Congress

1. Congress Chapter 13 1

2. I. An Institution with Two Chambers and Shared Powers 2

3. Our Congress is bicameral (def) is has two chambers (houses). 435 reps, in the House & 100 Senators in the Senate. House members are elected to 2-year terms & Senators served 6-year terms. • The avg. member represents 600,000 population & 2 senators from each state. • Congress’s powers are enumerated in Art. II of the Constitution. 3

4. Congress oversees… The bureaucracy Declares war Regulates interstate commerce Maintains the armed forces And rights laws The Senate… Approves foreign treaties Approves Presidential appointments to Fed. Courts & the executive branch. 4

5. Congress has power of impeachment (def) the House power to bring charges against government officials; the Senate then, can decide guilt/innocence. • Two Presidents have been impeached, neither removed from office. • The lower chamber is called, “ThePeople’s Chamber”. The Senate is more distant from the voting public. • 49 states have bicameral legislatures, & many nation’s. 5

6. II. Principles and Dilemmas of Representation 6

7. A. Members share one objective: getting re-elected. • Lawmakers are always concerned about re-election & how to achieve this goal. • They have other goals which are desired by their constituency. • Others want to make names for themselves, or just a position of power. • But 1st, they must win a seat & hold it. 7

8. B. Members must serve their constituents. • Constituents (def) those who live in an elected official’s jurisdiction. • Successful members work hard for their constituents. • If a conservative represents a liberal population, & votes conservatively, he won’t be in office for long. 8

9. . • Incumbents (def)--those who currently hold office--have more freedom to do as they please (90% are re-elected!) • Those elected to Congress must also do casework (def) direct help to those in their district or state. • Members try to direct fed. benefits to their home districts & states. 9

10. C. Serving Constituents • Two Models: • The delegate model (def) representatives vote as the people who elected them would vote. • The trustee model (def) representatives vote as they think best for constituents • The Politico model (def) a combination of both styles. 10

11. D. Not all constituents are represented equally well. • Many are less important because they cannot vote. • Older Americans have more influence than the younger. • Those who organize, fund, & participate also gain attention. • Interest groups contributed >$25 million to each member’s campaign! 11

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13. Members of the same party have more influence, than other party members. • As more minority members are elected, the same minority to which they belong increases their representation. • . 13

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15. III. How Members Make Group Decisions To be successful, members of Congress must work together. 15

16. A. Members often disagree with one another. Reasons for disagreement: • Different regions of the country. • Political views • Values/ideologies • Concerns about re-election 16

17. B. Members confront basic challenges. Challenge 1 – Collecting information • Lawmakers must have access to a large amount of information to not only vote intelligently, but also to please all others involved. • After a lawmaker is convinced by the information he has, she must convince others, if a bill is to become law. 17

18. Challenge 2 – Acting collectively • Because of the amount of time & money that collecting information takes, some prefer to let others do this work & then take the credit. • Collective action problems arise when (def) people avoid taking action that is best for the whole group, because they don’t want to spend their own resources. • This situation often leads to Congressional inaction. 18

19. IV. Imposing Structure on Congress 19

20. Congress divides its workload of making laws among various committees, which are further divided into sub-committees. Lawmakers in key positions of leadership/authority, who are well-versed in the legislative process, make a big difference in the advancing of legislation or allowing it to die. 20

21. A. The Committee System • Most of the work in Congress occurs in committees. • Standing Committees • Standing committees are permanent & continue from session to session. • The majority party controls most of the seats on each, & the leadership positions. • Party committees nominate members for seats on standing committees 21

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23. Experienced members receive committee appointments more than new members. • Committees dealing with spending & taxes are considered most powerful. These include… 23

24. Those dealing with spending & taxes • Also, the Budget Committee. • These approve pork barrel projects (def) $$$ for pet projects of individual members. • “Pork” is inserted as earmarks (def) funding for such specific projects. 24

25. House Committee on Rules plays a key role in setting the terms of debate & amendment of bills. 25

26. 2. Select Committees • Select committees form for a limited period, to handle matters that do not fit into areas of standing committees. • Example: the House or Senate might create a committees to investigate official misconduct or other unique problems/events. 26

27. 3. Joint Committees • Joint committees include members from both houses; to report on activities of government agencies. • Example: The Joint Committee on Taxation reviews tax policy & operation of the IRS. 27

