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CHAPTER 5 STRUCTURE OF  CONGRESS CHAPTER 5 STRUCTURE OF  CONGRESS

CHAPTER 5 STRUCTURE OF CONGRESS - PowerPoint Presentation

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CHAPTER 5 STRUCTURE OF CONGRESS - PPT Presentation

Lesson 1 Congressional Membership ESSENTIAL QUESTION What is the structure and organization of Congress Organization of Congress Founders gave more power to Congress than to any other branch ID: 717374

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Slide1

CHAPTER 5

STRUCTURE OF CONGRESSSlide2

Lesson 1: Congressional Membership

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What is the structure and organization of Congress?Slide3

Organization of Congress

Founders gave more power to Congress than to any other branch.

Article I of the U.S. Constitution – legislative body

Bi-cameral Legislature

– two different houses

Senate

House of Representatives Slide4

Organization of Congress

SENATE

Serve 6 year terms; represent the entire state

Smaller number of Senators (100 – 2 per state)

Gives more power to minority

Less restrictive

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESServe 2 year terms; represent districts

Larger number of Representatives (435 – population)

Gives more power to the majority

Limits debatesSlide5

Organization of Congress

Congressional Sessions:

Each term of Congress begins on January 3 in odd number years

Lasts for 2 years (term)

Divided up into two (2)

sessions

– or meetings.Neither house can adjourn for more than three (3) days without the approval of the other house. Slide6

Membership of the House

House – 435 members

Seats are apportioned, or divided, bases on population

Each state has at least one seat

Qualifications and Term of Office

At least 25 years old

Be a citizen of the United States for at least seven (7) yearsBe legal resident of the state that elects them

All 435 members are reelected every two (2) yearsSlide7

9 ASIAN-AMERICANS 44 AFRICAN-AMERICANS 31 HISPANICS 2 NATIVE-AMERICANSSlide8

Membership of the House

Representation and Reapportionment

National

census

, or population count, taken every ten (10) years

State’s population determines the number of representatives – a process called

reapportionment Congressional RedistrictingEach state legislature draws the congressional districts

Representatives are elected from these districts

Redrawing district lines after reapportionment is called

redistricting

Gerrymandering

– redrawing district lines to benefit one political partySlide9
Slide10

CONGRESSIONAL REAPPORTIONMENT (2010)Slide11

Redistricting Cases

Tennessee

Baker v.

Carr

(1962)

– Supreme Court held that federal courts could decide conflicts over drawing district boundariesAlabamaReynolds v. Sims (1964) – required that seats in both houses of the state legislature be apportioned on a population basis

Georgia

Wesberry

v. Sanders

(1964)

ruled that a vote in one congressional district is worth as much as a vote in another districtSlide12

Gerrymandering

Term is traced to Elbridge Gerry, an early Massachusetts governor who singed a redistricting plan that gave his party an advantage over the Federalists.

“Packing” and “Cracking”

Packing a district means drawing the lines so they include as many of the opposing party’s votes as possible

Crowding the opposition’s voters into one district makes the remaining districts safe for the majority party’s candidates

Cracking means dividing an opponent’s voters into other districts to weaken his/her voter baseSlide13

Membership of the Senate

Qualifications and Term of Office

Must be at least thirty (30) years old

Citizen of the United States for nine (9) years

Legal residents of the state they represent

Elected

at-large, or statewide – no particular districtOne-third (1/3) of senators are reelected every two years

Salary and Benefits - $174,000 per year salary

27

th

Amendment – Congress cannot give itself a pay raise; the raise become effective only after another elections

Franking

privilege; staff; trips home; medical clinicSlide14

1 ASIAN-AMERICAN 2 AFRICAN-AMERICANS 3 HISPANICSSlide15

Membership of the House

Privileges of Members

Free from arrest when they are attending Congress or on the to or from Congress

Cannot be sued for anything they say on the House or Senate floor.

Each house may punish its own members for disorderly behavior by a majority vote and expel a legislator by a two-thirds vote.

May

censure

, formal disapproval of a member’s actionsSlide16

The Members of Congress

535 voting members – 100 senators and 434 representatives

Non-voting member - 5 delegates in the House – District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Marianas, and the Virgin Islands; 1 resident commission from Puerto Rico

Characteristics

Mostly lawyers; white, middle-aged males

Increases number of women and minorities

Reelection to Congress

Incumbents

– members who are already in officeSlide17
Slide18

Twitter and Congress

Elected officials strive to stay current with trends in technology, especially when those tools help them communicate with their constituents, potential donors, and voters. Analyze the Twitter communications of a congressional representative. The address is likely to being

https://twitter.com/

followed by that person’s name. Then answer the questions on

PAGE 140

in the Government Textbook.

