1. U.S. & VA Government 2014 - 2015

2.  Section 1: Establishes Congress  Section 2: House of Representatives  Section 3: Senate  Section 4: Congressional Elections  Section 5: Rules and Procedures  Section 6: Compensation  Section 7: How a Bill Becomes a Law  Section 8: Powers Granted to Congress  Section 9: Powers Denied to Congress  Section 10: Powers Denied to the States

3.  Bicameral: Legislative body composed of two chambers.  Reasons: Historical:  Influence from British Parliament Practical:  Compromise between large and small states Theoretical:  Checks and Balances

4.  Each Congress lasts for a term of two years. Article I, Section 2, Clause 1  Each Congressional term has two sessions. First Year = First Session Second Year = Second Session  ‘Congress shall assemble … at noon on the 3d day of January’ 20 th Amendment, Section 2

5.  435 Members Proportional Representation  VA: 11 Representatives  Term: 2 Years  ‘Off-Year Election’  ‘Midterm Election’ No term limit  Direct election

7.  10 th Congressional District  Manassas: 10 th District  Barbara Comstock(R) Assumed Office:  January 3, 2015

8.  11th Congressional District  Haymarket: 11 th District  Gerry Connolly (D): Assumed Office:  January 3, 2009 http://www.gerryconnolly.com

9.  100 Members Equal Representation  2 Senators per state  Term: 6 Years  1/3 elected every 2 years  ‘Continuous Body’ No term limit  Direct election 1913: 17 th Amendment

10. 1/3 Senators up for re-election in 2012 1/3 Senators up for re-election in 2014 re-election in 2016

11.  Senators: - Tim Kaine(D): - Mark Warner (D): - Assumed Office: - January, 2015 - January, 2009 -Junior Senator - Senior Senator

13.  Age: 30 Years of Age  U.S. Citizenship: 9 Year Minimum  Residency: Inhabitant of State  Intended to be more deliberate House Immune from popular passions  Less formal and rigid rules No limit on debate  ‘Filibuster’ Acts more deliberately  Larger constituencies  More prestige  Two or more major committee assignments

14.  Age: 25 Years of Age  U.S. Citizenship: 7 Year Minimum  Residency: Inhabitant of State  Custom that Representative live in district  House may not exclude a member-elect who meets Constitutional qualifications Powell v McCormack (1969)  More formal and rigid rules Limits on debate  ‘Rules Committee’  More hierarchically organized Strong Party Leadership  Acts more quickly  Smaller constituencies Electoral district  Less prestige Less name recognition  One major committee assignment

15.  Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: Seats shall be apportioned on basis of state population  Apportion: Distribute seats in a legislative body.  Reapportionment Act of 1929: Capped off House at 435 members Reapportioned after every census  Reapportion: Redistribute Seats in a legislative body. Census: Official survey and count of the population.  Taken every 10 years. (Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3)

16.  Electoral System: Single-Member District ‘At-Large’ (general ticket) Plurality System Winner-Take-All  Each state determines their own district boundaries  Gerrymandering: Cracking—split up opponents Packing—pack opponents in one district  Malapportionment: Reynolds v Sims (1964) (p716) Wesberry v Sanders (1964)  ‘One person, One vote’  Majority-minority districts: Shaw v Reno (1993) Mass. Gov. Elbridge Gerry (1812)

17.  Shaw v. Reno (1993): The case involved the redistricting of North Carolina after the 1990 census. North Carolina submitted to the Department of Justice a map with one majority-minority black district—that is, a district with a black majority. The Department of Justice believed that the state could have drawn another such majority-minority district to improve representation of black voters. The state revised its map, but the new plan had only one majority-minority district: it was 160 miles (260 km) long, winding through the state to connect various areas having in common only a large black population. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor described the shape of the new district as "bizarre." The court found that if a redistricting map is "so bizarre on its face that it is 'unexplainable on grounds other than race'," it must be held to the standard of strict scrutiny.  Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964) was a U.S. Supreme Court case involving U.S. Congressional districts in the state of Georgia. The Court issued its ruling on February 17, 1964. This decision requires each state to draw its U.S. Congressional districts so that they are approximately equal in population.  Nationally, this decision effectively reduced the representation of rural districts in the U.S. Congress. Particularly, the Court held that the population differences among Georgia's congressional districts were so great as to violate the Constitution.  In reaching this landmark decision, the Supreme Court asserted that Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution requires that representatives shall be chosen "by the People of the several States" and shall be "apportioned among the several States...according to their respective Numbers...." These words, the Court held, mean that "as nearly as practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's."  Wesberry and the Court's later "one person, one vote" decisions had an extraordinary impact on the makeup of the House, on the content of public policy, and on electoral politics in general. However, these "one person, one vote" rules do not prevent and have not prevented gerrymandering.  A related case, Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), held that seats in both houses of a bicameral stat legislature must also, to satisfy the Equal Protection Clause, represent districts as equal in population as practicably possible. The federal Senate was unaffected since the Constitution explicitly grants each state two senators.

21.  Joseph Biden Democrat  Delaware  Vice President of the United States Presiding officer Votes in case of tie  Not a member of the Senate  Article I, Section 3, Clause 4: ‘The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.’

22.  Patrick Leahy: Democrat  Vermont  Assumed Office: December 17, 2012  Unaninimously selected Following the death of Daniel Inouye  Presiding officer in the absence of the Vice President Chosen by majority party  Senior Member Honorific Position

23.  Minority Leader: Harry Reid  Democrat  Nevada Assumed Office:  January 3, 1987  Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell  Republican  Kentucky Assumed Office:  January 3, 1985

24.  John Boehner: Republican  Ohio  Assumed Office: January 3, 1991  Powers: Recognizes who may speak on the floor Rules on relevance of motions Assigns bills to committees Appoints members of conference and select committees

25.  Majority Leader: Kevin McCarthy  Republican  California Assumed Office:  August 1, 2014  Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi  Democrat  California Assumed Office:  June 2, 1987

26.  Minority Whip Steny Hoyer  Democrat  Assumed Office:  January 3, 2011  Majority Whip Steve Scalise  Republican  Assumed Office  August 1, 2014

27.  Majority/Minority Leader: Chief party spokesperson Manages & schedules Senate business  Majority/Minority Whips: Keeps leaders informed Rounds up votes  Committee Chairmen: Manages committee business Manages bill debate on the floor  ‘Seniority Rule’  Party Caucus: Meeting of party members in each house  Selects:  Party Leaders  Party Whips