U.S. Government Chapter 12

Congress in Action

Section 1: Congress Organization

• Congress begins a new term every two years on January 3 of every odd numbered year; follows the general elections in November.

Opening Day in the House

• Every other January, 435 House members who have been elected come together at the Capitol to begin a new term.

• All seats are up for election every two years

• Representatives choose a Speaker of the House; the Speaker is a long standing member of the majority party and election on the floor is only a formality. The majority party’s members in the House have settled the matter beforehand.2014 Speaker of House: John

Boehner (bay ner) Rep. OH

Democrats take their seats to the right of the center aisle; the Republicans to the left.

The House then elects its clerk, parliamentarian, sergeant at arms, chief administrative officer, and chaplain. None of these people are members of the House, and their elections are a formality; again, the majority party has already decided the matter.

Then they adopt the rules that will govern its proceedings through the term

Finally, members of the 20 permanent committees of the House are appointed by a floor vote.

House of Representatives Continued….

Above: House of Representatives is currently under a Republican majority.

Below: Number of Representatives each state has in the House. Remember, this number is determined by population.

Opening Day in the Senate

• The Senate is a continuous body; it has been organized without interruption since its first session in 1789

• Only 1/3 of the seats are up for election every two years; 2/3 of the Senate’s membership is carried over from one term to the next

State of the Union Message

• Within a few weeks of the organization of the House; the Senate and the House inform the President that a quorum of each House is assembled and that the Congress is ready to receive any communication he may wish to give.

• Within a few weeks, in late January or early February, the President delivers the annual State of the Union message to a joint session of Congress.

• In the address, the President reports on the state of the nation as he or she sees it, in both domestic and foreign policy terms.

Presiding OfficersThe Constitution provides for the presiding officers of each house of Congress –

the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.

Speaker of the House

• More important and more powerful, within the halls of Congress, than the President of the Senate

• Two main duties: preside and to keep order

• No member may speak until he or she is recognized by the Speaker

• Interprets and applies the rules, refers bills to committee, rules on points of order, puts motions to a vote, and decides the outcome of most votes taken on the floor of the House

• The Speaker of the House follows the Vice President in the line of succession to the presidency

The President of the Senate

• The Constitution makes the Vice President the President of the Senate

• Unlike the House, the Senate does NOT choose its own presiding officer and the Senate’s President is not a member of that body

• Powers: recognize members and put questions to a vote

• The Vice President (President of the Senate) cannot take the floor to speak or debate and may vote ONLY to break a tie

• To the left: President of the Senate and Vice President Joe Biden (Dem.)

Senate’s President Pro Tempore

• Another presiding officer who serves in the Vice President’s absence.

• The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate itself and is always a leading member of the majority party – usually its longest serving member

• The President pro tempore (pro tem) follows the Speaker of the House in the line of presidential succession

• To the right: Current President pro tempore – Patrick Leahy (Dem. VT)

The Party Caucus

• Is a closed meeting of the members of each party in each house

• Mostly deals with matters related to party organization, such as the selection o the party’s floor leaders and questions of committee membership.

• It sometimes takes stands on particular bills

The Floor Leaders

• Next to the Speaker, the floor leaders in the House and Senate are the most important officers in Congress

• Floor leaders are legislative strategists

• Majority Leader: floor leader of the party that holds the majority of seats in each house of Congress

• Minority Leader: floor leader of the party that holds the minority of seats in each house of Congress

• Both are assisted by Party Whips: serve as a liaison between the party’s leadership and the members. They are assistants to the floor leaders.

Committee Chairmen

• Most of the work done in Congress is done in committee.

• Committee chairmen: head the standing committees in each chamber; always ranking members of the majority party

Standing Committee Examples:Senate: Agriculture Commerce Education Human Resources Transportation House: Agriculture Education Labor Veterans Affairs

Seniority Rule

• Unwritten custom

• Provides that the most important posts in Congress, in both the formal and the party organizations, will be held by those party members with the longest records of service.

• Criticism of the Seniority Rule: ignores ability, rewards mere length of service and works to discourage younger members.

• Defenders of the Seniority Rule: argue that it ensures that a powerful and experienced member will head each committee

Section 2: Committees in Congress

Standing Committees

• There are 20 standing committees in the House and 16 in the Senate today

• Consider bills and play an integral part in the lawmaking process

• Each House committee has from 10 – 75 members.

• Each Senate committee has from 10 – 28 members

• Most standing committees are divided into subcommittees where the work is divided up

• House Rules committee: It controls the flow of bills to the floor and sets the conditions for their consideration. “Traffic Cop”

Select Committees

• Sometimes called special committees

• They are panels set up for some specific purpose and most often for a limited time

• Sometimes they are formed to investigate a current issue, as the Senate’s Select Committee on Indian Affairs

Joint and Conference Committees

• Composed of members of both houses

• Some joint committees are investigative in nature and issue periodic reports to the House and Senate. Ex: Joint committee on Taxation

• A temporary example of a joint committee would be the Conference committee which is put into effect during the passing of a bill

Section 3: Making Law: The House

• From 6,000 – 9,000 bills and resolutions are introduced in the House and Senate during each session of Congress

• Less than 10% become law• There are two types of bills:

public and private; Public bills: are measures applying to the nation as a whole. Private bills: are measures that apply to certain persons or places rather than to the entire nation

• Most bills are pigeonholed: buried and die in committee

How a Bill Becomes a Law

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FFroMQlKiag

*Click on link below*

Section 4: Making Law: The Senate

• Filibuster: an attempt to talk a bill to death. It is a stalling tactic by which a minority of senators seeks to delay or prevent Senate action on a measure.

The President Acts

The Constitution requires that bills and resolutions be sent to the President after they have passed both houses of Congress. The President then has four options at this point:

1. Sign and the bill becomes law

2. Veto the bill. Bill then is returned to the house in which it originated together with the President’s objections

3. Allow the bill to become law without signing; by not acting on it within 10 days, not counting Sundays, of receiving it

4. Pocket veto: if congress adjourns its session within 10 days of submitting a bill to the President, and the President does not act, the measure dies