Dec. 8, 2016 CNN Student News Congress notes/discussion Vocab. Quiz Monday, Dec. 12 Congress Quiz Dec. 16 Tissue Box Projects last day to turn without penalty Monday, Dec. 12. We will do a gallery walk of the amendments.

Congress Students will be able to: Describe the qualifications for being a member of Congress.

Overview of Congress Congress is charged with the most basic government function - translating the public will into public policy (in the form of law) James Madison called Congress “the first branch” of the nation government The First Article of the Constitution - devoted to Congress

A little bit of a review... Two Houses The Senate - small of the two The House of Representatives - the larger of the two Reviewing the Qualification Worksheet and current leadership roles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxiD9AEX4Hc&index=6&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2nc vffeelTrqvhrz8H (Elections)

In your groups Work on the qualifications for Congress (all information can be found in the textbook and/or your phone) Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8urcMLGFyU

Qualifications for Congress House of Representatives Senate 25 Years Old 30 Years Old Citizen for 7 years Citizen for 9 years Must live in the district from which they are elected Must live in the state from which they are elected

More Qualifications for Congress House Senate How many members? 435 100 How long is a term? 2 years 6 years Date of elections? The first Tuesday after the first Monday every even year How are they chosen? By votes in the districts By votes in the state

President of the Senate: Joe Biden Elected in general presidential election Chief presiding officer of the Senate Cannot participate in floor debate Casts vote only in case of a tie Will be Mike Pence on January 20, 2017

President Pro Tempore (Senate): Orrin Hatch (R) Chosen by the majority party; often the most senior member Presides over the Senate in the absence of the vice-president

Senate Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R) Chosen by the majority party Majority party leader in the Senate Steers party’s bills through the Senate Plans the Senate’s work schedule along with the Minority leader Makes sure majority members attend important sessions

Senate Minority Leader: Harry Reid (D) Chosen by the minority party Minority party leader in the Senate Develops criticisms of the bills from the majority party Consults with the Majority Leader over the Senate’s work schedule Tries to keep members working together

Senate Majority Whip: John Cornyn (R) Chosen by majority party Assists Majority Leader Rounds up members for key votes Heads group of deputy whips

Senate Minority Whip: Richard Durbin (D) Chosen by the minority party Assists Minority Leader Rounds up members for key votes Heads group of deputy whips

Speaker of the House: Paul Ryan (R) Chosen by the majority party Chief Presiding officer of the House Decides whom to recognize to speak on the floor Decides to which committee bills go Schedules bills for action Appoints members of special and select committees

Majority Floor Leader: Kevin McCarthy (R) Chosen by the majority party Assists the Speaker Plans party’s legislative program Steer important bills through the House Party leader

Minority Floor Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D) Party leader of the minority party Performs similar tasks to House Majority Leader Has no power over scheduling work in the House

Majority Whip (House): Steve Scalise ® Party floor leader Keeps close watch on how majority members intend to vote Attempt to influence voting

Minority Whip (House): Steny Hoyer (D) Assists party minority leader Keeps close watch on how majority members intend to vote Attempts to influence voting

Important Info… The most powerful person in the Senate is the Majority Leader - Mitch McConnell The most powerful person in the House is the Speaker of the House (Paul Ryan) Emphasizes foreign policy Senate Emphasizes tax & revenue policy and Revenue bills originate here House of Reps Very formal debates and impersonal Here is a good link to review these: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/gov310/CO/keydif/

Congressional Powers Congress has wartime and peacetime powers Your task: In your random group, you will create a song that incorporates at least 10 Congressional Powers (use Article 1 as a guide!) I advise you to use a song that exists and rewrite the lyrics using powers of Congress You will be presenting these!

Districts State legislatures are responsible for drawing Congressional Districts in their own state They are to have “as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants”

How the districts are divided Gerrymandering - districts were drawn to the advantage of the political party that controls the state’s legislature; the goal is to create as many districts that can be won by the party in control Malapportionment - poorly apportioned, organized, or structured in a manner that prevents large sections of a population from having equitable representation in a legislative body Apportionment - to distribute or allocate proportionally, based on population

Gerrymandering Game Using the laptops, you will practice the process of redistricting ***Goal for Mission #1: keep the population as even as possible; the game will tell you the range of population numbers

Specifics on Congressional Powers Worksheet Task: Work through the powers and sort in the specific boxes On the back, find the location of the specific Non-Legislative Powers and necessary information regarding that power We will go over these

Congressional Power Overview War Powers include:

Congressional Power Overview Other Powers:

Congressional Power Overview Non-Legislative Powers:

Electoral Duties

Impeachment

Executive Powers

Investigatory Power