What do the most recent 20 tweets tell you about the representative?Are the tweet interesting to you? Would you follow this representative if you also had a Twitter account?What could this representative do to make his or her tweets more compelling to people like you? What can elected officials say in 140 characters that is meaningful?Do voters need special skills to interpret this kind of brief but nearly continual contact?Slide19

Chapter 5, Lesson 1 Activity – complete questions on handoutSlide20

Lesson 2: The House of Representatives

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What is the structure and organization of Congress?Slide21

Rules in the House

Article I, Section 51 – each House may determine its own rules and proceedings

Complex Rules – defines individual actions

Limiting speaking for five minutes or less during debate

Tries to move legislation quickly

Leaders have more power in the House

Committee Work – perform most legislative activity

More important due to size

Serve on committees that are important to their

constituents

, or the people they representSlide22

Rules in the House

Importance of Party Affiliation:

Republicans and Democrats sit on opposite sides

Majority party decides legislative action

Majority selects leaders

Majority appoints committee chairsSlide23
Slide24

House Leadership

Organizing and unifying party members

Scheduling work

Making certain that lawmakers are present for key floor votes

Distributing and collecting information

Keeping the House in touch with the president

Influencing lawmakers to support their party’s positions

The Speaker of the House

– presiding officer

Most powerful leader

Chosen by a

caucus

, or closed meeting, of the majority partySlide25

House Leadership

House Floor Leaders

Majority Leader

– Speaker’s top assistant & Floor Leader

Help plan party’s legislative program

Steer important bills through the House

Make sure the chairpersons finish work on important billsWhips – helps the majority leader

Watch how majority-party members intend to vote on bills

Persuade them to vote as the party wishes

To see that party members are present to voteSlide26

Lawmaking in the House

The House is normally in session from Monday through Friday but most work is done from Tuesday through Thursday

All laws start as bills – or proposed laws

Representatives drop bills in the hopper

Speaker then sends bill to appropriate committee for study, discussion, and review

Only about 10 to 20 percent of bills make it to the floor for a vote

Bills that survive the committee process are placed on the House calendars

.Slide27

Lawmaking in the House (cont.)

The House Rules Committee

Very powerful; considered the “traffic officer”

Can move bills quickly, hold them back, or stop them completely

Can say how long a bill can be debated or revised

Settles disputes among other House committees, especially when they have concurrent jurisdiction

Often delays or blocks bills that representatives and House leaders do not want to come to a vote on the floorQuorum

– minimum number of members needed for official legislative action (218 members);

Committee of the whole = 100 membersSlide28

Chapter 5, Lesson 2 activity – complete questions on handoutSlide29

Lesson 3: The Senate

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What is the structure and organization of Congress?Slide30

The Senate at Work

All states are equal in the Senate (each has two senators)

Often called a

deliberative body

because it formally discusses public policies.

Senate chamber is smaller with 100 desks

Rules are more flexible

Usually allows for unlimited debate on billsSlide31

Leadership in the Senate

Vice President

presides over the Senate but cannot vote except to break a tie.

Senate party leaders do not have as much influence

The

president pro tempore

– “for the time being”Presides over Senate most of the timeFrom majority party with most seniorityMajority and Minority Leaders

Steer bills through the Senate

Makes sure party members attend important sessions

Gets support for key bills

Whips and assistant whips make sure legislators are present in the chamber when key votes come upSlide32
Slide33

Lawmaking in the Senate

Supermajority (2/3 vote) to approve treaties, overturn presidential vetoes, and remove federal officials from office if they have been impeached in the House

50 senators plus 1 to pass a proposed bill (simple majority)

Procedures are less formal than in the House

No need for a Rules Committee

Only has two (2) calendars:

Calendar of General Orders – lists bills to considerExecutive Calendar – schedules treaties & nominationsSlide34

Lawmaking in the Senate

Unanimous Consent

A motion by all members present to set aside formal rules and consider a bill from the calendar

Senators can place

holds

on a bill and object

The FilibusterMany important bills need sixty senator to pass

Tactic used by senators to prevent a bill from coming to a final vote

“talk the bill to death” using unlimited debate and speaking continuously

Cloture resolution

can end a filibuster (60 votes needed)Slide35

Interpreting Political Cartoons

What do the expressions on the faces of the audience suggest about the speaker?

