1. Chapter 12- Congress
Objective – Students will be able to answer questions regarding the U.S. Congress.
SECTION
© 2001 by Prentice Hall, Inc.

2. Congress US CAPITOL BUILDING Legislative Branch – “makes laws”
American Government
US CAPITOL BUILDING
Legislative Branch – “makes laws”

3. Founders’ Intentions Strongest branch
American Government
Strongest branch
Separation of lawmaking power from executive
Bicameralism balances large/small states
House – more connected to people (2 yr term)
Senate – allows for independent thinking (6 yr term)

4. Important Differences
American Government
House
435 members
2 year term
7 year citizen
Initiate impeachment
Revenue bills
Strict debate rules
Senate
100 members
6 year term
9 year citizen
Tries impeachment
Approve presidential appointments
Approve treaties’
Loose debate rules

5. Constitutional Powers
American Government
Article I, Section 8
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imports
To borrow money
To regulate commerce (states and foreign)
To establish rules for naturalization
To coin money
To create courts (except Supreme Court)
To declare war
To raise and support an army and navy

6. Evolution of Powers Elastic clause has extended Congress powers
American Government
Elastic clause has extended Congress powers
Oversight of budget – can restrict the fed. budget prepared by executive branch
Appropriations – set amount of money made available for various activity in a fiscal year
Investigation – Congress can launch investigations (Watergate, Clinton-Lewinski hearings, Steroids in baseball)

7. House Leadership SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE MINORITY LEADER MAJORITY LEADER
American Government
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
MINORITY LEADER
MAJORITY LEADER
MINORITY WHIP
MAJORITY WHIP

8. PRESIDENT of the SENATE
Senate Leadership
American Government
PRESIDENT of the SENATE
(VICE PRESIDENT)
PRES. PRO TEMPORE
MAJORITY LEADER
(MOST POWERFUL)
MINORITY LEADER
MAJORITY WHIP
MINORITY WHIP

9. Leadership
American Government
Majority party controls the most significant leadership positions
House - Speaker of the House
Allows people to speak on floor
Assigns bills to committees
Influences which bills are brought to a vote
Appoints members of special and select committees
Senate – Majority Leader
Schedules Senate business
Prioritizes bills

10. Elections House members directly elected
American Government
House members directly elected
Senators directly elected after 17th Amend
House Incumbent advantage – Why?
Name recognition
Proven track record
Franking privileges – free mailing

11. Illinois Districts
American Government

12. Representation Malapportionment – unequal population in districts
American Government
Malapportionment – unequal population in districts
Wesberry v. Sanders (1963) – found unequal district pop. unconstitutional – 14th amend
Gerrymandering – district boundaries are redrawn in strange ways to make it easy for candidate of one party to win
Easley v. Cromartie (2001) – redistricting for political ideology was constitutional, led to increase in minority reps

13. Illinois 4th District
American Government
Luis Guitierrez – (D-IL)

14. How A Bill Becomes a Law Create legislation, make laws
American Government
Create legislation, make laws
Founders believed in a SLOW process
Founders believed efficiency was a trait of an oppressive government

15. Step 1 – Introduce Bill Introduced in Senate or House (except tax)
American Government
Introduced in Senate or House (except tax)
Single or multiple reps can introduce bill

16. Step 2 - Committee
American Government
Bill is assigned to a particular committee in its category (Ex. Tax bill – Ways and Means Committee, Farm bill – Agriculture Committee)
Bill is then placed in sub-committee
Bills are debated and “marked up”
Most bills die in committee, committee can vote to “report out” a bill

17. Step 3–Rules Committee
American Government
Before bill can go to floor in House, it must first set time limits and amendment regulations.
Closed rule – sets time limits, restricts amendments
Open rule – permits amendments
Restrictive rule – permits some amendments

18. Step 4 – Floor Debate Senate Debate Less formal, no speaking limit
American Government
Senate Debate
Less formal, no speaking limit
Filibuster – practice of stalling a bill w/ debate
Cloture – 3/5 of the Senate vote to stop debate
House Debate
More formal, no filibuster, strict rules

19. Step 5 - Voting Majority passes
American Government
Majority passes
If the bill passes, it must go through the same process in the opposite chamber with a sponsor
If the bill passes one house and fails the other, it must start over
If the Senate and House cannot come to agreement over two versions, it goes to Conference Committee to fix it and resubmit the bill

20. Presidential Action Sign – bill becomes law
American Government
Sign – bill becomes law
Veto – bill returns to origin
Override – 2/3 vote in both houses can override veto
Pocket Veto – President has 10 days to act on a piece of legislation. If he receives the bill within 10 days of the end of the Congressional session, and doesn’t sign, it dies

21. Override
American Government

22. Committees and Subcommittees
American Government
Most real work happens here
Bills are passed, changed, ignored, or killed

23. Types of Committees Standing committee Select committee
American Government
Standing committee
– handle bills in different policy areas
(ex. Appropriations, Agriculture, Armed Services, Science, etc.)
– most important and have been “standing” (existing) for a long time
Select committee
– formed for specific purposes and usually temporary – run investigations (ex. Aging, Intelligence)

24. Types of Committees Joint committee Conference committee
American Government
Joint committee
– consist of both House and Senate members
similar in purpose to Select committee
Meant to draw attention to issues
Conference committee
– consist of both House reps and Senators
formed to hammer out differences between House and Senate versions of similar bills

25. Committee Membership
American Government
Controlled by majority party, committee membership divided proportionally
Committee Chairman
Senior member of committee
Controls membership and debate

26. Work of Committees 11,000 bills introduced yearly, most die
American Government
11,000 bills introduced yearly, most die
Committees can…
Report out favorably/unfavorably
Pigeonholed/table (do not discuss)
Amend / “mark up” (change or rewrite)

27. Congressional Caucuses
American Government
Groupings of members pushing for similar interests
Ex. – Sunbelt, Northeast-Midwest, Congressional Black, Women’s, Democratic Study Group, Boll Weevils, Steel

28. Criticisms of Congress
American Government
“Pork” – aka “pork-barrel legislation” – bills to benefit constituents in hope of gaining their votes
Logrolling – Congress members exchange votes, bills might pass for frivolous reasons
Christmas-tree bill –bill with many riders (pork)
in Senate, no limit exists on amendments, so Senators try to attach riders that will benefit their home state

29. Term-limits Debate
American Government
No current limit on how many terms members of Congress can serve
Some argue this has weakened popular control of Congress, reps might be unresponsive to their constituents
Some argue most experienced reps have the expertise to bring home more benefits (pork, riders, etc.)

30. Section Assessment
Describe the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
2. Describe the process by which a bill becomes a law.

31. Summary: In a paragraph, describe what you have learned today.