THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCHOrganization, Powers, Representing the People, and

Bill to LawBUT FIRST, WHICH ONE OF YOUR PROPOSALS DO

YOU THINK IS THE MOST LIKELY TO BE IMPLEMENTED?

HOW CONGRESS IS ORGANIZED

Section 1

Quick Review

• Constitutional Convention issue - state representation

• NJ Plan (Small states) vs. Virginia Plan (Big states)

• NJ - 1 vote/state = idea represented in Senate

• VA - populations = idea represented in House

Upper House = Senate Lower House = H.O.R

• Congress intended that the legislative branch was more powerful than any others

• First branch described

• Closest to the people (how?)

• 535 reps - 435 Representatives + 100 Senators

Congressional Terms

• Set by Constitution -“The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year" - lasts for a meeting period, term

• Term = 2 years

• Each term of Congress starts January 3rd of odd-numbered years and each one is numbered

• Question: If the 111th Congress lasted from Jan 2009 - Jan 2011 what is the current congressional term and number?

• 114th Congress Jan 3, 2015 - Jan 3, 2017

Congressional Session Regular Session

• Each term divided into 2 sessions

• Typical regular session lasts from Jan - Nov/Dec

• Meet and conduct normal operational business

Closed Session

• House - 6 times since 1825

• Senate 57 times since 1929

• Closed to media and public

• Closed sessions, sometimes referred to as secret sessions, are used for deliberations during impeachment trials, issues of national security, confidential information, and sensitive communications from the President.

Examples: Senate

• October 7 and 8, 1943 - Reports from the war fronts

• October 2, 1968 - Defense Department appropriations; anti-ballistic missile system

• June 7, 1971 - United States involvement in Laos

• February 1, 1984 - President’s report to Congress on Soviet compliance with various arms control agreements

• February 9, 10, 11, and 12, 1999 - President William J. Clinton impeachment trial deliberations

• November 1, 2005 - Iraq war intelligence

Examples: House

• December 27, 1825 - To receive a confidential message from the President regarding relations with Indian tribes

• June 20, 1979 - Panama Canal Act of 1979; implementing legislation

• March 13, 2008 - Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and electronic surveillance

Special Session

• Basically an extra session

• 1) times of crisis

• 2) Finish legislative tasks, due to deadlock

• 3) finalize budgets

• Who calls them

• 1) President

• 2) Presiding officer/Speaker

• 3) vote of legislative body

Examples: Presidential and Congress

• July 4, 1861 - Lincoln - deal with secession of southern states

• 1917 - Wilson enters WWI

• 2005 - Emergency Spending bill - Hurricane Katrina

Joint Session

• House/Senate meet together (regular and historic)

• Electoral Vote Count (mandated)

• State of the Union Address (tradition)

• Pearl Harbor - FDR’s Day of Infamy speech (historic)

• 9/20/01 - Bush gives speech on 9/11

House of Representatives

• What we Know…

• 435 members

• allotted to states according to population

• each state gets at least 1 no matter how small the state

• Each member elected for 2 years, can be re-elected

• 25 years old eligibility

Speaker of the House

• Presiding officer of the House and the leader of the majority party

• Steers legislation, leads floor debate, next after V.P. to become President in succession

Paul Ryan

Census: Apportionment

• Every 10 years - conduct a census

• Congress adjusts, if needed, # of reps/state

• NC (ONLY members of the HOR)

• Members usually focus on concerns in their districts

2010 9,535,483 13

2000 8,049,313 13

1990 6,628,637 12

1980 5,880,095 11

1970 5,084,411 11

Population # of RepsYear

1st George Butterfield Jr. Democrat

2nd Renee Ellmers Republican

3rd Walter Jones Jr. Republican

4th David Price Democrat

5th Virginia Foxx Republican

6th Mark Walker Republican

7th David Rouzer Republican

8th Richard Hudson Republican

9th Robert Pittenger Republican

10th Patrick McHenry Republican

11th Mark Meadows Republican

12th Alma Adams Democrat

13th George Holding Republican

5

101113

8

12

9

64 1

32

7

10

13

8

9

12

Congressional Districts

• Each state is divided into congressional district(s)

• States with only 1 district include: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming - called an at-large district (as a whole).

