CONGRESS

BICAMERAL CONGRESS

2 houses Historical-British Parliament consisted of 2

houses since the 1300’s Practical-had to create a two house Congress due

to the conflict between the New Jersey and Virginia Plan

Theoretical- each house can check one another- diffuse the power so it doesn’t overwhelm the other two branches.

TERMS AND SESSIONS

Each term of Congress lasts for two years Start of a new term was changed by the 20th

Amendment in 1933. Changed from March 4th to January 3rd every other year.

113th Congress: January 3, 2013-January 3, 2015

Session: the amount of time every year that Congress gets together and conducts business. There are two sessions a term Recess/adjourn-Sine die Special session- president calls – deals with some

type of emergency situation.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

435 members (fixed by Congress)- apportioned among the states based on population. Voters in the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin

Islands, American Samoa elect delegates and Puerto Rico elects a resident commissioner- no voting power

Elected every 2 years- “pay close attention to the folks back home”

Vesting Clause- “ Article 1, Section 1. All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States”

U.S. House of Representatives The 3/5th’s Clause- “All other persons” 65 members of the House at first (Virginia had the

most at 10). 1911- capped at 435

REAPPORTIONMENT

Reapportion every 10 years- 2010 Reapportionment Act of 1929-

Permanent size is 435 members Represent on average 700,000 people Census bureau decides how many

representatives a state should have When Bureau is ready, must send it to President

who then sends it to Congress. It must not be rejected within 60 days.

CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS

Election: First Tuesday after the first Monday in the month of November

Off-year elections: The party that holds the presidency usually loses seats in a off-year election.

Most are elected in by single member districts rather than “at large”- 1842

Gerrymandering Packing Cracking Compact, Connected, Equal population Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964- Equal population Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 1960 and Bush v. Vera, 1996

Redistricting-Where the lines are drawn

FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS

25 years old, citizen for at least 7 years, be an inhabitant of the state that he/she is elected from.

House can exclude people from membership- 1900- Brigham Roberts from Utah

House has expelled 5 people (3 in 1861, Michael Myers in 1980 and James Traficant in 2002).

House can punish (Barney Frank in 1990) Incumbant- win over 90% of time

SENATE

100 Senators represent the 50 states Framers hoped that the Senate would be a

more enlightened and responsible body than the House

Before the 17th Amendment in 1912- state legislatures elected the Senators in. In 1912- changed to popular vote at large.

6 year terms- Robert Byrd (W.V.)-1958 Continuous body More focused on the ‘bigger picture’

QUALIFICATIONS

30 years old, have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least 9 years and an inhabitant of the state that they decide to run in.

Incumbancy Removal

Concurrence- 15 members have been expelled

WHAT DO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS LOOK LIKE?

Not an accurate cross-section of the United States!

Mostly white, protestant, males in their 50-60’s, married, two children on average

Salary- $174,000 a year Generous benefits

Franking privilege

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE

Delegates Agents of the people who elected them

Trustees Each question faced should be decided on its

merits Partisans

Owe first allegiance to their political party Politicos

Attempt to combine the basic elements of other three

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Proposed laws (bills) are proposed to Congress and must go through certain committees

Choose if it goes to floor consideration Makes sure that executive agencies carry out

laws/spend money correctly Oversight function

SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE

Helping the “folks back home” Passport applications Small business loans Social Security benefits Etc.

Tend to get overwhelmed with requests