How Congress Works Part 1 - Hazleton Area High School · How Congress Works Part 1: ... 110th...
Transcript of How Congress Works Part 1 - Hazleton Area High School · How Congress Works Part 1: ... 110th...
Demographic Profile of Congress
Age Groups
EthnicityGender
Party
Source: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/demographics.tt
House-Senate Differences
House
435 members; 2 yr terms
Low turnover
Speaker bill referral hard to challenge
Scheduling/rules controlled by majority party with powerful Rules Committee (controls time of debate, amends., etc)
Senate
100 members; 6 yr
terms
Moderate turnover
Referral decisions
easily challenged
Scheduling/rules
agreed to by majority &
minority leaders
House-Senate Differences
House
Debate limited to 1 hour
Members policy specialists
Emphasizes tax & revenue policy
More formal & impersonal
Senate
Unlimited debate unless cloture invoked
Members policy generalists
Emphasizes foreign policy
More informal & personal
Party Leadership
Bicameral Democratic Leadership
110th Congress
Senate Republican Leadership
110th Congress
HOUSE LEADERSHIP
Speaker (majority
party)
Democrats:
• Majority Leader
• Majority Whip
• Chairman of the Caucus
• Steering & Policy Committee
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Majority Whip
James Clyburn (D-SC)
HOUSE LEADERSHIP
Republicans:
• Minority Leader
• Minority Whip
• Chairman of Conference
• Policy Committee
• Committee on Committees
• National Republican Congressional Committee
• Research Committee
Minority Leader
John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Minority Whip
Roy Blunt (R-MO)
SENATE LEADERSHIP
President of the Senate (Vice President)
President Pro Tempore (majority party)
Democrats:
• Majority Leader
• Majority Whip
• Chairman of Conference
• Policy Committee
• Steering Committee
• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV)
President Pro Temp
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Majority Whip
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
President of the Senate
Joe Biden (D-DE)
SENATE LEADERSHIP
Republicans:
• Minority Leader
• Minority Whip
• Chairman of Conference
• Policy Committee
• Committee on Committees
• Republican Senatorial Committee
Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Whip
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Strength of Party Structure?
• Measure of party strength:
1. Ability of leaders to control party rules
and organization
2. Extent to which party members vote
together in the House and Senate
• Senate: less party-centered and leader
oriented
Party Unity
• Lower today than 100 years ago, but…..
• Ideology important variable explaining party voting (members vote with their party 80% of the time)
• Party polarization - vote in which majority of democrats oppose majority of republicans
• Polarization trends:
o 1976 HR = 36%; S = 37%
o 1995 HR = 73%; S = 69%
o 2000 HR = 43%; S = 49%
CAUCUSES
• Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue
common legislative objectives
• Rivals to parties in policy formulation
• Examples: Democratic Study Group,
Congressional Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch
Bunch, Human Rights, Congressional Caucus for
Women’s Issues, Out of Iraq Caucus,
Rural Caucus, Travel & Tourism Caucus, House
Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children
"Congress in session is Congress on public
exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-
rooms is Congress at work.” - Woodrow Wilson
Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose
1. Consider bills (a.k.a. “mark-up” bills)
A bill with a member’s mark-up notes
Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose
2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before a Senate Appropriations
Committee hearing re: the Department of Defense Budget (May, 2006)
Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose
3. Conduct investigations
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the Senate Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006)
Types of Committees
Standing Committees - permanent panel with full legislative functions and oversight responsibilities
• Subcommittees – formed to tackle very specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committees
Select or Special Committees - groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration
Joint Committees - includes members of both chambers to conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks
Conference Committee - includes members of House & Senate to work out differences between similar bills
House Standing Committees
Agriculture
Appropriations
Armed Services
Budget
Education & Workforce
Energy & Commerce
Financial Services
Government Reform
House Admin.
International Relations
Judiciary
Resources
Rules
Science
Small Business
Standards of Official Conduct
Transportation & Infrastructure
Veterans Affairs
Ways & Means
Senate Standing Committees
Agriculture, Nutrition, &
Forestry
Appropriations
Armed Services
Banking, Housing, & Urban
Affairs
Budget
Commerce, Science,
Transportation
Energy & Natural Resources
Environment and Public
Works
Finance
Foreign Relations
Governmental Affairs
Health, Education, Labor
& Pensions
Judiciary
Rules and Administration
Small Business and
Entrepreneurship
Veterans Affairs
Special, Select Committees
• House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming
• Senate Select Committee on Ethics
• House & Senate Select Committees on Intelligence
Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full
committee hearing of the Senate Select
Intelligence Committee on his nomination to be
director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Joint Committees
• Joint Economic Committee
• Joint Committee on Printing
• Joint Committee on Taxation
Joint Committee on
Taxation hearing
How A Bill Becomes Law
Fact: About 5,000 bills are
introduced in Congress
every year, but only about
150 are signed into law.
1. Explain why so few bills
become law.
2. Is that a good thing or a
bad thing?
3. Should the legislative
process in Congress be
reformed? If yes, what
changes would you
recommend? If not, why
not?Source: http://acswebcontent.acs.org/olga/legissummbilltolaw.pdf
Title: Resolution Artist: Bob Gorrell
Date: 12/28/06 Source: http://www.gorrellart.com/
Title: Imagine there’s no Congress Artist: Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Date: 6/06/07 Source: http://www.politicalcartoons.com/
Title: Senator Reid Can
Handle the Truth
Artist: RJ Matson
Date: 6/18/07
Source:
http://www.politicalcarto
ons.com