• Boundaries must be drawn so districts roughly have the same number of constituents (people represented)

• Abuse of boundaries = gerrymandering

1. When did it start, with who, and why? 2. What is it?

3. What is packing a district? 4. What is cracking a district?

$ TIME

• President: $400,000

• V.P.: $230,700

• Speaker of the House: $223,500

• House Majority/Minority Leaders: $193,400

• Members of Congress: $174,000

• Chief Justice: $258,100

• Associate Justice: $246,800

$ Historically

• 1789 - $6 per diem (day)

• 1855 - $3,000/year

• 1925 - $10,000/year

• 1964 - $30,000/year

• 1979 - $60,662.50

• 1990 - $96,600

• 1991 - $125,100

• 2005 - $162,100

• 2009- Current - $174,000

The. U.S. Senate

• What we know!

• 2 per state/100 total

• 6 year terms

• 30 years old eligibility

Senate Information

• Senatorial elections are staggered so that no more than 1/3 of Senators are up for re-election

• If a Senator dies/resigns the state legislature may authorize the governor to appoint someone to fill the vacancy until the next election.

• Senate has no Speaker… The V.P. presides over the Senate and may only vote to break a tie.

• The President Pro Tempore (for the time being) is usually the chairperson of the Senate - usually from majority party and its most senior member

Leaders in Congress

• Majority - the political party to which more than half the members belong

• 2017 - it will be a Republican controlled EVERYTHING (House, Senate, Executive)

• Minority - ?

11,865 Bills Before Congress

• Current # as of December 5th, 2016

• How do you think Congress gets any work done?

• No it’s not a trick question

• Also only about 4% or about 474 will become law

Congressional Committees

• Much of the actual work of legislating is performed by committees and subcommittees

• Congress divides its tasks among approximately 44 committees with 154 subcommittees.

• Work begins when a bill that has been introduced to the House/Senate is referred to the committee for consideration.

• Most measures not considered - “die in committee”

• Approximately 2,000 staff assist committees.

Types

• Standing Committees

• permanent committees - both House/Senate

• Ex. Agriculture, Commerce, VAs

• Select Committees

• temporary committees dealing w/ special issues

• Ex. Intelligence

• Joint Committees

• Members of both Houses of Congress meet on specific issues

• Ex. Economic, Taxation,

Thom TillisRichard Burr Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Senate Committee on Finance

Member, Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure

Member, Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth

Member, Subcommittee on Health Care

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Member, Subcommittee on Children and Families

Member, Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

Member, Subcommittee on Livestock, Marketing and Agriculture Security

Member, Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, and Agricultural Research

Member, Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy Senate Committee on Armed Services

Member, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities

Member, Subcommittee on Personnel

Member, Subcommittee on SeaPower

Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Member, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights

Member, Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest

Member, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law

Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution

Senate Special Committee on Aging

Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Committee Assignments

• Senators and Representatives try to get assigned to important committees

• Ex. from a big farm area you’d want to be on…?

• Party leaders make committee assignments

• Consider: expertise, loyalty, preferences and…

• Seniority - years of service…the longer you serve the more likely you get the spot you want

• Pros/Cons?

End of Section 1 Questions

• Can you define - bicameral, census, constituent, gerrymander, majority/minority party, standing committee, seniority?

• In what ways do the Senate/House work together to pass bills?

• What is a pro/con of the Seniority System?

SOURCES• http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congsessions.htm

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States.jpg/400px-Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States.jpg

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Seal_of_the_United_States_Congress.svg/769px-Seal_of_the_United_States_Congress.svg.png

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Seal_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives.svg/768px-Seal_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives.svg.png

• http://a1.files.biography.com/image/upload/c_fit,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,h_1200,q_80,w_1200/MTE4MDAzNDEwNjEwMzI1MDA2.jpg

• http://wigflip.com/ds/

• http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/closed_sessions.htm

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_session_of_the_United_States_Congress#House_of_Representatives

• https://fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/R42106.pdf

• https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1947/10/31/op-olc-supp-v001-p0140_0.pdf

• http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2009480,00.html

• http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/House-of-Representatives-113th-Congress.jpg

• https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-35.pdf

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/01/this-is-the-best-explanation-of-gerrymandering-you-will-ever-see/?utm_term=.52f8fdddf5c9

