committees inform the public about key problems facing the nation through hearings and investigations.

4 Types of Committees:1. Standing committees: Permanent groups

that oversee bills that deal with certain kinds of issues.

• Subcommittees specialize in a subcategory of its standing committee’s responsibilities.

2. Select committees: Temporary committees that study one specific issue.

Kinds of Committees (cont.)

3. Joint committees: Made up of members from both the House and the Senate.

4. Conference committees: Temporary committees that are set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of a bill.

Choosing Committee Members• In Congress, the parties must assign members to the

standing committees.• Each member can only serve on two standing

committees/subcommittees• Chairpersons of standing committees:

Make key decisions about the work of committees Manage floor debates that take place on bills that

are created from their committee Generally, the member belonging to the Majority

party with the longest uninterrupted service on the committee is the Chair

Congressional Staff:Role:

1. Handle the growing workload of Congress

2. communicate with voters3. Run committee hearings and floor sessions4. Draft new bills, write committee reports

and attend committee meetingsGrowth:• Early 1900’s, lawmaking became more complex• Office staff deals with the many letters from

state and district constituents

Personal Staff• Personal staff: Work directly for individual

senators and representatives.• Committee staff: Work for House and Senate

committees.

Three Types of Personal Staff:1. Administrative assistant:

• Runs the lawmaker’s office

• Supervises the lawmaker’s schedule

• Gives advice on political matters.

2. Legislative assistants: • Keeps lawmaker informed about different bills

3. Caseworker:• Handles request for help from Constituents

Committee Staff• Committee chairperson and the senior

minority party member of a committee are in charge of committee staff members.

• Duties:

1. drafting bills

2. studying issues

3. planning committee hearings

4. writing memos and reports

Support Agencies1. The Library of Congress:

• Largest library in the world, containing more than 100 million books, music pieces, photos, etc.

2. The Congressional Budget Office: • Examines budget proposals submitted by the

president and projects the costs of proposed programs.

Support Agencies (cont.)

3. Government Accountability Office (GAO): • Manages the government programs

created by Congress. Collects government debts, settles claims, and provides legal service.

4. The Government Printing Office (GPO): • Does the printing for the entire federal

government, including the daily Congressional Record and the annual Statistical Abstract of the United States.