Congress In Action

Organization of Congress January 3rd Odd # years – Congress begins a new two year session. House of Rep’s – Day 1 Speaker of the House – first to be voted on General Membership sworn in Clerk, parliamentarian, sergeant at arms, chief administrative officer, and chaplain. Establish the rules for the new session Senate – Day 1 Not as hectic as House New members sworn in, vacancies on committees are filled.

Speaker of the House The most powerful individual in Congress. Two duties Preside over the legislative process Keep order in the chamber Follows the VP in Presidential succession.

President of the Senate Vice President of the US serves as the President of the Senate. Presides over the Senate session Breaks tie votes President pro tempore – fills in as presiding officer when the VP is not able to. (today that is Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) HI)

Other Important Officers Majority and Minority Leaders – Picked from within the party they serve as legislative strategists. Majority and Minority Whips – work for the Maj/Min leaders. Their job is to “whip” up votes.

Committees in Congress Division of labor – Government business is so expansive that Congress divides labor through Committees that discuss bills to be brought to the floor for a vote House has 20 Standing committees (ranging from 10-75 members each) Senate has 17 standing committees ( ranging from 14-28 members) See page 330 in the text.

Role of Committees 1st Killing field of legislation – committee recommendations are more often than not reflected in a floor vote. Standing committees – after a bill is read on the floor of either the House or Senate it is sent to the appropriate Standing Committee. Special Committees – called together for a specific purpose (temporary) Joint Committees – composed of members of both houses. Most are investigative in nature.

How a Bill becomes a Law Bill – proposed law. Aritcle 1,Sec7, Clause 1 – all money bills must originate in the House of Representatives. Rider – something dealing with a matter different to the proposed bill that gets attached with the hope of riding the legislation through signature (PORK)

Bill in Committee Most bills die in this step. Committees sieve through all proposed bills and decide what should go through to the floor. Committees can… Pass Refuse Amend Report unfavorable (goes to the floor anyway) Introduce their own bill

Bill on the Floor Quorum – majority of the full membership (218) must be present for the House to do business Committee of the Whole – only 100 members need to be present to debate a bill. Debate – members have no more that 1 hour to debate. Voting – the bill and each amendment must be voted on separately.

Bill in the Senate Senate proceedings are much less formal and its rules less strict than those of the much larger House. Debate – in the Senate debate is almost unrestrained. Senators can speak on anything that they like (not just the measure before the chamber). Two Speech Rule – no senator may speak more than twice on a given question on the same legislative day.

Bill in the Senate Filibuster – the ability of a minority party to talk a bill to death. Huey Long ( Louisiana) – 1935 15 hours Strom Thurmond – (South Carolina) 1957 – 24 hours, Senate record. Cloture – limits debate…it takes 60 votes.

President Acts Article 1,Sec 7, Clauses 2&3 President can… Sign the bill (becomes law) Veto – bill returns to place of origin. Congress can pass over a veto by a 2/3 vote. 10 Days – if the President does not sign within 10 days it becomes a law. Pocket veto – if the President does not sign a bill before Congressional recess it dies.