1. Dec. 8, 2016 CNN Student News Congress notes/discussion
Vocab. Quiz Monday, Dec. 12
Congress Quiz Dec. 16
Tissue Box Projects last day to turn without penalty Monday, Dec We will do a gallery walk of the amendments.

2. Congress Students will be able to:
Describe the qualifications for being a member of Congress.

3. Overview of Congress
Congress is charged with the most basic government function - translating the public will into public policy (in the form of law)
James Madison called Congress “the first branch” of the nation government
The First Article of the Constitution - devoted to Congress

4. A little bit of a review... Two Houses The Senate - small of the two
The House of Representatives - the larger of the two
Reviewing the Qualification Worksheet and current leadership roles
vffeelTrqvhrz8H (Elections)

5. In your groups
Work on the qualifications for Congress (all information can be found in the textbook and/or your phone)
Crash Course:

6. Qualifications for Congress
House of Representatives
Senate
25 Years Old
30 Years Old
Citizen for 7 years
Citizen for 9 years
Must live in the district from which they are elected
Must live in the state from which they are elected

7. More Qualifications for Congress
House
Senate
How many members?
435
100
How long is a term?
2 years
6 years
Date of elections?
The first Tuesday after the first Monday every even year
How are they chosen?
By votes in the districts
By votes in the state

8. President of the Senate: Joe Biden
Elected in general presidential election
Chief presiding officer of the Senate
Cannot participate in floor debate
Casts vote only in case of a tie
Will be Mike Pence on January 20, 2017

9. President Pro Tempore (Senate): Orrin Hatch (R)
Chosen by the majority party; often the most senior member
Presides over the Senate in the absence of the vice-president

10. Senate Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R)
Chosen by the majority party
Majority party leader in the Senate
Steers party’s bills through the Senate
Plans the Senate’s work schedule along with the Minority leader
Makes sure majority members attend important sessions

11. Senate Minority Leader: Harry Reid (D)
Chosen by the minority party
Minority party leader in the Senate
Develops criticisms of the bills from the majority party
Consults with the Majority Leader over the Senate’s work schedule
Tries to keep members working together

12. Senate Majority Whip: John Cornyn (R)
Chosen by majority party
Assists Majority Leader
Rounds up members for key votes
Heads group of deputy whips

13. Senate Minority Whip: Richard Durbin (D)
Chosen by the minority party
Assists Minority Leader
Rounds up members for key votes
Heads group of deputy whips

14. Speaker of the House: Paul Ryan (R)
Chosen by the majority party
Chief Presiding officer of the House
Decides whom to recognize to speak on the floor
Decides to which committee bills go
Schedules bills for action
Appoints members of special and select committees

15. Majority Floor Leader: Kevin McCarthy (R)
Chosen by the majority party
Assists the Speaker
Plans party’s legislative program
Steer important bills through the House
Party leader

16. Minority Floor Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D)
Party leader of the minority party
Performs similar tasks to House Majority Leader
Has no power over scheduling work in the House

17. Majority Whip (House): Steve Scalise ®
Party floor leader
Keeps close watch on how majority members intend to vote
Attempt to influence voting

18. Minority Whip (House): Steny Hoyer (D)
Assists party minority leader
Keeps close watch on how majority members intend to vote
Attempts to influence voting

19. Important Info… The most powerful person in the Senate is the
Majority Leader - Mitch McConnell
The most powerful person in the House is the
Speaker of the House (Paul Ryan)
Emphasizes foreign policy
Senate
Emphasizes tax & revenue policy and Revenue bills originate here
House of Reps
Very formal debates and impersonal
Here is a good link to review these:

20. Congressional Powers Congress has wartime and peacetime powers
Your task:
In your random group, you will create a song that incorporates at least 10 Congressional Powers (use Article 1 as a guide!)
I advise you to use a song that exists and rewrite the lyrics using powers of Congress
You will be presenting these!

21. Districts
State legislatures are responsible for drawing Congressional Districts in their own state
They are to have “as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants”

22. How the districts are divided
Gerrymandering - districts were drawn to the advantage of the political party that controls the state’s legislature; the goal is to create as many districts that can be won by the party in control
Malapportionment - poorly apportioned, organized, or structured in a manner that prevents large sections of a population from having equitable representation in a legislative body
Apportionment - to distribute or allocate proportionally, based on population

23. Gerrymandering Game
Using the laptops, you will practice the process of redistricting
***Goal for Mission #1: keep the population as even as possible; the game will tell you the range of population numbers

24. Specifics on Congressional Powers Worksheet
Task:
Work through the powers and sort in the specific boxes
On the back, find the location of the specific Non-Legislative Powers and necessary information regarding that power
We will go over these

25. Congressional Power Overview
War Powers include:

26. Congressional Power Overview
Other Powers:

27. Congressional Power Overview
Non-Legislative Powers:

28. Electoral Duties

29. Impeachment

30. Executive Powers

31. Investigatory Power