Unit 5: Congress If progress is the advancement of society,
what is congress? American Government
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Congress US CAPITOL BUILDING Legislative Branch makes laws
American Government
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Founders Intentions 1.Strongest branch 2.Separation of
lawmaking power from executive 3.Bicameralism balances large/small
states House more connected to people (2 yr term) Senate allows for
independent thinking (6 yr term) American Government
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Important Differences House 435 members 2 year term 7 year
citizen Initiate impeachment Revenue bills Strict debate rules 234
Republicans 201 Democrats Senate 100 members 6 year term 9 year
citizen Tries impeachment Approve presidential appointments Approve
treaties Loose debate rules American Government
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Constitutional Powers Article I, Section 8 To lay and collect
taxes, duties, imports To borrow money To regulate commerce (states
and foreign) To establish rules for naturalization To coin money To
create courts (except Supreme Court) To declare war To raise and
support an army and navy American Government
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Evolution of Powers Elastic clause has extended Congress powers
Oversight of budget can restrict the fed. budget prepared by
executive branch Appropriations set amount of money made available
for various activity in a fiscal year Investigation Congress can
launch investigations (Watergate, Clinton-Lewinski hearings,
Steroids in baseball) American Government
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Review How many members in the House? How many members in the
Senate? What are some Constitutional Powers that have been given to
Congress? What is the Elastic Clause?
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Leadership Majority party controls the most significant
leadership positions House - Speaker of the House Allows people to
speak on floor Assigns bills to committees Influences which bills
are brought to a vote Appoints members of special and select
committees Senate Majority Leader Schedules Senate business
Prioritizes bills American Government
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Who are this people? Senate President:Joe Biden (D) Senate
President:Joe Biden (D) Senate Pres. pro tem:Patrick Leahy (D)
Senate Pres. pro tem:Patrick Leahy (D) House Speaker:John Boehner
(R) House Speaker:John Boehner (R) Members:100 Senators 435
Representatives Senate Majority:Democratic PartyDemocratic Party
House Majority:Republican PartyRepublican Party
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Joe Biden
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Patrick Leahy
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John Boehner
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Whos in Congress? 110 th Congress (2007-2008) 85% Male 85%
White 40% Lawyers 109 th Congress (2005-2006) 29 accused of spousal
abuse 7 have been arrested for fraud 19 arrested for writing bad
checks 117 have bankrupted at least 2 businesses 8 have been
arrested for shoplifting In 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk
driving Right Now we are in the 113 th Congress American
Government
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Elections House members directly elected Senators directly
elected after 17 th Amendment House Incumbent advantage Why? Name
recognition Proven track record Franking privileges free mailing
American Government
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California Congressional Districts
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California 38 th District Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
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Representation Malapportionment unequal population in districts
Wesberry v. Sanders (1963) found unequal district pop.
unconstitutional 14 th amend Gerrymandering district boundaries are
redrawn in strange ways to make it easy for candidate of one party
to win Easley v. Cromartie (2001) redistricting for political
ideology was constitutional, led to increase in minority
representation American Government
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How A Bill Becomes a Law Create legislation, make laws Founders
believed in a SLOW process Founders believed efficiency was a trait
of an oppressive government American Government
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Step 1 Introduce Bill Introduced in Senate or House (except
tax) Single or multiple reps can introduce bill American
Government
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Step 2 - Committee 1.Bill is assigned to a particular committee
in its category (Ex. Tax bill Ways and Means Committee, Farm bill
Agriculture Committee) 2.Bill is then placed in sub-committee
3.Bills are debated and marked up 4.Most bills die in committee,
committee can vote to report out a bill American Government
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Step 3Rules Committee Before bill can go to floor in House, it
must first set time limits and amendment regulations. Closed rule
sets time limits, restricts amendments Open rule permits amendments
Restrictive rule permits some amendments American Government
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Step 4 Floor Debate Senate Debate Less formal, no speaking
limit Filibuster practice of stalling a bill w/ debate Cloture 3/5
of the Senate vote to stop debate House Debate More formal, no
filibuster, strict rules American Government
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Step 5 - Voting Majority passes If the bill passes, it must go
through the same process in the opposite chamber with a sponsor If
the bill passes one house and fails the other, it must start over
If the Senate and House cannot come to agreement over two versions,
it goes to Conference Committee to fix it and resubmit the bill
American Government
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Presidential Action Sign bill becomes law Veto bill returns to
origin Override 2/3 vote in both houses can override veto Pocket
Veto President has 10 days to act on a piece of legislation. If he
receives the bill within 10 days of the end of the Congressional
session, and doesnt sign, it dies American Government
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Override American Government
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Committees and Subcommittees Most real work happens here!!!!
Bills are passed, changed, ignored, or killed American
Government
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Types of Committees Standing committee handle bills in
different policy areas (ex. Appropriations, Agriculture, Armed
Services, Science, etc.) most important and have been standing
(existing) for a long time Select committee formed for specific
purposes and usually temporary run investigations (ex. Aging,
Intelligence) American Government
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Types of Committees Joint committee consist of both House and
Senate members similar in purpose to Select committee Meant to draw
attention to issues Conference committee consist of both House reps
and Senators formed to hammer out differences between House and
Senate versions of similar bills Congressional Committees and
SubcommitteesCongressional Committees and Subcommittees American
Government
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Committee Membership Controlled by majority party, committee
membership divided proportionally Committee Chairman Senior member
of committee Controls membership and debate American
Government
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Work of Committees 11,000 bills introduced yearly, most die
Committees can Report out favorably/unfavorably Pigeonholed/table
(do not discuss) Amend / mark up (change or rewrite) American
Government
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Congressional Caucuses Groupings of members pushing for similar
interests Ex. Sunbelt, Northeast-Midwest, Congressional Black,
Womens, Democratic Study Group, Boll Weevils, Steel American
Government
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Criticisms of Congress Pork aka pork-barrel legislation bills
to benefit constituents in hope of gaining their votes Logrolling
Congress members exchange votes, bills might pass for frivolous
reasons Christmas-tree bill bill with many riders (pork) in Senate,
no limit exists on amendments, so Senators try to attach riders
that will benefit their home state American Government
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Term-limits Debate No current limit on how many terms members
of Congress can serve 1.Some argue this has weakened popular
control of Congress, reps might be unresponsive to their
constituents 2.Some argue most experienced reps have the expertise
to bring home more benefits (pork, riders, etc.) American
Government
