“The Do-Nothing Congress” Congress returned to session in mid September after 5 weeks away from...
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Congress
“The Do-Nothing Congress” Congress returned to session in mid September after 5 weeks away from Washington Lawmakers only have a limited amount of time
The Do-Nothing Congress Congress returned to session in mid
September after 5 weeks away from Washington Lawmakers only have a
limited amount of time to debate and vote on legislation before
dealing with their next big challenge WHAT EVENT IS HAPPENING IN
NOVEMBER THAT COULD AFFECT CONGRESS?
Slide 3
Upcoming Election Stakes are high: Who currently controls the
House? Who currently controls the Senate? According to a CNN poll
83% of Americans don't approve of the way Congress is working A
stunning 65% believe it to be the worst Congress of "their
lifetime"
Slide 4
Who is on the PA Ballot? Governor and Lt Governor Incumbent:
Tom Corbett (Rep.) and Jim Cawley Running: Tom Wolf (Dem.) and Mike
Stack House of Reps Republican party currently holds 13/18
seats
Slide 5
What Congressional District do you live in?
Slide 6
District 6 Current: Jim Gerlach (Rep.) Has been in office since
2003 Retiring in 2014 Candidates: Ryan Costello (R) ~ Chester
County Commissioner, Attorney, Ex-Chester County Recorder of Deeds
Ryan Costello (R) Manan Trivedi (D) ~ Primary Care Physician, Iraq
War Veteran, 2010/2012 Nominee Manan Trivedi (D)
Slide 7
What can Congress do in a month? House Speaker Boehner (R-Ohio)
advised GOP lawmakers expect a brief, but busy session with the key
agenda item being the must-pass short- term funding bill to keep
the government running until early December Current funding runs
out Sept. 30 Congress is on track to extend it until a post-
election session where control of the U.S. Senate will determine
what happens next
Slide 8
What can Congress do in a month? Entitlement reform Critical if
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are to remain secure
Mandatory testing in schools impacted by NCLB Raising minimum wage
Immigration Balance between border security and being a nation that
helps those seeking a better life
Slide 9
Read through section 1 of your textbook (pg. 136-139) Answer
the questions on your worksheet (skip over How did we get here) On
the back of your paper, answer the following questions as well:
Which 5 states have the most members in the House of Reps? (pg.
137) Which 5 states have the fewest members in the House of Reps?
What might have happened if the House of Reps had never been formed
and we only had a Senate?
Slide 10
Bicameral Legislature Lawmaking body consisting of two houses:
House of Representatives and Senate How did we get there? Virginia
Plan: Bicameral legislature with houses based off population
(larger states preferred) New Jersey Plan: Bicameral legislature
with houses based off a set number of representatives per state
(smaller states preferred) Connecticut Compromise: THE GREAT
COMPROMISE- One house (House of Representatives) uses population
data, the other uses a set number (Senate)
Slide 11
What are the benefits of having a bicameral legislature?
Slide 12
Benefits of a Bicameral Legislature Typically represent larger
countries Why? Prevent flawed/biased/reckless legislation from
being passed How? Provide enhanced oversight/control of the
Executive Branch How?
Slide 13
Unicameral Legislature Unicameral Legislatures are often found
in unitary systems of government Tend to be geographically smaller
What are some advantages of having a unicameral legislature (1
legislative body)?
Slide 14
Benefits of having a unicameral legislature Advantages:
Legislation can be proposed and passed quickly Fewer elected
officials for the population to monitor Fewer competing political
interests Greater accountability since legislators cannot blame the
other chamber
Slide 15
Bicameral Legislatures in practice: UK The United Kingdom has a
bicameral legislature. House of Commons (central lawmaking body)and
the House of Lords The members of the British House of Commons are
elected by citizens and serve maximum terms of 5 years The House of
Lords comprises members who acquired their positions either through
inheritance or through royal appointment to life terms Have
diminished legislative power Still maintains a platform from which
it can raise public awareness of policy issues What are pros/cons
of having a House of Lords?
Slide 16
Bicameral Legislatures in practice: Canada The House of Commons
possesses most of the political power The Senate has considerable
power to investigate social and policy questions and to revise
legislation. Like the U.S. Senate, the Canadian upper house uses a
regional apportionment system for equal representation However, the
system was modeled on demographics present in 1867 Severely
underrepresents the newer provinces, that now boast some of Canadas
largest and most commercially successful cities. The Senate no
longer reflects current demographics. Senators were initially
appointed for life, but have been required to retire at the age of
75
Slide 17
Unicameral Legislatures in practice: Costa Rica Has a tradition
of free, democratic elections dating to 1889 Because of a previous
history of authoritarianism, Costa Rica has instituted many
precautions aimed at curtailing the concentration of power
Political power is diffused by a constitutional provision that
prohibits both the president and members of the Legislative
Assembly from seeking reelection to consecutive terms. Prevents one
party from dominating the Assembly A tendency of unicameral
legislatures
Slide 18
US House Background Elections held every even-numbered year
(ie: 2012, 2014) All members have 2 year terms If a member dies or
resigns during his term, the governor of the home state is required
to call a special election to fill the vacancy In some states, the
governor appoints a new representative What could be a problem
here?