• https://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/northcarolina.pdf

• https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/NC

• https://www.ncsbe.gov/webapps/redistrict/uscongmaps.html

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/United_States_Capitol_-_west_front.jpg

Sources• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/01/this-is-the-best-explanation-of-

gerrymandering-you-will-ever-see/?utm_term=.52f8fdddf5c9

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcUDBgYodIE

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/111th_US_Senate_class_photo.jpg

• https://www.archerytrade.org/uploads/articles/1393/ryanpaul-time_ata_web_ready_4_horizontal__featured.jpg

• https://www.quora.com/Has-there-ever-been-a-Speaker-of-the-US-House-of-Representatives-who-was-not-from-the-majority-party

• https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/thom_tillis/412668

• https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/richard_burr/400054

• http://web.archive.org/web/20000304135807/http://www.congresslink.org/legis/comm1.html

• http://www.plunderbund.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/KillTheBill_thumb.png

• http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.naepnet.org/resource/resmgr/images/circle.jpg

POWERS OF CONGRESSSection 2

Legislative Powers

• MAIN IDEA

• The Constitution provides all powers to make laws for the United States government shall be given to Congress

Types of Powers

• This should be review

• Expressed ?

• enumerated or clearly listed and delegated to Congress

• What article/section?

• Article 1 Sect. 8

18 Separate Clauses Enumerating Powers

• 1) Lay & Collect taxes

• 2) Borrow $ (issue bonds)

• 3) Regulate trade/commerce

• 4) Establish Naturalization/Bankruptcy laws

• 5) Coin $

• 6) Counterfeiting

• 7) Post Offices

• 8) Patents &

• 9) Establish Federal Courts

• 10) Piracy

• 11) Declare War

• 12) Raise an army

• 13) Navy

• 14) Regulation of 12 & 13

• 15) Call Natl. Guard

• 16) Natl. Guard rules

• 17) Legislate D.C.

• 18) Necessary & Proper Clause

McCulloch v. MD Study Questions

• 1) What constitutional principle did the SCOTUS establish in the McCulloch case?

• 2) What is the objective of the “necessary & proper” clause

• 3) What was the basis for the court’s ruling that Maryland could NOT tax the 2nd Bank?

• 4) How did the fact that Marshall was a Federalist influence his ruling in the McCulloch case?

• 5) How did the McCulloch case ruling contribute to the strength of the national government?

Implied Powers

• What are they? Where do they come from? (should be review)

• Powers that are not enumerated but “necessary & proper” to carry out the laws of the nation

• Clause 18 - Article 1 Sect. 8

• Also called the ELASTIC CLAUSE

• Why?

• Allows Congress to “stretch” its powers to meet new needs

• Ex… We have an Air Force right?

Non Legislative Powers

• Main Idea: Constitution does give Congress non legislative duties too

• Any Ideas?

• 1) Checking and Balancing other branches

• ex. approve/reject SCOTUS nominees by the President

• 2) Impeach - H.o.R responsibility - accuse officials of misconduct in office - if a majority of the House votes to impeach then the Senate puts that person on Trial - 2/3 vote to convict

• ex. Clinton - grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a 228–206 vote), Senate acquits

Limitations on Power

• Imposed by?

• Bill of Rights

• How?

• Others

• Cannot: favor 1 state over another, suspend writ of habeas corpus (court order requiring police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they’re holding them), pass bills of attainder (laws that punish a person w/o a jury trial), pass ex post facto laws (making an act a crime after being committed)

• Powers reserved to the States

• Checks & Balances by other Branches

Sources

• http://www.copyrightauthority.com/copyright-symbol/Copyright-Symbol-images/Copyright_symbol_9.gif

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton

• http://images.slideplayer.com/14/4197364/slides/slide_16.jpg

REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE

We already know their

qualificationsBut what else do they have

in common…

Salary & Benefits

• $174,000.00

• free parking, trips to and from states, great healthcare

• Franking Privilege - send job related mail without necessary postage

Behind the Scenes

• Personal Staffs - run offices in D.C. and in members district

• gather info on new bills/issues

• handle requests from voters

• deal w/ reporters & lobbyists

• work for re-election

• students hired to act as interns/pages

Behind the Scenes: Committee Staff

• Congressional Committees also need staffs.

