Establishing a Congress  Article I, Section I: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives  Question: What kind of legislature is the U.S. Congress?

U.S. House of Representatives  435 members of the House who serve 2 year terms  Each member represents a congressional district of about 650,000 people

U.S. Senate  100 members of the Senate who serve 6 year terms  2 senators from each state

Wisdom and Virtue The SenateThe House  Only 1/3 of the Senate can be reelected every two years  It would take three elections over six years to fire the entire Senate!  The Senate is designed to be a check on the passions of the House…where the wisdom of the nation lies  All 435 members of the House must be reelected every two years  If you don’t like your Congress throw these bums out!  Because the House is closer to the people, they are subject to their passions and whims

The Two Houses The SenateThe House  Must be 30 to serve in the Senate and have lived in your state for 9 years  Senators are seen as more prestigious and are more likely candidates to eventually run for president  Must be 25 to serve in the House and have lived in your district for 7 years  House districts must be redrawn every 10 years, based on the Census  The practice of redrawing a district to help a political party is called Gerrymandering

The Officers of the Congress The SenateThe House  The Vice-President of the United States serves as the President of the Senate  The VP can only vote if the Senate is tied  The House is led by the Speaker of the House  Generally the senior member of the party with the most seats

Political Terminology  The political party with the most members in either the House or the Senate is called the majority party  The other political party is called the minority party  In the Senate, the day to day work is led by the Majority Leader  The Speaker of the House sets the agenda in the House

The Officers of the Congress The SenateThe House  The Vice-President  President Pro Tempore (usually the oldest member of the majority party) fills in when the VP isn’t there  The Majority Leader  The Majority Whip (focuses on keeping members of the party in line)  The Minority Leader  The Minority Whip  The Speaker of the House  The Majority Leader (Usually works the floor)  The Majority Whip  The Minority Leader  The Minority Whip

Getting Elected The SenateThe House  Can cost millions of dollars!  Maryland (6-10 Million)  New York (15 Million)  California (20-30 Million)  Can be very competitive races…but raising money is easier, because people know who you are  Can be relatively cheap in non-competitive districts  Because of gerrymandering, few quality candidates challenge incumbents  Fundraising is way harder!  From the moment you are sworn in, you have to raise $6500 EVERY DAY for the next 2 years to protect your seat!

Thoughts on Life  Please respond to the following question in your Civics notebook:  Based on what you now know, would you prefer to serve in the House or the Senate? Use evidence from your notes to support your answer.