3.  January 3  House › Reestablishes order after every two year election › Reappoints 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.  Senate › Continuous House  1/3 of Senate up for election at a time › Swearing in of reelected or new members › Fill Senate organization vacancies

5.  Occurs in weeks following term beginnings  Major political event  Pres. outlines/reports on, › Domestic issues › Foreign policy › Leg. recommendations  Ripples into a flood of executive legislation

6.  Speaker of the House › Elected by constituency first (Representative) and then by majority party › Presides and keeps order › Keeps bill flow and committee process going › Follows VP in Pres. Line of Succession

7.  President of the Senate › VP holds this position › Not body member › Not necessarily a majority party member  President Pro Tem › Active in VP’s absence › Elected by Senators › Follows Speaker of the House in succession

8.  Party Caucus › 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.  Bulk of work done at committee level  Head of standing committee  Majority party member  Keeps bill flow going

10.  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.  Committees vary by importance and interest  House-20, Senate-16  Majority party holds most seats › Minority party still represented  Subcommittees › 150 › Used to look at specific interests

12.  Select Committees › Special committees › Approved by presiding officer › Investigatory power  Standing  Situational

13.  Joint › Made up of members of both houses  Economic  The Library  Printing  Taxation  Conference › Joint Body › Creates signable version of two house legislation  Both Houses must accept final document

15.  Bill › Proposed law form in both Houses › Proposed by chamber members but most often from executive branch › Ideas born from private citizen ideas › Standing committees › Broken up into private and public bills › Bill’s placed in hopper for consideration

16.  Joint Resolution › 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 all, simple Congressional opinion

17.  Resolutions › 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.  Bills first step in bill process  Analysis, 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.  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 › When scheduling floor debate the House has 5 calendars

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

21.  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 C of the W  Limited debate time to 1 hour  Leadership helps divide debate time  House members may “move the previous question”

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

24.  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.  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.  “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.  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.  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

30.  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.  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 10 within submitting bill  President does not act, the bill dies