28. 4. Conference Committees • Conference committees are called to resolve differences in bills. • Only after the House & Senate approve the conf. reports, can legislation be sent to the President. 28

29. B. Party • Partisanship in Congress has increased in recent years. • More members vote along party lines. • Fewer members vote for centrist or moderate positions. • It is more difficult to forge bipartisanconsensus. • (See Fig. 13-3 & 13-4) 29

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32. C. Position • Parties control leadership positions in both houses, and the majority party always controls the most important offices. 32

33. 1. House Leadership • The most powerful leader in the lower changer is the (def) Speaker of the House. • He/she refers bills to committees & appoints comm. Members for the majority party. • He/she schedules legislation • She/he determines the flow of debate. 33

34. The majority leader helps set the agenda. • Works to generate support for party positions • Responsible for enforcing party discipline • The minority leader (def) marshals support for the party’s agenda. • Party whips (def) build support for the party’s agenda & makes sure members vote. • Logrolling is helped by whips (def) agreements among members by trading votes so that each benefits from the actions of the other. 34

35. 2. Senate Leadership • The Vice President serves as President of the Senate and can vote, in case of a tie. • Because his role is limited the president pro tempore often serves in his place. (Def) 2nd highest ranking official in the Senate. 35

36. c. The Senate Majority Leader • Works with a minority leader to schedule bills for floor action and sets limits on debate. • Senators are more independent than representatives; this makes the majority leaders job more difficult. 36

37. 3. Committee Leadership • Committee chairs enjoy substantial powers to facilitate action on bills & resolutions. • Usually, the senior member of the majority party serves as chair. • In the Senate, members of the majority party select committee chairs by secret ballot. • Chairs have come under pressure by party leaders to tow the party line. 37

38. D. Procedures • Knowing the rules of procedure are necessary in advancing legislation. • House leaders can keep a bill in committee unless opponents obtain a discharge petition. (Def) freeing legislation from a House committee requiring 218 member signatures. 38

39. House Committee On Rules (def) determines procedures for floor debate on a bill & its amendment rules. • Senate rules are more flexible than House rules. • In a filibuster (def), senators opposed to a bill can hold the floor for an unlimited time, to force supporters to change or withdraw it. 39

40. Members can end a filibuster thru a procedure known as cloture (def) requires 60 votes to end. • A Senator can place a hold of an issue. (Def) this prevents action until his/her concerns with a bill are addressed. 40

41. V. Lawmaking The single most important function that Congress serves is to write the nation’slaws.

42. A. The process is long. • It is a long road that can be followed with Fig. 15-4, “How a Bill Becomes a Law.” • First, a sponsor introduces a bill. (Def) member of Congress who introduces a proposed law. • 2nd, the bill is assigned to the appropriate committee by the Speaker or Pres. of the Senate.

44. . • Most often, bills are assigned to committees, which oversee the relevant policydomain. • The bill is usually studied by a sub-committee. • The bill receives a markup. (Def) changes and additions to the bill. • In the Senate, the bill moves straight to the floor for debate; in the House, bills go first to the Rules Committee. • It decides how the bill will be debated, how long it will be debated, & if amendments are allowed.

45. . • Open rule (def) members can make a wide range of amendments to the bill. • Closed rule (def) no amendments may be added.

46. . • The lawmakers will debate the bill; offer amendments if allowed, & finally vote on the bill. • Only in the Senate may the filibuster or cloture be used to prevent passage.

47. . • Markups, amendments, and/or changes mean the the tow bills may not be exactly the same. • The Conference Committee (def) iron out the differences between the 2 versions of the bill. • The bill now goes to the President, who may sign it into law, or veto it. (Def) reject the bill.

48. Congress may respond in 3 ways. • Refuse to reconsider the bill. • Make concessions and revise the bill. • Try to pass the bill with a 2/3 majority vote in both houses

49. B. Most bills are not enacted into law. • Committees have Gate-KeepingAuthority (def) the power to decide if a particular bill is considered. • About 80% of bills don’t leave committee! • A bill can be defeated by 40 votes in the Senate, after all 435 House members vote for the bill. • The President’s veto is also a powerful weapon. • Fig. 16-6 shows that about 10% of all bills become law.