Congress at Work - committees / lawmaking (4.5/4.6) Government and Politics

Essential question - Legislative How should government meet the needs of its people?

Review The Two houses Congressional districts House and Senate size, terms, qualifications Congressional districts reapportionment gerrymandering

When does Congress meet Congress begins a new term every two years of every odd-numbered year ex. next election 2016, next term Jan 2017 State of the Union Message late Jan or early Feb a joint session of Congress President reports on the state of the nation in both domestic and foreign policy terms

Presiding officers in Congress House of Rep Speaker of the House = chosen by members preside in a fair manner and keep order interprets, applies rules, refers bills to committees, rules on points of order, motions to vote, and decides outcomes Senate President of the Senate = Vice President not elected and not a member of the body President pro tempore = if the VP is not able to attend

Party Officers Caucus meetings Floor leaders closed meeting of the members of each party in each house Floor leaders majority leader minority leader whips

This chart shows party strength at the start of the past 15 terms of Congress. What is the largest majority each party has held in each house over the past 30 years?

The colors on these maps indicate the party composition of each State's delegation in the House and Senate. Which States are the same color on both maps?

Your District 4 Representative Betty McCollum (D) Elected: 2000 Re-Elected: ’02, ’04, ’06, ’08, ’10, ’12, ‘14

Amy Klobuchar (D) Elected: 2006, re- elected 2012 Al Franken (D) Elected: 2008, Re-elected 2014

Committees Congressional representatives assigned to committee work a “division of labor” Chairmen/women less powerful control which bills a committee will consider, in what order and at what length control if there is a public hearing usually manages the debate and tries to help the passage

Committees Standing Examples a permanent panel to which all similar bills can be sent Examples agriculture, nutrition and forestry armed services energy and natural resources finance foreign relations homeland security and governmental affairs

Other Committees Subcommittees Select/Special Joint and Conference do most of the committee’s work Select/Special panels set up for some specific purpose limited time Joint and Conference one composed of members of both houses some serve temporary purposes

Review/Reflection Review lesson Congress at work - organization and committees

End of Day 1

Review Congress at work presiding officers committees

Making Laws Video: I’m Just a Bill, SNL version Introduce a bill Committee work Full body / floor debate conference committee congressional approval President acts on bill

How a Bill becomes a Law Step 1 - Bill is introduced in House of Representatives and/or Senate Step 2 - The bill is sent to the appropriate committee where they review the bill, make changes (amendments), and vote on the bill to send to the entire group Step 3 - The entire House and Senate vote on their version of the bill

How a Bill Becomes a Law Step 4 - Usually the House and Senate versions of the bill are different. The two bodies meet and work out compromises in a Conference committee. Conference Committees- a group in Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill. Step 5 The entire House and Senate vote on the Conference Committee version of the bill Step 6 - The president signs the bill into law or vetoes the bill. If vetoed, Congress may still turn the bill into a law by overriding the veto with a supermajority (2/3) vote.

How a bill becomes a law quorum - a majority of the membership (218 or 51); they must be present for each body to do business Filibuster- an attempt to “talk a bill to death;” it’s a stalling tactic by minority senators to delay or prevent action on the measure Strom Thurmond- set the record for the longest filibuster at 24 hours and 18 minutes; AGAINST the Civil Rights Act