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Section 1 Congressional Membership Chapter Focus Section 1 Congressional Membership Section 2 The House of Representatives Section 3 The Senate Section 4 Congressional Committees Section 5 Staff and Support Agencies Chapter Assessment Contents

Section 3 Introduction-1 The Senate Key Terms president pro tempore, filibuster, cloture Find Out • Why does the Senate have fewer rules and a less formal atmosphere than the House? • Why does the Senate usually take longer than the House to pass a bill? Section 3 Introduction-1

You have probably heard someone say that “talk is cheap You have probably heard someone say that “talk is cheap.” Not in the Senate, where in a 1953 debate senators opposed to a bill about offshore oil drilling rights added 1,241,414 words to the pages of the Congressional Record—and increased the printing cost by several thousand dollars. Section 3-1

I. The Senate at Work (pages 138–140) A. The Senate has fewer rules than the House. Senators have more freedom to express their views and are less subject to party discipline than representatives. B. The atmosphere in the Senate is more informal than in the House. C. The vice president presides over the Senate but has much less power and influence there than does the Speaker of the House; the president pro tempore often presides in the Senate. Section 3-2

I. The Senate at Work (pages 138–140) D. The Senate majority floor leader is responsible for guiding bills through the Senate; the minority floor leader develops criticisms of majority party bills and tries to keep the opposition party members working together. E. Majority and minority floor whips assist their floor leaders in making sure members are present for key Senate votes. F. Senate leaders control the flow of bills to committees and to the floor for debate; there is no Senate committee comparable to the House Rules Committee. Section 3-3

I. The Senate at Work (pages 138–140) G. The Senate has only two calendars—the Calendar of General Orders, which schedules bills to be considered in the Senate, and the Executive Calendar, which schedules treaties and nominations. H. A filibuster—a stalling of the legislative procedure to prevent a vote—can be ended only by a three-fifths vote; in recent years the filibuster has lost effectiveness as a legislative weapon because new rules allow other matters to continue at the same time. I. The majority party controls the flow of legislative work in the Senate. Section 3-4

I. The Senate at Work (pages 138–140) Why does the committee system have a less important role in the Senate than in the House of Representatives? More discussion takes place on the floor of the Senate because there are fewer senators. Section 3-5

Checking for Understanding 1. Main Idea In a graphic organizer similar to the one below, analyze the relationship between the Senate majority and minority leaders, whips, and assistant whips. From top to bottom: majority leader, majority whip, assistant majority whip; minority leader, minority whip, assistant minority whip. Section 3 Assessment-1

Checking for Understanding Match the term with the correct definition. ___ cloture ___ filibuster ___ president pro tempre B A C A. a method of defeating a bill in the Senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote B. a procedure that allows each senator to speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate C. the Senate member, elected by the Senate, who stands in as president of the Senate in the absence of the vice president Section 3 Assessment-2

Checking for Understanding 3. Identify Calendar of General Orders. The Calendar of General Orders is a listing of all the bills the Senate will consider. Section 3 Assessment-3

Checking for Understanding 4. How does the Senate bring bills to the floor? Through unanimous consent, all senators present agree to consider a bill from the calendar. Section 3 Assessment-4

Critical Thinking 5. Making Comparisons Compare the rules and procedures of the House with those of the Senate. Possible answer: The Senate has a more informal atmosphere than the House and follows more flexible rules; furthermore, senators generally can act more independently than members of the House do. Section 3 Assessment-5

Section 3 Concepts in Action Growth in Democracy Search through a reference work of historic speeches. Use one of the speeches as a model for a persuasive speech of your own. Section 3 Concepts in Action

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