Congress

Chapter 10

Section 1

The National Legislature Why is power divided between two

houses? What is a term of Congress? How have sessions of Congress

changed over time?

What exactly is Congress?

Senate House of Representatives

Elected officials from each state who represent us and work for us

http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/

What does Congress do? Make laws (Article 1 from Constitution)

Write, debate, and pass bills onto the President

Additional Agencies to support Congress Coin money, maintain a military, declare

war, regulate foreign and interstate commerce (trade)

Controls taxing and spending policies Oversee Departments, hold hearings

The meetings of Congress

In January every two years following congressional elections (voters choose all representatives and a third of the senators)

House membership (ALL) face re-election every two years Senate - continuing body because there is never an entirely new Senate.

Since the First Congress (1789 to 1791) all Congresses have been numbered in order.

Currently in the 112th Congress Meets once every year

Usually the session lasts from January 3rd to July 31st, but it can last much longer.

112th CongressJan 3, 2011 – Jan 3, 2013

Republicans have majority of the House 242 Republicans – largest since 80th

Congress (1947-1949) Democrats kept the majority in the

Senate, but not as much as previous

United States Senate51 Democrats

2 Independents47 Republicans

U.S. House of Representatives193 Democrats242 Republicans

112th Congress Major Events

Jan 6 – House of Representatives read a modified version of the Constitution (historic first)

Jan 8 – Tuscon shooting (D) Representative Gabrielle Giffords (and

19 other people) U.S. District Judge John Roll died in the

shooting Jan 25 – State of the Union address April 9 -Potential Government Shutdown

Why is power divided between two houses? (bicameral) History repeats itself – Parliament

has had two houses since 1300’s Practicality – Compromise between

Virginia and New Jersey Plans – settled representation issues

Theory – Checks and balances to keep Federal government from becoming too powerful

What is a term?

The length of time officials will serve after an election

20th Amendment (1933) sets the date “noon on the 3rd day of January” of

every odd numbered year

What is a session? The regular period of time during

which Congress conducts business Will adjourn (suspend until next

session, each regular session as it sees fit)

President can prorogue (adjourn) only when 2 houses cannot agree on date for adjournment

President can call special session to deal with emergency

Powers of Congress Mosaic 30pts

Pretend you are an artist who has been paid to create a mosaic/quilt on the Powers of Congress

Congress has 18 powers listed in the Constitution – you are to choose 9 of these powers to make your assignment

Tiles are to be rectangles with symbols/pictures that represent the power listed (like a $100 bill for “coin money”)

Each tile should also contain a title/key words to describe it

If done in video or quilt form = extra credit

I. House of Representatives A. Characteristics

1. size = 2. term = 3. dates of election =

B. Qualifications 1. age requirement = 2. length of citizenship = 3. residency =

C. Vocabulary Terms 1. gerrymandering 2. re-apportion 3. off-year election

I. Senate A. Characteristics

1. size = 2. term = 3. dates of election =

B. Qualifications 1. age requirement = 2. length of citizenship = 3. residency =

C. Vocabulary Terms 1. continuous body 2. constituents

House of Representatives

Section 2

House of Representatives

What are the size and terms of the House of Representatives?

How are House seats reapportioned among the States after each census?

How can we describe a typical congressional election and congressional district?

What are the formal and informal qualifications for serving in the House?

Rep. John Sullivanof Tulsa (1st District)Republican—6 terms

Rep. Dan Borenof Paden (2d District)Democrat—4 terms

US House of Representatives

Rep. Frank D. Lucasof Cheyenne (3d District)Republican—10 terms

Rep. Tom Coleof Moore (4th District)Republican—5 terms

Rep. James Lankfordof Edmond (5th District)Republican—1 term

Representative Qualifications FORMAL

At least 25 years old

Must have been a citizen of US at least 7 years

Must be inhabitant (live) in the state elected in

INFORMAL Party

identification Name familiarity Gender Ethnic

characteristics Political

experience

Speaker of the House

Roles: Calls the House to order Administers the oath of office to House

Members Presides over debates, recognizes Members to

speak on the floor, preserves order, delegates the power to another member of Congress

Sets the legislative agenda Leads the appointment process for chairs

(those in charge) of committees/subcommittees and conference committees

Second in line of Succession to Presidency

Speaker of the House Elected by fellow Members Nancy Pelosi (2007 to 2010)

“Firsts” as Speaker of the House Woman Italian-American Californian

John Boehner (R-Ohio) is the new SoH after Nov. 2 elections

Size and Terms

435 members Seats in the House

will be apportioned distributed among the states based on population

Members serve two-year terms

Currently, no limit on how many terms a House of Representative member can serve

SIZE TERMS

Reapportionment

U.S. population grows = number of representatives in the House also grows

Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the “permanent” size of the House at 435

members provided for “automatic reapportionment.”

Congressional Elections

Held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year.

Off-year elections are held between presidential elections

Districts and Gerrymandering

Under the single-member district arrangement, the voter’s in each district elect one of the State’s representatives.

The general-ticket system, no longer in use, provided that all of a State’s seats were filled at-large.

Districts that have unusual shapes or even defy description have sometimes been gerrymandered.

Gerrymandering refers to the act of drawing congressional districts to the advantage of the political party that controls the State legislature.

Districts Gerrymandering

Senate

Section 3

Senate

How does the size of the Senate differ from the size of the House?

How have States elected senators in the past and present?

How and why does a senator’s term differ from a representative’s term?

What are the qualifications for serving in the Senate?

Sen. James M. Inhofeof TulsaRepublican—Nov. 17, 1994

Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D.of MuskogeeRepublican—Jan. 4, 2005

Oklahoma Senators

Senator Qualifications

FORMAL At least 30 years old Must have been a citizen of US at

least 9 years Must be inhabitant (live) in the

state elected in

(Higher than those of a Representative)

Size and Terms

100 members Seats in the

Senate are guaranteed in the Constitution Each state has 2

Members serve six-year terms

Continuous body – meaning not all Senate seats up for election at once

SIZE TERMS

Members of Congress

What are the personal and political backgrounds of the current members of Congress?

What are the duties of the job of serving in Congress?

How are members of Congress compensated, and what privileges do they have?

US House of RepresentativesDemographics

Republicans 242 (55.63%) Democrats – 193 (44.37) Men – 363 (83.45%) Women – 72 (16.55%) Race – Sexual Orientation - Caucasians – 362 (83.22%) Straight/Heterosexual -431 African Americans – 42 (9.66%) Gay/Homosexual - 4 Hispanics – 24 (5.52%) Asians – 6 (1.38%) Native Americans – 1 (0.23%) Veterans - 84 Religion – Christians – 399 Jews – 27 Buddhists – 3 Muslims – 2 Agnostics/Atheists – 1 Instated/Ambiguous - 3

The Job Representative of the People -

Trustees – vote based on merit Delegate – vote the way they think the people

back home would vote Partisans – vote the way their political party

would vote Politicos – vote based on combining all of the

above

Committee Members - Oversight function – a form of checks an balances

Servants – “it helps to know people”

The Benefits Salary – $174,000 (1789-1855 = $6.00

while in session) Speaker of the House - $223,500

Franking privilege - free postage As well as –

free printing, low cost advertisements, recreational activities, free parking, at Capitol and D.C. airports, restaurants

Special tax deductions, 2 homes, travel allowances, low cost health insurance, big retirement plan, many offices