Branch: Legislative or Lawmaking

Congreso or Congress Congress is the lawmaking body within the three branches of government. What are the three branches and the job of each?

Laws Norma Regla Ley All of these words can mean “law”.

The laws made by Congress Congress is the lawmaking body of the FEDERAL government. The laws it passes deal with: National policy Plan of actions to meet goals How a government spends and raises money What people can and cannot do. Please note that most laws that do this are state and local laws.

National Effect The laws passed by Congress affect the entire nation. Can they only affect a certain region? The answer is yes. When might this be the case? THINK!!!!!!!!!! Hmmmm………….

Political Party Responsibilities What are the two major political parties? A party can assist someone in getting elected and in return it expects the person to help push some or all of the party’s agenda items. What is an “agenda item”?

Bill or Proposed Law As a legislative branch, Congress takes bills and works through the process to determine whether or not it should become a law. We will work later on the process used in doing so.

Interest Groups Groups of people who work together for similar interests and goals. They often put pressure on a member of Congress to pass bills that help the group and to vote against bills that will hurt the group. Interest groups can help in different ways: Provide a candidate with support and money Provide the congressman or woman with information to help him or her make a decision about issues and legislation.

Lobbyist or Cabildero A lobbyist is a person who represents an interest group on Capitol Hill. It is important that the lobbyist represents the information fairly because if they do not, they will lose the trust of the members of Congress and probably would lose their job.

What factors affect decision making of Congress? The issue has to be looked at critically. Personal values are reflected upon. The question as to how the law serves and/or affects their constituents as well as the country as a whole must be asked and reflected upon.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 In a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy urged the nation to take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of race. Soon after, Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would address voting rights, public accommodations, school desegregation, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs, and more. Despite Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963, his proposal culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson just a few hours after House approval on July 2, The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools.

The story continues…. Passage of the act was not easy. House opposition bottled up the bill in the House Rules Committee. In the Senate, opponents attempted to talk the bill to death in a filibuster. In early 1964, House supporters overcame the Rules Committee obstacle by threatening to send the bill to the floor without committee approval. The Senate filibuster was overcome through the floor leadership of Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, the considerable support of President Lyndon Johnson, and the efforts of Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois, who convinced Republicans to support the bill.

Why would people support the Civil Rights Act of 1964? What do you think?

Was there opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Yes. Example: Strom Thurmond of South Carolina opposed it.

Strom Thurmond As governor of South Carolina, he led the effort to abolish the state poll tax, but in Congress he fought efforts to ban it nationally. Running for president in 1948 as what the press called a Dixiecrat, he said that ''on the question of social intermingling of the races, our people draw the line.'' And, he went on, ''all the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches and our places of recreation and amusement.'' His opposition to integration, which he often attributed to Communism, was the hallmark of his career in Washington until the 1970's. In 1971, he was among the first Southern senators to hire a black aide -- in recognition of increased black voting resulting from the legislation he had fought. From then on, black South Carolinians, like all other residents, benefited from his skills as a pork-barrel politician who took care of the home folks.

Connection Time! Strom Thurmond was the governor of South Carolina from That means when the Briggs v. Elliot lawsuit was filed it was during the time when Strom Thurmond was governor. James Byrnes was governor in the movie. He moved to make the South Carolina school system more equal.

Strom Thurmond Strom Thurmond would later become a U.S. Senator. While serving the people of South Carolina he did as other do by Writing bills, researching bills, arguing bills, and voting for against them. He studied many reports and many many topics. He read and wrote letters from and to constituents. He was very responsive to his constituents!!

Congreso or Congress Senate has 100 people / 2 Senators from each state. Based on Equal Representation Remember the Great Compromise?

House of Representatives This body includes 435 members This house is based on population. 2 year terms 25 years of age minimum 7 years a citizen Resident of the state he or she represents

Congressional District This is what the area that the member of the House of Representatives is called. MN has 8 Congressional Districts because it has 8 members of the House. Collin Peterson is the rep. for the 7 th Congressional District of MN. He is a Democrat. He just announced he would run again in 2016.

California has the largest population Because California has the largest population it has the most reps. 53 Some states like Alaska, North and South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Wyoming, and Vermont only have 1!

Senate 100 members 2 per state 6 year term 30 years old 9 years citizen Resident of state she/he represents

Benefits given to Senators & Reps

Benefits

Benefits and Limitations

Benefits and Limits

Benefits

Senate

Collin Peterson

Al Franken

Amy Klobuchar

HOMEWORK Section 1 Review on page 217 Terms AND 2-5 Quiz over Section 1 and PowerPoint