Chapter 11 Congress

Purposes of Congress Rule initiation Interest representation Rule application Rule Interpretation Constituency Service

Bicameral Legislature Senate Senators serve 6 year terms Two per State for 100 total seats House Representatives serve 2 year terms 435 seats, seats apportioned by population

Senate Must be 30 years old Represent statewide constituencies The Senate is less formal than the house. For example, the Senate can allow “unlimited debate.” House Must be 25 years old Represent districts in the state Debate is limited and takes place according to a rule

House More specialization in the House b/c more members Generally, Reps. are not as well known nationally Senate Cover a greater variety of issues Media coverage tends to be more extensive

Apportionment Apportionment is based on the national census Districting: drawing the lines for congressional districts Washinton State districts can be viewed on http://access.wa.gov

Apportionment Beware of districting manipulation (ex. Gerrymandering) Result can be court cases

Informal Norms The culture of Congress and politics include unwritten understandings that define appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Informal norms can influence behavior as much as formal rules can. Individuals who fail to conform can find sanctions taken against them.

Informal Norms Examples Work Hard Specialize Honesty Reciprocity Apprenticeship periods

Party Leaders in the House Speaker of the House: most powerful in House, member of majority party, can recognize members on floor, can set agenda, refers bills to committee, assigns members to committees.

Party Leaders in the House Majority Floor Leader: leader and spokesperson of party during floor debates, general

House Leadership Majority Whip: serves as liaison between party leaders and rank-and-file members, responsible for rounding up votes on bills.

House Leadership Minority Floor Leader: duties similar to that of the majority counterpart, top position of minority party though

House Leadership Minority Whip: like majority counterpart, tries to get party to vote together Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri)

Senate Leadership Vice President of U.S.: can break a tie vote, rarely attends the Senate

Senate Leadership President Pro Tempore: Presiding officer of the Senate in VP’s absence, primarily an honorary position that is usually given to the most senior member of the Senate.

Senate Leadership Other leaders: Majority floor leader, Majority whip, Minority Floor leader & Minority Whip These positions similar to those in House Can find specific names at www.senate.gov

Committee Structure There are four types in Congress: Standing Committees: permanent committees; all bills are submitted to standing committees and must go through these committees before being approved by the full House or Senate (See how a bill becomes a law)  

Committee Structure 2. Select Committees: created for special reasons to investigate some current issue or problem; covers issues not being handled by the regular standing committees.  

Committee Structure Joint Committees: consist of members from both the House and Senate; created for a wide variety of reasons (examples: Joint Committee on Intelligence and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress) 

Committee Structure 4. Conference Committees: created each time a bill is passed with different versions by the House and Senate; designed to work out the differences in legislative language between the two houses of Congress; temporary in nature

How a Bill Becomes a Law Introduction Committee assignment and action Floor Action (votes) Conference Action President (signature or veto) See www.projectvotesmart.com

Summary Congress has three primary functions: legislation, representation, oversight Congress is bicameral in nature with a House and a Senate See www.senate.gov and www.house.gov for details on members, committees and congress in general