1. Congress In Action
Unit III, Section 3

2. Congress Organizes & Committees In Congress
Section I & II
Congress Organizes & Committees In Congress

3. Opening Day January 3 House of Representatives
Reestablishes order after every 2 year election
Re-appoints the Speaker of the House
Majority party member
Sworn in first, then swears in House members
Rep. sit left/Dems. sit right of the aisle
Other appointments made
Clerk, parliamentarian, chaplain, etc.
Members of committees appointed

4. Opening Day Senate Continuous Body
1/3 of Senate up for election at a time
Swearing in of re-elected or new members
Fill Senate organization vacancies

5. State of the Union Address
Occurs in weeks following term beginnings
Major political event
President outlines/reports on
Domestic issues
Foreign policy
Legislative recommendations
Ripples into a flood of executive legislation

6. Presiding Officers Speaker of the House Paul Ryan
Elected by constituency first as a representative and then by majority party
Presides & keeps order
Keeps bill flow & committee process going
Follows VP in Presidential line of succession
Paul Ryan

7. Presiding Officers President of the Senate President Pro Tempore
VP holds this position
Not body member
Not necessarily a majority party member
President Pro Tempore
Active in VP’s absence
Elected by Senators
Follows Speaker of the House in succession
Mike
Pence
Orrin Hatch

8. Party Officers Party Caucus Floor Leadership Closed meeting of party
Deals with party issues and organization
Floor Leadership
Legislative strategist
Majority/Minority Leadership
Whips
Leadership assistants
Liaison between rank-and-file and leadership
Truancy officers of the chambers

9. Committee Chairperson
Bulk of work done at committee level
Head of standing committee
Majority party member
Keeps bill flow going

10. Committee Assignments
Standing Committees
Used to keep similar bills together
House
10-75 member committees/1-2 committees per member
Senate
14-28 member committees/3-4 committees per member
Bill making process
Referred by Speaker or President of the Senate

11. Committee Assignments
Committees vary by importance and interest
Majority party holds most seats
Minority party still represented
Subcommittees
150
Used to look at specific interests

12. Committee Assignments
Select Committees
Special committees
Approved by presiding officer
Investigatory power
Standing
Situational

13. Joint & Conference Committees
Joint Committee
Made up of members of both houses
Economic
The Library
Printing
Taxation
Conference Committee
Joint Body
Creates signable version of 2 house legislation
Both Houses must accept final document

14. Highlights How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House
Section III
Highlights
How a Bill Becomes a Law:
The House

15. The First Steps Bill Proposed laws form in both Houses
Proposed by chamber members but most often originates from executive branch
Ideas born from private citizen ideas
Standing committees research
Broken up into private and public bills
Bills placed in hopper for consideration

16. Types of Resolutions Joint Resolution Concurrent Resolutions
When passed have the force of law
Deal with unusual items
Used to propose constitutional amendments
Concurrent Resolutions
House & Senate act together
Does not have force of law Congressional opinion

17. Types of Resolutions Resolutions Rider From one house or another
No force of law
Used to introduce change to procedures
Rider
Included on an unrelated bill/resolution
Not likely to pass on own merit
Hope it will “ride” through on a well supported bill

18. The Bill in Committee Bills first step in bill process
Analyzes, amends, kills bills
Most bills die or are never acted on
Discharge petition
Forces bill quickly through committee
Subcommittees do most of the work
Investigates, holds public hearings, has junkets, etc. to gather information

19. The Bill in Committee Committee Actions Report bill favorably
Refuse to report the bill
Report bill in amended form
Report the bill with unfavorable recommendation
Report a committee bill

20. House Rules Rules Committee can Limit floor debate
Work toward killing a bill
Allow bills certain privileges
Suspend rules
House may move off established procedures

21. The Bill on the Floor Committee of the Whole
Helps speed up bill process
Includes all House members
Less strict rules
Quorum needed to do regular House work
Only 100 needed for Committee of the Whole
Limited debate time to 1 hour
Leadership helps divide debate time
House members may “move the previous question”

22. The Bill on the Floor Voting Four voting measures
Series of votes for one bill
Vote on amendments, motions, etc
Four voting measures
Voice voting
Standing voting
Teller voting
Roll-call voting

23. Section IV
The Bill in the Senate

24. Introducing the Bill Bill is first given a number
Less formalized process than in the House
One committee calendar to work with
Majority floor leader determines bill’s final floor presentation

25. Rules for Debate Unrestricted floor debate in the Senate
Senators may freely speak on any matter
“Previous question” cannot be moved
“Two-speech” rule
No Senator may speak more than twice on a given question/issue
Helps limit amount of time on debate

26. Filibuster “Talk a bill to death” Stalling tactic in the Senate
Seeking to kill or change a bill
Senator Huey Long (D, Louisiana)
15 hours, 1935
Strom Thurmond (R, South Carolina)
24 hours, 15 minutes, 1957
Pushed against Civil Rights

27. Filibuster 200 measures killed due to filibuster
Sheer threat may lead a bill to be changed or killed
Rules
Must stand
May not sit, lean on a desk, or walk about
Must speak

28. The Cloture Rule Created in response to a 3 week filibuster in 1917
Bill dealing with German U-boat attacks
12 Senators were opposed, killed the bill
President Wilson and the public were outraged
Limits debate through special procedure
Limits debate to 30 hours
Must be then voted on

29. Final Steps

30. Conference Committees
Temporary joint committee
Deals with similar legislation that has disagreements
“Knits” together the two pieces
Often makes their own changes
Both houses usually agree on final bill
Powerful committee members
Usually occurs before adjournments

31. The President Acts Four executive options on a bill
The President may sign it
The President may VETO it
Congress may overturn this action (rarely)
Line item veto- targets specific point
Allows bill to become law without signing it
No executive action for 10 days (minus Sunday)
Pocket Veto
Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting bill
President does not act, the bill dies