Chapter 10: Congress Section 3: The Senate

The Senate Objectives: * Compare the size of the Senate to the size of the House of Representatives. * Describe how States have elected senators in the past and present. * Explain how and why a senator’s tem differs from a representative’s term. * Identify the qualifications for serving in the Senate.

The Senate * Nearly 1/3 of the members in the Senate have served in the House of Representatives. * None of the current members of the House have never served in the Senate. * Many of the men and women who now serve in the House look forward to the day when, they hope, they will sit in the Senate Chamber. *The Senate is called “the upper house”

The Senate Size, Election, and Term * Why are there 100 members of the United States Senate? * Have the members of the Senate always been elected by the voters of their States? * Why do Senators serve six-year terms? * As you see, the organization of the US Senate has changed over the years.

The Senate Size * The Constitution says that the Senate shall be composed of two Senators from each State. * So the Senate is a much smaller body than the House of Representatives. * The Senate had only 22 members when the first session was held back in * We have 50 States and each State has two Senators therefore there are 100 Senators in the chamber. * Framers had hoped the Senate would be more enlightened and responsible since their terms are six-years in length.

The Senate * Members of the Senate represent entire States. * They represent a larger, more diverse population. Election * The Constitution originally provided that the members of the Senate were to be chosen by the State legislatures. * Since the 17 th Amendment in 1913, senators have been picked by the voters in each State at the regular November elections.

The Senate * Only one senator is elected from a State in any given election, except when the other seat has been vacated by death, resignation, or expulsion. * Before the coming of the popular election, the State legislatures often picked the senators. * By the late 1800s, the Senate was often called the “Millionaires’ Club” * Reason was that so many people spent lots of money trying to buy enough votes to win the senator position in the US Senate.

The Senate * In 1912, the Senate agreed to popular election for the Senate. * Each senator is elected from the State at-large. * The 17 th Amendment declares that all persons whom the State allows to vote for members of “the most numerous Branch” of its legislatures are qualified to vote for candidates for the United States Senate.

The Senate Term * Senators serve for six-year terms, three times the length of the members in the House of Representatives. * Senators may be elected to any number of terms. * Most elected Senator was Strom Thurmond (South Carolina) who was elected 9 times and served for over 50 years. * Senators’ terms are staggered, Only a third of them – 33 or 34 expire every two years.

The Senate * The Senate is a Continuous body, that is all of its seats are never up for election at the same time. * The six-year term gives Senators a somewhat greater degree of job security than members of the House. * The term is to make Senators less subject to the pressures of public opinion and less susceptible to the pleas of special interest groups. * The larger size and the geographic scope of their constituencies – the people and the interests the senator represents- are designed to have much the same effect today.

The Senate * Senators are suppose to be concerned with the larger picture, not the specific small locality. * They are more concerned with the larger national picture. * Senate has had many people run for the presidency and some have succeeded. * Senators are more likely to be covered by the media in their States.

The Senate Qualifications for Senators * A senator must meet a higher standard level of qualifications than those the Constitution sets for a member of the House. * A Senator must be at least 30 years old * A Senator must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years. * A Senator must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected.

The Senate Senators from Texas John CornynTed Cruz Republican (started 2003)Republican (started 2013)

The Senate * The Senate also judges the qualifications of its members. * The Senate has refused at times to seat a member- elect. * They may also punish a member for their behavior. * They may remove a member with a 2/3’s vote. * 15 members of the Senate have been expelled from the Senate. * One in 1797 and 14 during the Civil War.

The Senate * Most recent Senator that was expelled was Bob Packwood (R- Oregon) for several episodes of sexual harassment and other personal misconduct. Packwood resigned in 1997 before the final vote to expel him. * The Senate Ethics Committee brought charges of financial misconduct against David Durenberger (R-Minnesota) in 1990 and Durenberger decided not to run for re-election in 1994.