Slide 19
Requirements for the House Be at least 25 years old Been a US
citizen for at least 7 years Be a legal resident of the state you
represent Not necessary to live in district you run in Question:
How does the residency requirement play a role in politics?
Explain.
Slide 20
US House of Representatives Based off population but each state
must have at least 1 representative District of Columbia, Guam,
American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands have one delegate who
cannot vote IS THIS FAIR?
Slide 21
House of Representatives Consists of 435 members Why 435 ?
1789: 65 reps in the House (one for every 30,000 people) Over time
change needed due to added population 1911: Limit to be 435
Slide 22
How does the 435 get divided? Apportioned (distributed by
population) Each state gets a number appropriate to it from census
data If population increases, you may acquire seats If population
decreases, you may lose seats
Slide 23
Each state is divided into districts based off population
Slide 24
Slide 25
Which states have the most seats? Which states have the fewest
seats?
Slide 26
Gerrymandering Drawing district lines that favor a particular
political party, politician, group, etc. Ie: PA elects 18 House
membershas to be divided into 18 congressional districts Process is
controlled by the majority party in the state legislature
Intentionally used to benefit a particular political party help
that party win more seats Goal: create many districts that will
elect members of one party, and only a few that will elect members
of the opposite party
Slide 27
Gerrymandering
Slide 28
To review The idea behind gerrymandering is pretty simple:
Redistricting to gain a party advantage You pack your opponents'
supporters together into very few districts. Then you make other
districts relatively more balanced but you place enough of your
supporters in most of them to give you an advantage.
Slide 29
Gerrymandering, again
Slide 30
Drawn by Republicans in 2010 (more Republicans in Congress for
PA) Lets take a look at gerrymandering in PA
Slide 31
Gerrymandering at work
Slide 32
Senate Two Senators from each state Six year terms Elections
held each even-numbered year Thus, 1/3 of Senate comes up for
election every 2 years Ensures 2/3 have experience If someone dies,
governors appoint member until next regular election or state has a
special election
Slide 33
Requirements for the Senate Be at least 30 years old Been a US
citizen for at least 9 years Be a legal resident of the state you
represent
Slide 34
Are these requirements fair? House of Reps At least 25 years
old A US citizen for at least 7 years A legal resident of the state
you represent Senate At least 30 years old A US citizen for at
least 9 years A legal resident of the state you represent Should
they be changed?
Slide 35
What are the differences between the House and Senate?
Similarities? Use pages 136-142, and your notes, to fill in this
chart to the best of your ability
Slide 36
Differences between House and Senate Add anything new to your
charts
Slide 37
Explaining Term Lengths
Slide 38
Gerrymandering Activity
Slide 39
Differences between House and Senate
Slide 40
Annual Salaries of Congress Members How much do you think
Congress gets paid? How much SHOULD Congress get paid?
Slide 41
Congress in General Salary: $174,000 Members get an allowance
to pay staff members as well Provided offices in Capitol Free trips
to home state Allowances for local offices Franking privilege:
right to mail letters or packages for free Leaders in each chamber
receive extra compensation
Slide 42
Congress (continued) Immunity when Congress is in session
Cannot be arrested in or on their way to or from a meeting in
Congress Reason: not unnecessarily kept from performing their
duties Exempted from arrest or interrogation for any speech or
debate entered into during a legislative session Rules of Conduct
Limits on outside income and full disclosure of finances Can
challenge qualifications of newly elected members
Slide 43
Can our Reps be punished? Expulsion: Person must give up seat
in Congress Requires a 2/3 vote Only for very serious offenses Only
happened 20 times (5 in House; 15 in Senate) Last House member in
2002 (James Traficant) Last Senate member in 1862 (Jesse D. Bright)
Many times expulsion votes fail or person in question resigns John
Ensign of Nevada in 2011
Slide 44
Can our Reps be punished? Censure: Formal disapproval of
actions Must stand alone at front of House/Senate and listen as the
charges are read Censures: 9 in Senate, 23 in House Last one in
2010: Charles Rangel of New York
Slide 45
Review from yesterday: Congressional Salaries
Slide 46
Slide 47
Delegated Powers (again) Article I, Section 8: Powers delegated
to Congress Financing Government Regulating and Encouraging
American Trade/Industry Defending the Country Creating Lower
Courts: National Court System Providing for Growth
Slide 48
Financing Our Government Borrowing Money Collecting Taxes
Printing and Coining Money Spending for Programs
Slide 49
Regulating Trade Domestically Trade between states (interstate
commerce) Laws to protect rights of inventors (patents, trademarks,
copyrights, etc.) Internationally Tariffs and embargoes Trade with
foreign nations
Slide 50
Defending Our Country Declaration of War Only Congress can do
this! Have we had times when we fought without declaring war?