• law-making chores

• draft (outline) bills, gather info, organize hearings, lobbyists

Behind the Scenes: Support Services

• There are several agencies to help support Congressional work…

• ex. The Library of Congress

• AMAZING source of info

• GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) - investigative arm of Congress in financial issues

• reviews spending, recommends ways to improve financial performance of government

• CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE (CBO) - analysis for better budget decisions - estimates costs of programs

CONGRESS AT WORKBasic job is to represent people of their states/districts - by

reflecting and translating into action, their constituents’ interests/concerns

WARM UPMake sure you have 3 blank pages on your Desk…

Then I’m going to show you how to fold them Look at the one under this slide for example

Label:1) How Bill becomes a Law

2) Bill Introduced3) Committee Action

4) Floor Debate5) Voting on the Bill

6) Presidential Action

Current Events Due this Friday

Lawmaking

• Best known task

• Bills - are drafts of laws presented to House/Senate for enactment

• Congress writes/introduce bills, take part in committee work, listen to input of people, then vote

Casework

• Congress acts as trouble-shooters for their constituents in dealing with federal government

• up to 10,000 requests for information/services

• most handled by staffers

• Why casework? - (1) helps them get re-elected, (2) helps lawmakers get a closer look at Executive branch handling of programs (ex. Social Security) (3) provides a way for US to deal with Feds

Helping District or State

• Public Works - $ for local projects (post offices, dams, VA hospitals, etc)

• Grants/Contracts - funded through federal budget - each district wants its fair share - crucial source of money & job for the state economies

• pork-barrel projects - govt projects that primarily benefit the home district or state

• pork barrel = federal treasury

• Using Influence - Executive Branch control these programs NOT Congress, so this is where Congress steps in on behalf of their people

Sources

• http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/newly-elected-freshman-members-of-the-upcoming-114th-congress-pose-a-picture-id459175536

• https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/salary-vs-benefits-matrix-chart-higher-lower-compensation-c-words-measuring-levels-giving-you-choice-more-48684094.jpg

• http://www.business-opportunities.biz/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/showmethemoney-Jerry-Maguire-1.png

HOW A BILL BECOMES LAW“There are 2 things that you should never watch being made

—sausages and laws”

2 Bill Categories

• Private - concern individual people/places

• people’s claims against the govt

• Public - apply to entire nation and involve general matters such as taxation

Resolutions

• What is it?

• a formal statement expressing lawmakers’ opinions or decisions

• many do NOT have the force of law

• JOINT RESOLUTIONS - do become laws, if signed by the President

• ex. constitutional amendments, $ for purpose

• Bills/Joint Resolutions go through same process

• Resolutions are not signed by president & not sent to both houses

From Bill to Law

• Ideas for bills come from:

• citizens, White House, Special Interest Groups

• Senator/Representative must introduce before Congress for it to be considered

• Every Bill is given a title and number when submitted

• Example… first session of Congress a bill introduced in the Senate would be S.1…

• What about for the House?

• H.R. 1

bill given to a clerk or placed in a hopper

Ex. Americans With Disabilities Act (1990)

• Long Title: An Act to establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability

• Acronym: ADA

• Short Title: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989

• Enacted by 101st Congress

• Introduced by Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa in the Senate, as the 933 bill. So what would its designation be?

• S. 933

Committee Action

• After Introduction to Congress… sent to a standing committee

• life-and-death power over bills

• Committee can

• 1) pass it, 2) mark up bill w/ changes and suggest passage after changes are made, 3) replace original w/ a new bill, 4) ignore it (pigeonholing), 5) kill bill by majority vote

Debating a Bill

• Must be approved in committee then…

• Go to the Floor of the House/Senate

• debate over pros/cons & discuss changes (amendments)

• The House ONLY accepts amendments relevant to bills

• The Senate allows riders - completely un-related amendments - to be tacked on

• tactic to pass a controversial provision that would not pass as its own bill.

Example Rider

• After the District of Columbia legalized the recreational use of marijuana, Congress—which oversees the city—added a rider that would have limited the municipal government from using any funds to normalize the drug.

• In the same package, Congress passed a lawmaking rider that increased the amount private donors could give to political campaigns.

