1. Congressional Committees The Division of Labor in Congress

2. How Congress Manages Work Congress is responsible for conducting a large amount of business. To manage all of this work, there is a division of labor. Different people are responsible for certain tasks. Committees are where much of the work of Congress is conducted.

3. Standing Committees Standing Committees are permanent panels where all similar bills can be sent. Now there are 20 standing committees in the House and 16 standing committees in the Senate. Each house committee has from 10 to as many as 75 members. Each senate committee has from 14 to as many as 28 members.

4. Committee Assignments Representatives are usually assigned to one or two standing committees. Senators are assigned to three or four. Chairman of each committee are chosen according to the seniority rule Seniority Rule – Most important posts are held by those party members with the longest records of service in the Congress

5. Ticket Out Look at the charts on pages 330 and 331 in your text. For a ticket out, respond to the following prompt: What was the average age of House Committee Chairs in 2007, and what does this tell you about the leadership of the Congress?