Maintaining armed forces, regulating use of troops Approval of
Treaties
Slide 51
Providing for Growth Regulation of Immigration/Naturalization
Govern US territories, national parks, naval bases, etc. Provide
admission for new states Acquire lands War, eminent domain,
treaties, purchase or gift, etc.
Slide 52
Implied Powers The elastic clause make all laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing
powers Stretches Congressional role to many other areas Examples:
Military academies and draft (necessary to ensure defense of US),
minimum wage (regulation of commerce)
Slide 53
Special Powers by Chamber House Starts revenue bills Impeach
public officials Chooses president if electoral majority not
reached Senate Impeachment trials Vice president if no VP candidate
gets enough votes Treaties approved with 2/3 vote Supreme Court
justices approved by majority vote
Slide 54
Impeachment Read through the article on impeachment Summarize
the main point of each section What can the president be impeached
for? Whats the formal procedure for impeachment proceedings? After
impeachment, what happens in the Senate?
Slide 55
Impeachment Impeachment: accuse an officeholder of misconduct
If guilty, they may be removed from office Charges drawn up in
House Majority votes in favor of charges, official is impeached
Senate will then hear trial with vice president acting as the judge
(exception: presidential impeachment, when the chief justice
presides over hearing) If 2/3 of Senate finds accused guilty, they
may be dismissed from office
Slide 56
Presidents up for impeachment Andrew Johnson Richard NixonBill
Clinton
Slide 57
Review from yesterday What does impeachment mean? How many
presidents have been impeached? What was each mans outcome?
Describe the process of impeachment
Slide 58
What Congress Cant Do Infringe on Reserved Powers to States
(which amendment?) Regulate elections, create schools, establish
marriage laws, etc. No ex post facto laws (laws that apply to
actions that occurred before laws were passed) No bills of
attainder (sentence people to prison without trial)
Slide 59
What Congress Cant Do No passing laws that violate Bill of
Rights No favoring trade of a specific state No titles of nobility
No suspending writ of habeas corpus (cannot remove right to a court
order)
Slide 60
Slide 61
Term of Congress begins at noon on January 3 rd of every odd
numbered year 113 th Congress will go from 2014-2015 Constitution
requires Congress to meet at least once each year Terms and
Sessions
Slide 62
Congress divided into two sessions, one for each year of the
term Begins on January 3 rd unless Congress proposes another date
When legislative work is done, both houses adjourn and the session
is ended The president may call them back into a special session
after they have adjourned (this would occur for a serious problem
only, ie: Hurricane Katrina) Sessions of Congress
Slide 63
Normally, the Senate and House work as two separate entities
However, there are times both of them meet together in a joint
session Example: President gives State of the Union address All
members of Congress meet in the House chamber to hear the
Presidential speech Example: Visiting leaders Example: 9/11 Joint
Sessions
Slide 64
Under the Constitution House of Reps must select a presiding
officer Speaker of the House Vice President of the United States is
the president of the Senate Senate must have someone selected to
serve in the absence of the Vice President President Pro Tempore
Organization
Slide 65
Caucuses: Private meetings in which each party selects leaders
Occurs on the first day of each term of Congress Democratic party
chooses their own leaders Republican party chooses their own
leaders Majority party: political party with the most members in
each house Minority party: political party that has fewer members
Question: What are the minority and majority parties of our houses
today? How do we decide the leaders?