What will happen if rain comes from the cloud?Slide36

FILIBUSTER VIDEOSlide37

Chapter 5, Lesson 3 activity – complete questions on handoutSlide38

Lesson 4: Congressional Committees

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What is the structure and organization of Congress?Slide39

Purpose of Committees

Where most of the real work on bills takes place

Members hear testimony from experts

Propose amendments

Vote on whether to send the bill to the full House or Senate

Help ease the workload

Allows members to divide their work among smaller groupsSelect the bills that are to receive further consideration

Help the public learn about key problems and issues facing the nationSlide40

Kinds of Committees

There are FOUR (4) basic kinds of committees:

Standing Committees

Select Committees

Joint Committees

Conference CommitteesSlide41

Kinds of Committees (cont.)

Standing Committees

– continue from one legislative session to the next

Permanent committees to oversee bills that deal with certain kinds of issues

Controlled by the majority party

Subcommittees

– specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee’s responsibilityEx. Appropriations (12 subcommittees); Armed Services (7 subcommittees); Oversight and Government ReformSlide42

Kinds of Committees (cont.)

Select Committees

– temporary committees

Study one specific issue and report their findings to the Senate or the House

Lasts no more than one term of Congress

Ex. Permanent Select Intelligence Committee

Joint Committees – made up of members from both the House and the SenateCan be temporary or permanent

Acts a study group to report findings

Do not have the authority to deal directly with bills or to propose laws to CongressSlide43

Kinds of Committees (cont.)

Conference Committees

temporary committee

Set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of a bill

Resolves differences between the two versions of the bill

Conferees must accept the final compromise bill called a conference report before sending it to the floor of the House and SenateCan then send the one final bill to the president Slide44
Slide45

Choosing Committee Members

Assignment to Committees

Increase member’s chance of reelection

Influence national policies

Influence other members

Parties have the job of assigning members to committees

Role of the Committee ChairMake key decisions about the work of committeesDecide when hearings will be held

Manage floor debates

Seniority System

majority party member with the

longest uninterrupted service appointed leaderSlide46

Lesson 5: Staff and Support Agencies

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What is the structure and organization of Congress?Slide47

Chapter 5, Lesson 4 activity – complete questions on handoutSlide48

Congressional Staff Role

Lawmakers rely on their staffs to…

help them handle the workload of Congress

communicate with voters.

run committee hearings and floor sessions.

draft new bills.

write committee reports.

attend committee meetings.

help members get reelected.

help raise funds for political campaigns.

meet with lobbyists and visitors from home

.Slide49

Congressional Staff Growth

Congress has not always relied on staff to accomplish its work. For almost 100 years, senators and representatives had no personal aides.

After the Legislative Reorganization Act in 1946, the number of personal staff members went from 2,000 in 1947 to more than 10,600 in 2009.

Congressional staffs grew because lawmakers could not be experts on all the issues that came before their committees or upon which they voted in Congress.Slide50

Personal Staff

Congress includes two types of staffs:

Personal staff

members work directly for individual senators and representatives.

Committee staff

members work for the many House and Senate committees.

Senators receive a yearly budget to operate their offices and to pay staff salaries.Each member of the House has an allowance to pay for a personal staff that includes administrative assistants, legislative assistants, and caseworkers.Slide51

Personal Staff (cont.)

Administative assistants

– called the AA

Serves as chief of staff; runs the lawmaker’s office; supervises the lawmaker’s schedule; gives advice on political matters

deals with influential people from the lawmaker’s congressional district or state.

Legislative Directors – establishes the legislative agenda and briefs the lawmaker on all legislative matters

Legislative Assistants - make certain that the lawmaker is well informed about the many bills with which she or he must deal; do research, draft bills, and study bills currently in Congress; write speeches and articles for the lawmaker. Slide52

Personal Staff (cont.)

Press Secretaries

– communications director

Draft press releases for media; schedule press conferences; answer questions from the media

Assists with websites, blogs, tweets, and videos

Help shape the lawmaker’s public images, publicize their policy positions, and help citizens follow their legislative activitiesCaseworkers handle the many requests for help from people in a lawmaker’s state or congressional district.

usually staff the home district offices of the lawmaker. Slide53

Committee Staff

Every committee and subcommittee in Congress has staff members who work for that committee.

Committee staffers draft bills, study issues, collect information, plan committee hearings, write memos, and prepare committee reports.

Some senior committee staff members are experts in the area their committee covers

.Slide54

Support Agencies

The

Library of Congress

is one of the largest libraries in the world with more than 100 million items.

is the administrator of the copyright law.

has a Congressional Research Service (CRS) that answers thousands of requests for information from lawmakers, congressional staff, and committees.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – established in 1947coordinate the budget-making work of Congress.study the budget proposals put forward by the president each year.

make cost projections of proposed new programs.

General Accounting Office (GAO)-

the nation’s watchdog over the spending of funds Congress appropriates.

reviews the financial management of government programs that Congress creates.

Government Printing Office (GPO) -

does the printing for the entire federal government and prints the

Congressional Record