Define term.

1. Define term. The date for the start of each new term has been set by the Twentieth Amendment (1933) as “noon of the 3d day of January” of every odd-numbered year.

2. Session • The period of time, during which each year, Congress assembles and conducts business. • We are currently in the 113th Congress. • There are two sessions to each term.

3. Sessions of Congress • Congress adjourns,or suspends until the next session, each regular session as it sees fit. • If necessary, the President has the power to prorogue, or adjourn, a session, but only when the two houses cannot agree on a date for adjournment. • Only the President may call Congress into a special session—a meeting to deal with some emergency situation

4. The US House of Representatives 113th Members

5. Reapportionment Article I of the Constitution directs Congress to reapportion—redistribute—the seats in the House after each decennial census. • The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the “permanent” size of the House at 435 members, and provided for “automatic reapportionment.”

6. Congressional Elections Single member district Election At-large Election All voters from the State(rather than a district) vote for the officer. Example: Senators are elected by all voters from the State. These types of elections some say are unfair. 1842 Congress did away with the (general ticket system.) at-large election. • The voter’s in each district elect one of the State’s representatives from among a field of candidates. • Most states use this process.

7. Gerrymandering • Drawing districts in a way that is advantageous to the State legislature’s controlling party. • Gerrymandering is not just used in congressional district levels. • Reasons to gerrymander: • To concentrate the opposition’s voters in one or a few districts. • To spread the opposition as thinly as possible among several districts.

11. Georgia Map Georgia Statistics

12. "Georgia is nearly 50 percent Democratic and (the Republican majority) diminished our voting strength to 32 percent through gerrymandered maps." Nikema Williams on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013 in a party press release

13. 3-2-1 • Reapportionment • a. What article gives Congress the power to reapportion? • b. What act set up the permanent size of the House? • c. How many members make up the permanent size of the House? • What are the two types of Congressional elections ? • Which type of election is used the most? • What is one advantage of gerrymandering?

14. Qualifications for House Members • The Constitution says that a member of the House must meet these formal qualifications. • 1. • 2. • 3. • Members must live in the district from which elected is a long standing custom not a formal qualification.

15. Informal Qualifications • These qualifications have to do with the candidates vote getting abilities. • Party identification • Name familiarity • Gender • Ethnic characteristics • Political experience

16. Wesberry v. Sanders • P. 271 • What was the court decision?

17. Membership Privileges • Members of Congress are immune from arrest for noncriminal offenses while engaged in congressional business. • More importantly, the Speech and Debate Clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 1) protects representatives and senators from suits for libel or slander arising from their official conduct.

18. NonLegislative Powers