House of Representatives Senate 25 years old 30 years old 7 years a citizen 9 years a citizen 2 year term 6 year term Based on Population 2 senators per state <equal> Representatives total - 435 100 Senators total (50 states x 2 each) Led by the – Speaker of the House Led by the President of the Senate (Vice President) or the President pro tempore Has the sole power to call for an impeachment Tries an impeachment <has the final say> Has the power to make laws dealing with taxes (power of the PURSE ) Approves presidential appointments and treaties Our Representative- David Scott – 13th District Our 2 US Senators- David Purdue / Johnny Isakson

Apportionment and Gerrymandering: a. Apportionment- when the number of seats in the house of representatives is distributed to the states; this number changes every ten years with the census, but the total number stays the same <435> b. Gerrymandering- when the party in charge draws district lines in the state in to help out their party <add one for their district or take away a district of the other> Powers of Congress – Fill in the blanks a. Expressed Powers- clearly stated in the Constitution; power to tax, borrow money; regulate commerce; establish currency and coin money; bankruptcy; post offices; weights and measures; copyrights and patents b. Implied powers- not stated, but necessary if Congress is going to do its job; necessary and proper clause (elastic) says Congress can make any law necessary to do its job as long as the law is proper c. Inherit powers constitutional amendments, elect the president of vice president if necessary, impeach the president, approve appointments and treaties, investigate issues, natural to have; foreign relations <national security>, immigration laws, naturalization

Congressional Leaders- Party Leaders- Majority and Minority (Leaders); Majority and Minority (Whips) Committees of Congress a. Standing Committees- permanent committees that oversee bills that pertain to their specific topic. The House has 19 standing committees and the Senate has 17. The standing committees are the ones that oversee all bills that go through Congress. Chairman is chosen by seniority rule and members are elected. b. Select Committees- aka special committees; temporary, usually formed to investigate an issue; members are chosen by the Speaker of the House or President of the Senate c. Joint committee -made up of members of both houses at start of a bill d. Conference Committees- created toresolve differences with bills from house & senate e. Committee Chair - leads the committee and is from the majority party f. Ranking Member - represents the minority party on the committee

Bill to a Law (the Process) – a. Idea- the bill is just an idea in the minds of citizens, members of Congress or President; they write it up and call it a bill b. Introduction- bill is introduced to house or senate; given a name, a number and assigned to a committee c. Committee Action- committee assigns it to a subcommittee; they discuss and investigate; report back to the whole committee, they debate make any changes needed and vote. No- it dies; Yes- it goes on to the… d. Floor- first the bill is placed on the calendar; if it is in the House it must first be approved by the House Rules committee; once on the floor it is discussed and debated, read two more times and finally voted on. No- it dies; Yes- it goes on to the…. e. Other House- the WHOLE process starts over again. If no- it dies, If yes- it goes back to the… f. Original House- They must agree to the bill; If they like it- straight to the President; If it has been changed and they don’t like it, then it goes to the… g. Conference Committee- creates a compromise bill that both houses can agree to, both houses have to vote to accept the compromise then it goes to the… h. President- President can veto, sign it, or not do anything for 10 days and it becomes a law anyway!

Filibuster- an attempt in the Senate to talk a bill to death; if they don’t agree with the others and they want to stall the vote they will take the floor and talk as much as possible to wear everyone out until they don’t care about the bill anymore Cloture Rule- the only real way to end a filibuster in Senate. This requires 60 Senators to vote to end debate. 17th Amendment – What does it do? Allows direct election of U.S. Senators 16th Amendment – What does it do? Allows gov’t to collect income tax Power of the Purse – What is it? Power to vote money for public use. Who has it? The House of Representatives

Which body of Congress approves Treaties and Presidential nominations Which body of Congress approves Treaties and Presidential nominations? Senate What is a lobbyists? A person hired to influence legislators and other government officials. What kind of groups do they represent? Special Interest Group (MADD. NRA, NAACP How do lobbyist influence legislation? They become experts in their field. They talk to and influence those who make legislation. What is impeachment? A charge of wrong doing. Who can be impeached? President / Vice Pres. / Members of cabinet / Federal judges

Bills “die” in this legislative process – Committee How does a bill become a law – Signed by the President Bill – Proposed Legislation Divides up the workload - Committees How does the process work? Charges in the HOUSE / Trial is in the SENATE If INNOCENT, he stays in office / If GUILTY, he is REMOVED from office. What presidents have been impeached? 1. Andrew Johnson / 2. Bill Clinton