How Congress is Organized

Terms of Congress Every year 535 citizens called the Congress gather in the U.S. Capitol to make laws and discuss issues; what kind of democracy is this an examples of? Framers of the Constitution intended Congress to be the most powerful branch, why? Each term of Congress starts on January 3rd of odd numbered years and lasts for 2 years and is given a number; 114th Congress will start in January Congress usually meets from January until November, often take a summer “recess” and don’t work on Fri.; special session

Two Parts Our legislature was divided into two parts at the Constitutional Convention, why? The House of Representative has 435 voting members, each state has at least one representative; census used to determine how many reps each state gets Must be 25, a citizen for 7 years, and resident of the state States draw boundary lines for election districts, states must ensure that about the same number of people are in each district; abuse and gerrymandering? Serve 2 year terms, usually focus on needs of district rather than the whole state

Two Parts The Senate has 100 members- 2 from each of the 50 states Senators represent the entire state and serve 6 year terms Must be 30, 9 years a citizen, and live in the state Elections are staggered so that 1/3 of all senators are up for reelection at any one time, why? Senate is considered more prestigious and more moderate than the House, why?

House Leaders In both the House and Senate the political party to which more than half the members belong is known as the majority party; other party is known as the minority party The majority party chooses the Speaker of the House, most powerful leader in the House Speaker of the House is usually very experienced, and is in charge of directing the activities of the House Speaker uses their influence to help swing votes to the positions they support Nancy Pelosi, first female Speaker of the House

Senate Leaders Vice President serves as President of the Senate, but he is rarely in attendance Both parties have majority leaders in both houses, majority leader and minority leader; leaders speak for their parties, provide direction for the party, and gather votes The leaders pick “whips” to help them do their job and to line up votes KY Senator Mitch McConnell-Republican Majority Leader

Committees Work in Congress is divided into committees; many types Congressmen and women try to get on key committees and on committees that deal with issues related to the their state Each house of Congress has permanent committees and short term committees Permanent committees are called standing committees; Senate has 16 and House has 19 Select committees are created to do a special job for a short period of time Joint committees are made up of member of both houses Conference committee is when there are two different versions of bills are passed

Committee Assignments Leaders of the political parties make committee assignments Leaders consider member’s preferences, expertise, and loyalty to the party; seniority The longer you have served the more likely you are to get prestigious committee assignments; person of the majority party who has served the longest on the committee usually is the chair of the committee Committee chair decides when they will meet, what issues they will discuss, and who they will give key jobs to Seniority: good or bad? Ralph Hall the oldest person to serve in the House at 90