US Congress

Floor of The House

Floor of The Senate

The Representatives and Senators

– Salary of $165,200 with retirement benefits– Office space in D.C. and at home and staff to

fill it.– Travel allowances and mail privileges.– But, there’s often 10 to 14 hour days, lots of

time away from the family, and lots of pressure from different people to “do the right thing.”

Complaints

• Congress is the body that receives the greatest number of complaints.

• Mainly, that it is too responsive to public opinion and interest groups yet out of touch with the normal person.

• Or, it can debate for weeks or even months but has difficulty finding a consensus on major policy issues.

Survey ApproveDisap-prove Unsure

Approveminus

Dates % % % Disapprove

.

  CBS 4/9-12/07 34 54 12 -20

.

  L.A. Times/Bloomberg 4/5-9/07 34 58 8 -24

.

  Gallup 4/2-5/07 33 60 7 -27

.

  AP-Ipsos 4/2-4/07 40 57 * -17

Speaker of The House

House Minority Leader (John Boehner)

Senate Majority Leader

Senate Minority Leader

Parties in The House pre 2006 Mid-Terms

• Democrat 202

• Independent 1

• Republican 232

Parties in The Senate pre 2006 Mid-Terms

• Democrats 44

• Independent 1

• Republican 55

FUNCTIONS

• Legislation

• Power of the purse

• Executive Oversight

• Representation

• Forum for national debate

• Foreign Policy powers

Recommendation

• Must use:

• http://congress.indiana.edu/learn_about/launcher.htm