Unit 4: Lecture 1: Chapter 14 The Organizational Structure of Congress Ms. Boden Edgren High School 12th Government October 18, 2007

Who is the Current Speaker of the House?

Nancy Pelosi

I. Congress? The legislature (law making body) of the federal government It is bicameral: House of Representatives Senate

II. House of Representatives 435 voting members House seats are apportioned among the states on the basis of population Serve a two-year term

II. House of Representatives Speaker of the House: Mandated by the Constitution Majority vote at the start of a congressional term Usually long-time member of the majority party Next in line for the presidency after the President and Vice President

II. House of Representatives What does the Speaker of the House do? Presides over the House Recognizes Members who wish to speak Makes important rulings and decisions in the House Votes in the case of a tie (This is usually the only time the Speaker will vote) The Speaker and the majority leader determine the legislative agenda (calendar) for the House and often confer with the President and with the Senate

II. House of Representatives Majority Leader and Minority Leader: The House became so large by the 19th century that Majority and Minority leaders were elected Help manage and organize the political parties and their activities Majority leader heads the political party with the more Members in the House Minority leader heads the other political party in the House

II. House of Representatives What are the duties of party leaders? - Represent the party on the Floor - Serve as spokespersons - Advocate their parties' policies and viewpoints - Promote issues of national concern - Coordinate their parties' legislative efforts - Keep their parties united - Help determine the schedule of legislative business and support actions favored by their parties for solving national problems

II. House of Representatives Majority Whip and Minority Whip: - Keep track of party members - Make sure party members are present to vote on crucial issues - Assist party leaders with their duties - Distribute information to party members - Track important legislation - Estimate the number of votes for a bill

III. Senate Senate has 100 members Serving staggered six-year terms Each state has two senators

III. Senate Vice President of the United States: President of the Senate Presiding officer of the Senate Does not vote except to break ties Calls on members to speak Does not take part in debate because he is not a member of the Senate Rarely acts as President of the Senate unless casting a tie-breaking vote or during ceremonial occasions

III. Senate President pro tempore (pro tem): Presides over the Senate when the Vice President is absent By tradition it is the most senior senator of the majority party Delegates the daily tasks of the Senate to junior senators from his party

IV. Congressional Committees Committees are like teams that study national problems Organize workload, report progress, and suggest solutions to the challenges of national issues Propose laws that are debated and voted by all of Congress

IV. Congressional Committees What are standing committees? - Permanent committees - Panels made up of Members of the House or Senate that make and debate laws for different areas of public policy - Each committee has jurisdiction over a certain area, for example, health, education, the environment, or foreign affairs

IV. Congressional Committees What is a select committee? Select committees established by the House or the Senate for limited periods and purposes After completing its assigned task it dissolves In most cases, select committees do not send, or report bills to the full House or Senate

IV. Congressional Committees What are joint committees ? - Joint committees have Members from both the House and Senate -Permanent - In general, joint committees do not have the authority to consider legislation or report legislation to the House or the Senate - The joint committees are the Joint Economic Committee, the Joint Committee on the Library, the Joint Committee on Printing, and the Joint Committee on Taxation

IV. Congressional Committees What is the Committee of the Whole? Now only used in the House of Representatives The Senate stopped using the Committee of the Whole for debate in 1986 Committee on which all of the representatives serve It was created to move legislation quickly to the House Floor for debate by eliminating some transitional steps Most bills are debated in the House by the Committee of the Whole