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C o n g r e s s

C o n g r e s s. A republic , not direct democracy. Plenty O’ Committees. Standing Committees : handle a specific policy area, such as commerce, agriculture, or energy; each committee often is divided into subcommittees .

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C o n g r e s s

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  1. Congress

  2. A republic, not direct democracy

  3. Plenty O’ Committees • Standing Committees: handle a specific policy area, such as commerce, agriculture, or energy; each committee often is divided into subcommittees. • Joint Committees: responsible for legislation that overlaps policy areas; both Congressman and Senators. • Conference Committees: iron out the differences between House and Senate versions of a bill; both Congressman and Senators. • Select Committees: appointed to handle a specific issue, such as 9/11 or impeachment. • Most Powerful Committees: House Rules Committee, House Ways & Means, Senate Finance, House and Senate Appropriations, Senate Energy & Commerce. NPR : Democratic Leaders Cool to Bush Budget

  4. Congressional Committee Materials Online via GPO Access

  5. The House • Members tend to vote along Party lines- more partisan than the Senate. • Power is usually hierarchical. • Revenue Bills and Draft must originate in the House. • Pass articles of Impeachment.

  6. The Senate • Power is more evenly distributed- Senators serve on more committees. • Act more independently of their Parties. • Approve presidential nominees, ratify treaties, try impeached federal officials. • Filibuster - Cloture

  7. The House v. The Senate • House: bills are not drastically changed in the House once they reach the floor, because of the strict rules set up by the House Rules Committee; only germane amendments. • Senate: debates on bills are much less formal; no rules on amendments, so non-germane amendments, or riders, can be added more easily; Christmas-tree bills.

  8. HOUSE 435 members serving two-year terms Speaker's referral of bills to committee is hard to challenge. Committees almost always consider legislation first. Rules Committee powerful; controls time of debate, admissibility of amendments. Debate usually limited to one hour. Non-germane amendments may not be introduced from floor. SENATE 100 members serving rotating six-year terms Referral decisions easy to challenge. Committee consideration easily bypassed. Rules Committee weak; few limits on debate or amendments. Unlimited debate unless shortened by unanimous consent or by invoking cloture. Non-germane amendments may be introduced (riders). The House v. The Senate

  9. Incumbents • Congressman and Senators running for re-election win 90% of the time. • Senate more competitive than the House. Advantages of Incumbency • Visibility- Name Recognition. • Franking Privilege – Getting the word out. • Casework- What have you done for me lately? • Pork Barrel - What have you done for me lately? • PAC’s contribute most heavily after an election. In a Message to Democrats, Wall St. Sends Cash to G.O.P. - NYTimes.com

  10. Congress has Responsibilities after a Law is Passed. . . and then some. Congressional Oversight The Government Accountability Office (GAO) helps Congress fulfill its oversight responsibilities: • Reviews the activities of the Executive Branch; makes sure the bureaucracy is properly executing the laws. • Investigates the efficiency and effectiveness of government agencies; check on waste and corruption. YouTube - Rep. Waxman On Missing Billions in Iraq NPR : House Panel Criticizes Shipments of Cash to Iraq YouTube - Iraq Reconstruction Hearing: Accounting

  11. The CBO Congressional Budget Office • Provides non-partisan economic data to Congress. • Helps Congress make budgetary decisions • President looks to the OMB- non partisan; answers to the Executive. Peter R. Orszag - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  12. Iron Triangles“Revolving Door”What Drives Record Spending on Defense? : NPR

  13. NPR : House Studies Impact of Bush 'Signing Statements'

  14. Pork Barrel Legislation • 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act – omnibus law that funded 11,000 projects: Civil War Theme Park Swimming Pools Several Halls of Fame Parking Garages $335,000 to protect North Dakota sunflowers from blackbirds, $2.3 million for an animal waste management research lab in Bowling Green, Kentucky, $50,000 to control wild hogs in Missouri, and $443,000 to develop salmon-fortified baby food. • Most of $388 billion in spending went constituencies well represented on the Appropriations Committee. • Logrolling – “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” 10/30/88: Charlie Did It - 60 Minutes - CBS News

  15. “You campaign in poetry and you govern in prose.” $410 billion spending bill (2009) • $2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York. • $1.7 million for a honey bee factory in Weslaco, Tex. • $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa. • $1 million for Mormon cricket control in Utah. • $819,000 for catfish genetics research in Alabama. • $650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and Mississippi. • $951,500 for a “Sustainable Las Vegas.” • $2 million “for the promotion of astronomy” in Hawaii. • $167,000 for the Autry National Center for the American West in Los Angeles. • $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii. • $200,000 for a tattoo removal violence outreach program to help gang members or others shed visible signs of their past. • $209,000 to improve blueberry production and efficiency in Georgia. 9,000 earmarks worth $7.7 billion Source: Op-Ed Columnist - Stage of Fools - NYTimes.com

  16. How Bills are Written • The White House, Interest groups, lobbyists and citizens all can and do write bills; 11,000 introduced each Congress. Congressional Research Service (CRS) • helps Congress gather information necessary to write bills; Congress’ librarian. • administered by the Library of Congress. • each year it responds to 250,000 Congressional request for information. • non partisan in its reporting. • it also tracks the progress of major bills, prepared summaries of the bills, and makes information available to the public.

  17. Congress(wo)man Ratio of Men to Women House- 6:1 Senate- 7:1

  18. Speaker of the House Presides over the House; chosen by the majority party; # 2 in line- Prez. VP is President of the Senate – Presides over the Senate; formal power rests with the party leaders: 1. Senate Majority Leader2. President Pro Tempore - #3 in line Congressional Leadership

  19. Makes Committee Assignments – very coveted; helps ensure incumbent advantage. Recognition Power Helps appoint the party’s legislative leaders. Exercises control over which bills get assigned to which committees. High Profile - National Spokes(wo)man for the party if that party does not also control the Presidency. Speaker of the House

  20. Counterpart of the Speaker- works with the President Pro Tempore Helps select committee assignments. Scheduling the floor action. With the help of the Whips, the majority corrals votes. Mitch McConnell (R) Kentucky Senate Majority Leader

  21. Stepping stone to the Speaker. Schedules bills in the House. With the Whip’s help, the majority leader rounds up votes for the party. House Majority Leader

  22. The Whips • The Majority and Minority Whips are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues. In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader • They count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party. NPR : Intro to Congress: Speakers, Leaders and Whips

  23. Theories on RepresentationVocabulary • Trustees – vote using their best judgment to make policies in the interest of the people; policymakers (Edmund Burke) • Instructed Delegates – vote as their constituents would; representatives. • Politicos – vote using the trustee and instructed delegate models; how most Congressman vote. • substantive representation - refers to the correspondence between representatives' opinions and those of their constituents. • descriptive representation - refers to the correspondence of the demographic characteristics of representatives with those of their constituents.

  24. Redistricting, New York Style - The New York Times

  25. Congressional Districts • 435 House districts are drawn by the state legislatures. • Gerrymandering – drawing of district lines often in a way to give one political party an advantage over the other. • Malapportionment – states drew districts of unequal size and populations. • Baker v. Carr (1962) – “one man, one vote” decision; one person’s vote must be as equal as possible to another; each district should have around 600,000 citizens. House. One Person One Vote.doc

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