1. How Congress Works Part 1:
Structure, Organization,
& Legislative Process

2. Who’s in Congress?

3. Demographic Profile of Congress
Age Groups
Party
Gender
Ethnicity
Source:

4. House-Senate Differences
435 members; 2 yr terms
Low turnover
Speaker bill referral hard to challenge
Scheduling/rules controlled by majority party with powerful Rules Committee (controls time of debate, amends., etc)
Senate
100 members; 6 yr terms
Moderate turnover
Referral decisions easily challenged
Scheduling/rules agreed to by majority & minority leaders

5. House-Senate Differences
Debate limited to 1 hour
Members policy specialists
Emphasizes tax & revenue policy
More formal & impersonal
Senate
Unlimited debate unless cloture invoked
Members policy generalists
Emphasizes foreign policy
More informal & personal

6. Party Leadership Bicameral Democratic Leadership 110th Congress
Senate Republican Leadership
110th Congress

7. HOUSE LEADERSHIP Speaker (majority party) Democrats: Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Chairman of the Caucus
Steering & Policy Committee
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Majority Whip
James Clyburn (D-SC)
Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

8. HOUSE LEADERSHIP Republicans: Minority Leader Minority Whip
Chairman of Conference
Policy Committee
Committee on Committees
National Republican Congressional Committee
Research Committee
Minority Leader
John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Minority Whip
Roy Blunt (R-MO)

9. President of the Senate
SENATE LEADERSHIP
President of the Senate (Vice President)
President Pro Tempore (majority party)
Democrats:
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Chairman of Conference
Policy Committee
Steering Committee
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
President of the Senate
Dick Cheney (R-WY)
President Pro Temp
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Majority Whip
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV)

10. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
SENATE LEADERSHIP
Republicans:
Minority Leader
Minority Whip
Chairman of Conference
Policy Committee
Committee on Committees
Republican Senatorial Committee
Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Whip
Trent Lott (R-MS)

11. Strength of Party Structure?
Measure of party strength:
Ability of leaders to control party rules and organization
Extent to which party members vote together in the House and Senate
Senate: less party-centered and leader oriented

12. Party Unity Lower today than 100 years ago, but…..
Ideology important variable explaining party voting (members vote with their party 80% of the time)
Party polarization - vote in which majority of democrats oppose majority of republicans
Polarization trends:
HR = 36%; S = 37%
HR = 73%; S = 69%
HR = 43%; S = 49%

13. CAUCUSES
Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue common legislative objectives
Rivals to parties in policy formulation
Examples: Democratic Study Group, Congressional Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch Bunch, Human Rights, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Out of Iraq Caucus,
Rural Caucus, Travel & Tourism Caucus, House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children

14. "Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work.”
- Woodrow Wilson

15. Legislative Committees:
Function and Purpose

16. Legislative Committees: Function & Purpose
1. Consider bills (a.k.a. “mark-up” bills)
A bill with a member’s mark-up notes

17. Legislative Committees: Function & Purpose
2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing re: the Department of Defense Budget (May, 2006)

18. Legislative Committees: Function & Purpose
3. Conduct investigations
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006)

19. Types of Committees
Standing Committees - permanent panel with full legislative functions and oversight responsibilities
Subcommittees – formed to tackle very specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committees
Select or Special Committees - groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration
Joint Committees - includes members of both chambers to conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks
Conference Committee - includes members of House & Senate to work out differences between similar bills

20. Standing Committees

21. House Standing Committees
Agriculture
Appropriations
Armed Services
Budget
Education & Workforce
Energy & Commerce
Financial Services
Government Reform
House Admin.
International Relations
Judiciary
Resources
Rules
Science
Small Business
Standards of Official Conduct
Transportation & Infrastructure
Veterans Affairs
Ways & Means

22. Senate Standing Committees
Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry
Appropriations
Armed Services
Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs
Budget
Commerce, Science, Transportation
Energy & Natural Resources
Environment and Public Works
Finance
Foreign Relations
Governmental Affairs
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Judiciary
Rules and Administration
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Veterans Affairs

23. Special, Select Committees
House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming
Senate Select Committee on Ethics
House & Senate Select Committees on Intelligence
Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full committee hearing of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

24. Joint Committees Joint Economic Committee Joint Committee on Printing
Joint Committee on Taxation
Joint Committee on Taxation hearing

25. The Legislative Obstacle Course

26. How A Bill Becomes Law
Fact: About 5,000 bills are introduced in Congress every year, but only about 150 are signed into law.
Explain why so few bills become law.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Should the legislative process in Congress be reformed? If yes, what changes would you recommend? If not, why not?
Source:

27. Title: Resolution Artist: Bob Gorrell
Date: 12/28/06 Source:

28. Artist: R.J. Matson, New York Observer & Roll Call
Date: 1/18/07
Source:

29. Title: Imagine there’s no Congress
Title: Imagine there’s no Congress Artist: Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Date: 6/06/07 Source:

30. Title: Senator Reid Can Handle the Truth
Artist: RJ Matson
Date: 6/18/07
Source:

31. Source: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/ Date: 5/6/06