Congress In Action Unit III, Section 3

Congress Organizes & Committees In Congress Section I & II Congress Organizes & Committees In Congress

Opening Day January 3 House of Representatives Reestablishes order after every 2 year election Re-appoints the Speaker of the House Majority party member Sworn in first, then swears in House members Rep. sit left/Dems. sit right of the aisle Other appointments made Clerk, parliamentarian, chaplain, etc. Members of committees appointed

Opening Day Senate Continuous Body 1/3 of Senate up for election at a time Swearing in of re-elected or new members Fill Senate organization vacancies

State of the Union Address Occurs in weeks following term beginnings Major political event President outlines/reports on Domestic issues Foreign policy Legislative recommendations Ripples into a flood of executive legislation

Presiding Officers Speaker of the House Paul Ryan Elected by constituency first as a representative and then by majority party Presides & keeps order Keeps bill flow & committee process going Follows VP in Presidential line of succession Paul Ryan

Presiding Officers President of the Senate President Pro Tempore VP holds this position Not body member Not necessarily a majority party member President Pro Tempore Active in VP’s absence Elected by Senators Follows Speaker of the House in succession Mike Pence Orrin Hatch

Party Officers Party Caucus Floor Leadership Closed meeting of party Deals with party issues and organization Floor Leadership Legislative strategist Majority/Minority Leadership Whips Leadership assistants Liaison between rank-and-file and leadership Truancy officers of the chambers

Committee Chairperson Bulk of work done at committee level Head of standing committee Majority party member Keeps bill flow going

Committee Assignments Standing Committees Used to keep similar bills together House 10-75 member committees/1-2 committees per member Senate 14-28 member committees/3-4 committees per member Bill making process Referred by Speaker or President of the Senate

Committee Assignments Committees vary by importance and interest Majority party holds most seats Minority party still represented Subcommittees 150 Used to look at specific interests

Committee Assignments Select Committees Special committees Approved by presiding officer Investigatory power Standing Situational

Joint & Conference Committees Joint Committee Made up of members of both houses Economic The Library Printing Taxation Conference Committee Joint Body Creates signable version of 2 house legislation Both Houses must accept final document

Highlights How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House Section III Highlights How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House

The First Steps Bill Proposed laws form in both Houses Proposed by chamber members but most often originates from executive branch Ideas born from private citizen ideas Standing committees research Broken up into private and public bills Bills placed in hopper for consideration

Types of Resolutions Joint Resolution Concurrent Resolutions When passed have the force of law Deal with unusual items Used to propose constitutional amendments Concurrent Resolutions House & Senate act together Does not have force of law Congressional opinion

Types of Resolutions Resolutions Rider From one house or another No force of law Used to introduce change to procedures Rider Included on an unrelated bill/resolution Not likely to pass on own merit Hope it will “ride” through on a well supported bill

The Bill in Committee Bills first step in bill process Analyzes, amends, kills bills Most bills die or are never acted on Discharge petition Forces bill quickly through committee Subcommittees do most of the work Investigates, holds public hearings, has junkets, etc. to gather information

The Bill in Committee Committee Actions Report bill favorably Refuse to report the bill Report bill in amended form Report the bill with unfavorable recommendation Report a committee bill

House Rules Rules Committee can Limit floor debate Work toward killing a bill Allow bills certain privileges Suspend rules House may move off established procedures

The Bill on the Floor Committee of the Whole Helps speed up bill process Includes all House members Less strict rules Quorum needed to do regular House work Only 100 needed for Committee of the Whole Limited debate time to 1 hour Leadership helps divide debate time House members may “move the previous question”

The Bill on the Floor Voting Four voting measures Series of votes for one bill Vote on amendments, motions, etc Four voting measures Voice voting Standing voting Teller voting Roll-call voting

Section IV The Bill in the Senate

Introducing the Bill Bill is first given a number Less formalized process than in the House One committee calendar to work with Majority floor leader determines bill’s final floor presentation

Rules for Debate Unrestricted floor debate in the Senate Senators may freely speak on any matter “Previous question” cannot be moved “Two-speech” rule No Senator may speak more than twice on a given question/issue Helps limit amount of time on debate

Filibuster “Talk a bill to death” Stalling tactic in the Senate Seeking to kill or change a bill Senator Huey Long (D, Louisiana) 15 hours, 1935 Strom Thurmond (R, South Carolina) 24 hours, 15 minutes, 1957 Pushed against Civil Rights

Filibuster 200 measures killed due to filibuster Sheer threat may lead a bill to be changed or killed Rules Must stand May not sit, lean on a desk, or walk about Must speak

The Cloture Rule Created in response to a 3 week filibuster in 1917 Bill dealing with German U-boat attacks 12 Senators were opposed, killed the bill President Wilson and the public were outraged Limits debate through special procedure Limits debate to 30 hours Must be then voted on

Final Steps

Conference Committees Temporary joint committee Deals with similar legislation that has disagreements “Knits” together the two pieces Often makes their own changes Both houses usually agree on final bill Powerful committee members Usually occurs before adjournments

The President Acts Four executive options on a bill The President may sign it The President may VETO it Congress may overturn this action (rarely) Line item veto- targets specific point Allows bill to become law without signing it No executive action for 10 days (minus Sunday) Pocket Veto Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting bill President does not act, the bill dies