Debate Rules

• House: Rules Committee - sets rules (ex. time limits)

• Senate: since it’s smaller - has fewer rules

• filibuster - talking a bill to death - delaying vote on bill until sponsor withdraws the measure.

• Cloture - end a filibuster by 3/5 - no one speak for more than 1 hour

Famous Filibustering Fools!

• 1964 Civil Rights act - Senate waited 74 days listening to Senators opposed

• 24 hours 18 minutes (longest uninterrupted) - Strom Thurmond

• Huey Long of Louisiana was the master of the filibuster, reading everything from Shakespeare to recipes just to hear the sound of his own voice. His most famous oratory came in 1935, a ploy to require Senate confirmation for the National Recovery Administration’s senior employees. For 15.5 hours, Long analyzed every section of the Constitution, then noticed that a good chunk of the room was either asleep or totally zoned out. Long then suggested to Vice President John Nance Garner that everyone should be forced to pay attention, but Garner was unmoved, replying, “That would be unusual cruelty under the Bill of Rights.” The same night, Long started reading recipes for fried oysters and potlikkers. Finally, around 4 a.m., he could no longer ignore the call of nature and ended the filibuster.

• Wisconsin Senator Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette nearly incited a riot with his filibuster in 1917. With just 26 hours left of the 64th Congress, La Follette decided to filibuster to stop legislation that would arm merchant ships against the Germans. When the presiding officer opted to recognize only those who had opposed the filibuster, LaFollette lost his temper and came close to throwing a brass spittoon. As some senators circled around Fighting Bob to calm him down, Senator Harry Lane noticed that Senator Ollie James of Kentucky was packing a pistol. He decided that if James tried to draw it, he would use his own smuggled weapon, a steel file, and stab James in the neck with its sharp point. Luckily, it didn’t come to that. After declaring that he would have to be removed from the floor—"I will continue on this floor until I complete my statement unless somebody carries me off, and I should like to see the man who will do it"—La Follette was finally convinced to take his seat. He was one of just six senators to vote against a declaration of war a few weeks later.

• You'd think La Follette would have avoided the stall tactic entirely after flirting with a fatal filibuster in '08. As we saw earlier this week, filibustering requires food. So sometime around 1 a.m. on May 30, La Follette asked a page to get him a turkey sandwich and a glass of milk mixed with raw eggs for fortification. Though perhaps it was an honest mistake, the Senate website suggests that the kitchen staff, annoyed at having to work around the clock for the filibuster, purposely used eggs that had gone over. La Follette noticed that the drink tasted suspect after taking a big gulp, but the damage had been done: Shortly thereafter, the senator began feeling sick and started sweating profusely. He stepped down from filibustering around 7 a.m. after 18 hours and 23 minutes at the pulpit. Tests on the drink showed that its contents were so toxic that they would have killed anyone who drank the entire glass.

House Voting on the Bill

• Voting in the House (3 ways)

• 1) voice vote - “Yea” or “No” - Speaker determines votes

• 2) standing vote - those in favor stand/then against

• 3) recorded vote - electronically

Senate Voting

• 3 methods as well

• 1) voice vote, (2) standing vote, and

• 3) roll-call vote - Senators respond “Aye” or “No”

Passing a bill

• A simple majority of all members present are all it takes to pass a bill. If it passes in one house, it gets sent to the other

• Senate/House MUST pass the bill in identical form for it to become law

• if 2 separate versions are passed - a conference committee works out the differences and submit a revised bill.

• Either House/Senate rejects, it dies

• House/Senate do NOT approve revised bills, or completely reject them

Actions by the President

• Bill gets approved… goes to the President

• Things Could Happen

• 1) Signs it = law

• 2) veto (goes back to Congress, can override w/ 2/3 vote)

• 3) Do nothing for up to 10 days… which at that point

• if Congress is in session it auto becomes law

• if Congress is adjourned, the bill dies (called pocket veto)

Sources

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFroMQlKiag

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990

• http://dailysignal.com/2015/12/01/policy-riders-what-they-are-how-congress-uses-them-and-why-they-matter-to-you/

• http://mentalfloss.com/article/49360/5-famous-filibusters

• https://usembassybaku.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/hopper.jpg

• https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34366.pdf

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4UfAL9f74I

• http://www.allweirdpics.com/pictures/The_4_Fingers_Guy.jpg