Congress In Action Unit III, Section 3 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Congress In Action

Unit III, Section 3Slide2

Section I & II

Congress Organizes & Committees In CongressSlide3

Opening Day

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 appointedSlide4

…Continued

Senate

Continuous House

1/3 of Senate up for election at a time

Swearing in of reelected or new members

Fill Senate organization vacanciesSlide5

State of the Union Address

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 legislationSlide6

Presiding Officers

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 SuccessionSlide7

…Continued

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 successionSlide8

Party Officers

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 chambersSlide9

Committee Chairperson

Bulk of work done at committee level

Head of standing committee

Majority party member

Keeps bill flow going Slide10

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 SenateSlide11

…Continued

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 interestsSlide12

…Continued

Select Committees

Special committees

Approved by presiding officer

Investigatory power

Standing

SituationalSlide13

Joint & Conference Committees

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 documentSlide14

Section III

Highlights

How a Bill Becomes a Law:

The House Slide15

The First Steps

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 considerationSlide16

Types of Resolutions

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 opinionSlide17

…Continued

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 billSlide18

The Bill in Committee

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 informationSlide19

…Continued

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 calendarsSlide20

House Rules

Rules Committee can,

Limit floor debate

Work toward killing a bill

Allow bills certain privileges

Suspend rules

House may move off established proceduresSlide21

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 C of the W

Limited debate time to 1 hour

Leadership helps divide debate time

House members may “move the previous question”Slide22

…Continued

Voting

Series of votes for one bill

Vote on amendments, motions, etc

Four voting measures

Voice voting

Standing voting

Teller voting

Roll-call votingSlide23

Section IV

The Bill in the SenateSlide24

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 presentationSlide25

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 debateSlide26

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 RightsSlide27

…Continued

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 speakSlide28

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 onSlide29

Final Steps Slide30

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 adjournmentsSlide31

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 10 within submitting bill

President does not act, the bill dies