Slide 66
Vice president does not usually preside over daily meetings,
thus majority party selects the president pro tempore Literally
means for the time being Presides over day-to-day meetings Each
party has a leader who is assisted by a party whip Whip counts
votes, encourages party loyalty, and ensures that the partys
members are present for important votes Senate
Slide 67
Speaker of the House presides over the House when it is in
session Always a member of majority party Most powerful officer of
the House No member may speak until recognized by Speaker Speaker
influences the order of business in the House House also has
majority/minority leaders and whips House of Representatives
Slide 68
Committees meet to consider legislation and hold hearings Each
committee has a chairperson and ranking member Chairperson:
majority party Ranking Member: minority party Usually the longest
serving member of the minority party represented is named Ranking
Member Subcommittees: smaller groups that consider legislation
before it is looked at by full committee Committees
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
How a Bill Becomes a Law
Slide 72
History of the Filibuster
Slide 73
Basic Definitions (continued) Veto: President rejecting a bill
passed by Congress May be overridden by a 2/3 vote in both houses
Pocket veto President does not sign or veto bill within 10 days and
Congress is NOT in session Note: If Congress is in session and bill
sits on desk, it automatically becomes law
Slide 74
The Actual Process
Slide 75
Step-by-Step A bill is introduced in either the House or Senate
Exception: Appropriation Bill must be in House Bill assigned
letters and numbers to denote it (Ie: HR1215) HR=House of Reps
1215=Place among bills introduced during current session Once bill
is introduced, it is printed in the Congressional Record
(publication of daily proceedings in Congress)
Slide 76
Committee Process Once proposed, bill goes to standing
committee Permanent Congressional committee that meets regularly
Bill goes to committee based on subject (ex. Agriculture) May be
referred to subcommittee for review Actions in committee Set aside
and essentially killed Hearings: witnesses for and against bill to
help committee recommend accepting, rejecting, or changing the
current bill After the hearing, committee can pass as is, change
and pass, or kill the bill
Slide 77
House Actions Placed on House calendar and Speaker decides when
bill will reach floor for debate Before debating bill, House Rules
Committee decides how much time will be allotted for bill Evenly
distributed between supporters and opponents of the bill Amendments
to bill may be proposed at this time but must be relevant to the
bill
Slide 78
House (continued) Committee of the Whole: Entire House acts as
one big committee debating bills in some cases Amendments may be
offered, debates taken for short time, then a vote on the amendment
When discussion on amendments and bill is complete, vote is
taken
Slide 79
Rules for voting in the House Quorum needed for House to
conduct business Majority of the members present Majority needed to
pass a bill in most cases Roll-call votes for important bills Each
members name is called and their vote is recorded
Slide 80
Senate Same steps as House: presented, committee,
recommendations/amendments, committee vote, floor debate, floor
vote Differences No limit to debate on bills, thus speeches may
last long time To prevent a vote in some cases, Senators will
threaten to speak for hours to talk the bill to death Known as a
filibuster
Slide 81
Senate (continued) Debate can be limited however 3/5 vote of
the full Senate can limit time on debate, ending the ability to
filibuster Cloture: procedure for ending debate in Senate and
taking the vote
Slide 82
Bill Passed BothNow What? If bills have any difference,
conference committee occurs Equal number of Senators and
Representatives who work to reach a compromise on the bill
Compromise sent back to both houses to be voted upon Once passed,
sent to the desk of the president
Slide 83
President and the Bill Sign bill into law Refuse to sign bill
(veto); Sent back to Congress with reasons as to why it was
rejected Pocket Veto ***VETOES CAN BE OVERRIDDEN WITH A 2/3
VOTE
Slide 84
Basic Definitions Review: Bill: Proposed Law Appropriation
Bill: Bill Approving the spending of money Note: Appropriations
bills MUST begin in House of Reps Filibuster: Method of delaying a
vote in Senate by using lengthy speeches Cloture: Legislative
procedure for ending debate in Senate and taking a vote
Slide 85
Sources of Law Ideas Citizens: Only if they speak up! Groups:
Businesses and influence groups Congressional Committees Members of
Congress President: Often during State of Union Address
Slide 86
Extension Activity- 15 points Take some time to create your own
law Once written down, give your law to one classmate (House of
Reps/Senate) They can approve, amend, or veto your law They must
write what they decide to do on your paper and sign it Next, give
your law to another classmate (House of Reps/Senate) They can
approve, amend, or veto your law Thy must write what they decide to
do on your paper and sign it Finally, give your law to one final
classmate (President) They either approve or veto your law They
must write what they decide to do on your paper and sign it
Slide 87
Name the following: Vice President: President Pro Tempore:
Senate Majority Leader: Senate Minority Leader: Senate Whips:
Speaker of the House: House Majority Leader: House Minority Leader:
House Whips:
Slide 88
Vice President: Joe Biden President Pro Tempore: Patrick Leahy
Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid Senate Minority Leader: Mitch
McConnell Senate Whips: Richard Durbin (D) and John Kyl (R) Speaker
of the House: John Boehner House Majority Leader: Kevin McCarthy
(R) House Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D) House Whips: Steny
Hoyer (D) and Steve Scalise (R)
Slide 89
Remainder of Class Explain the significance of each term to the
legislative branch: (This will count as 2 extra points toward your
chp test) Bicameral legislature Apportioned Gerrymandering Immunity
Expulsion Censure Caucuses President pro tempore Elastic clause
Impeach Appropriation bill Filibuster Cloture Veto