Congress In ActionCh. 12 Notes and Review

Congress Organizes

Sect. 12.1

Speaker of the House

Arguably the most powerful person in Congress (House or Senate)

The elected presiding officer of the House and the leader of the majority party in the House

Expected to preside in a fair and judicious manner, also expected to help their own party whenever possible

Roles and Duties

To preside and keep order over the House

Decides who gets to speak and when Interprets and applies the rules Refers bills to committees Decides when to call a vote With careful planning, can usually

decide the outcome of most votes

Speaker of the U.S. HouseJohn Boehner – Republican from

Ohio

President of the Senate

Sounds more important than it really is. Not a member of the Senate at all. The position is reserved for the Vice

Pres. When the VP is there, he or she does

have the powers of the presiding officer However, the VP is rarely present in the

Senate.

VP usually goes to the Senate for special occasions or events of critical importance

VP (Pres. Of the Senate) most important role is to vote in case of a tie

President of the Senate and V.P. of the U.S. Joseph Biden

Democrat from Delaware

President Pro Tempore of the Senate

Presides over the Senate when the VP is not present; most of the time.

Elected by the members of the Senate A leading member of the majority party

(not necessarily the same party as the VP)

President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye – Democrat

from Hawaii

                      

Floor Leaders and Party Whips

Floor Leaders (Majority and Minority)– These are “unofficial” positions but hold the

most power next to the Speaker of the House

– They are concerned with party strategy– Help to “steer” Congressional actions to

best benefit their party– Chosen by their party

Majority and Minority Whips

– Assistant to the Majority and Minority Floor Leaders

– Again, chosen by their party

– Try to organize the vote by their party members. Obviously, they try to convince their members to vote with the party

House Majority LeaderCong. Eric Cantor – Republican from

Virginia

House Minority LeaderCong. Nancy Pelosi – Democrat from

California

Senate Majority LeaderSen. Harry Reid – Democrat from

Nevada

Senate Minority LeaderSen. Mitch McConnell – Republican

from Kentucky

Senate Majority WhipSen. Richard Durbin – Democrat from

Illinois

Senate Minority WhipSen. Jon Kyl – Republican from Arizona

House Majority WhipCong. Kevin McCarthy – Republican

from California

House Minority WhipCong. Steny Hoyer – Democrat from

Maryland

Party Caucuses (Party Conference)

Closed meeting of each party in each house

Deals with party organization Selection of party leaders Discussion on committee selection Issues of party strategy

Committee Chairpersons The head of each standing committee in

each chamber of congress Decides when the committee will meet,

what bills they will discuss, when to hold public hearings and which witnesses to hear

Chairperson will try to see their committee’s bills all the way through passage

The Seniority Rule

An unwritten custom in Congress The most important jobs and committee

assignment go to the those with the longest records of service to Congress

Particularly important in committees since that is where most of the difficult work of Congress takes place

Seniority Rule Pros

The most experienced and respected people will hold the most important jobs

Easy rule to apply Eliminates bickering among party

members

Seniority Rule Cons

Ignores ability or someone’s specialty Discourages young members Members who have been in Congress

for a long time might be out of touch with the wishes of the people

No new people with new ideas

End of 12.1

More Later

Making Laws

12.3 & 12.4

Origin of Bills

Bills come from many sources.– Exec. Branch Agencies– Industry– Special Interest Groups– Private Citizens– Members of Congress

House or Senate

A Bill can begin its process in either the House or Senate.

Depends on who is sponsoring the Bill. Tax Bills MUST begin in the House of

Representatives.

Public and Private Bills

Public Bills apply to the nation as a whole.

Private Bills apply to a select group who are uniquely affected by the Bill.

Riders and Pork Barrel Additions to a Bill that are unrelated to

the intended subject. Items that are unlikely to pass on their

own. Included in an unrelated Bill so as to “ride” through the process and become law.

Usually a pet project of particular members of Congress.

Pork Barrel Spending!!

Christmas Trees

A Bill with LOTS of Riders. Gifts for everyone.

Introduction

Each Bill is numbered and given a title. Copies are made for each

Representative. Entered into The Record. The Bill is read to the whole House.

The Speaker

The House Speaker assigns the Bill to a Committee.

Has some discretion (flexibility) where he/she sends the Bill.

This can have a huge impact on the chances for the Bill’s survival.

Standing Committee Sieve

Standing Committees receive a huge amount of Bills.

They must sift through them and focus on only the Bills with the most merit or importance.

All others are “killed”.

“Pigeon Holed”

Not accepted and not rejected. Put on a shelf and never acted upon. Requires a majority vote in the House to

save it.

Subcommittees

Needed to divide up the overall workload of the committee as a whole.

Research, hearings, debates, mark ups and revisions.

Only when subcommittee work is done, the Bill will be considered by the committee as a whole.

Quorum

The minimum number of Representative that must be present for the House to do business (vote).

Quorum Calls – Force Reps. to drop what they are doing and go to the floor of the House.

Consideration by the HOUSE

Read, Debated, Amended, rewritten. Finally voted on! On to the Senate.

Lawmaking in the Senate

12.4 Notes

Formality and Strictness Rules

Senate rules are less formal and less strict. More “gentlemanly” behavior is just assumed.

Time and Subject Rules

Strict rules in the House. Senate:

– No limits on speaking time.– No limits on subject.– Only two speeches per Senator per day.

The Filibuster

A notorious feature of the Senate. Filibuster – an attempt to “talk a Bill to

death”, or at least to delay a vote. No time limits on a Senators speech.

He/She can talk for as long as they are able.

Delay a vote or force changes to a Bill.

Effectiveness– Very effective– Many compromises are reached just by the

threat of a filibuster.

Filibuster Video Clips

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,62728779001_1955614,00.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVc2kMXF_8c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a94cm4Fv_34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIG-kfT9bI

Fixing the Filibuster http://video.app.msn.com/watch/video/fi

xing-the-filibuster/6wtibiv?cpkey=bf5dae20-e26c-467e-a023-da6634bebded%7C%7C%7C%7C

Cloture

The Cloture Rule, can essentially put an end to a filibuster.

Requires 3/5 vote of the Senate (60) votes.

Senators hesitate to call for Cloture.– Honor of Senate tradition– They may want to use the filibuster

themselves later

Conference Committees

A committee with members of both the House and the Senate

Must make House and Senate versions of a bill identical.

After leaving Conference, the bill must again be passed in both houses before being sent to the President.

The President’s Options

1. Sign the Bill and it becomes law. 2. Veto the Bill. Send it back to

Congress with objections.– 2/3 vote in both houses to override a veto;

not likely. 3. Do nothing for 10 days and the Bill

becomes law automatically.– What purpose?

4. Pocket Veto: Do nothing and Congress’ session ends before the 10 day rule. The Bill dies.

What purpose?

The Line Item Veto

Line Item Veto: Get out a marker and cross out items that the President does not like, then sign it into law.

Line Item Veto Pros? Line Item Veto Cons?