chapter 10: the congress. why was the congress created? the authors of the constitution were...

CHAPTER 10:THE

CONGRESS

Why Was the Congress Created? • The authors of the Constitution were influenced by the types of

governments that were prevalent at the time. On the whole they feared that power in the hands of a single individual would be abused and the people would suffer. This in part explains why they placed a considerable amount of power in the legislative branch. The national legislative power was vested in Congress that was to be a bicameral (two-house) institution. Each house was intended to serve different constituencies. The House was to be elected by the people and would therefore represent the views of the people. The members of the Senate were selected by the state legislatures and would be at least one step removed from the people. Furthermore, the House would represent the people because it was apportioned on the population of each state. The Senate was to represent the interests of the state and each state would receive two senators. Bicameralism also was a reflection of the class structure during our country's founding. The constituencies of the House members were the masses, while the Senate was represent the elites within society. In 1913 the XVII Amendment provided that the people of the state would elect the senators of the state.

The Functions Of Congress

• The prime function of Congress is lawmaking. This is the process of deciding the legal rules that govern our society. In this function Congress may establish broad national policies, including budgetary policies or may establish minor regulations. Sometimes it is important to consider what ideas are not enacted as well as what ideas become law. Many ideas proposed in one Congress will be considered in latter Congresses and may become law after several years.


• Another important congressional function is constituent service. Members of Congress are expected to assist the people they represent in dealings with the national government. Constituent service, also called casework, includes assisting constituents in procuring governmental services that were denied to the constituent. The member of Congress is seen as an ombudsperson, or an investigator of constituent problems and uses his or her staff to "cut through the red tape" of the federal bureaucracy. The function of casework provides a benefit to both the constituent and to the representative, who typically benefits from the constituents' support during reelection.


• Members of Congress also function as representatives, where they represent the views of their constituents in Congress. Generally there are two roles the elected official can opt for when representing their constituents.– Trustee - the elected official attempts to consider the

whole of society as opposed to an agent of the constituents.

– Instructed delegate - the elected official is a mere agent for the constituents, doing exactly what a majority of the constituents want on issues.


• Members of Congress also conduct oversight. This means that members of Congress are responsible for reviewing actions of the executive branch, especially the implementation of policy or the enactment of legislation. Typically, oversight inquiries are made to determine whether the implementation of policies is reflecting its legislative intent. Questions are addressed as to the effectiveness of the federal bureaucracy, and whether or not the bureaucracy is fulfilling the needs of the public.


• Another function of Congress is public education. This also is referred to as agenda setting. Members of Congress discuss important issues that the public may not have detailed information about, in an attempt to make the public aware of issues that need public attention.

• The conflict resolution function - Congress acts as an institution to resolve conflicts with American society.

The Powers Of Congress• The Enumerated Powers are set forth in Article I, Section

8. Enumerated powers, which are also referred to as expressed powers, are specific grants of power to Congress. These powers include the control of money, (taxing, spending, borrowing, and coining), regulation of trade beyond the borders of a state, regulation of the military (regulate state militias, create and regulate an army and navy, suppress insurrections within states, and to declare war), as well as defining the court structure. While the aforementioned powers are not all of the specific grants of power in Article I, Section 8, they do represent the major powers that Congress relies on to pass a vast number of laws each year. In addition to Article I, Section 8 Congress has received other grants of power through amendments (like the XVI Amendment which allows Congress to levy a tax on individual incomes).

The Powers Of Congress

• The Implied Powers emanate from the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8. The necessary and proper clause allows Congress to make all laws that are deemed to be necessary to carry out the expressed powers. In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that this clause allows Congress considerable authority to enact laws that may assist the Congress in accomplishing goals directly related to the enumerated powers.

House-Senate Differences

• Congress is composed of two chambers, the lower chamber, which is the House of Representatives and the upper chamber which is the Senate. There are major differences between the two chambers.


• The size, length of term and constituencies of the House and the Senate are different, and in turn, these generate more differences. The House of Representatives has 435 members. In the House, members are elected from essentially equally-populated districts, and the term is two years. Currently the largest state is California which has 52, representatives and six states have the minimum of one representative. The Senate has 100 members, two elected from each state. Senators serve a six-year term. Originally members of the Senate were elected in each state's legislature. In 1913 the XVII Amendment was enacted. This provided for the direct popular election of senators. In the Senate, one-third of the seats are up for election every two years, so that the entire chamber does not face simultaneous election bids.

House-Senate Differences• The rules governing each chamber also are different. Because

of the large number of members in the House there are numerous formal rules to govern activity on the floor and in committees. Since there are considerably fewer members in the Senate, there are fewer restrictions on members on the floor and in committees.– Debate on the floor of the House is strictly limited to the time

allotted by the Rules Committee. On many bills not every member will be allotted time to debate.

– In the Senate every member is allowed to speak on a bill. On occasion unlimited debate will transpire. Unlimited debate is known as a filibuster. If a filibuster is successful the bill is never voted on and therefore, the bill is defeated. While this tool is used by a minority to stop specific legislation there are ways to defeat the filibuster and pass the bill. Cloture is one way to break a filibuster. This is a complex process that requires the approval of 60 senators. If a vote for cloture is approved, debate is limited to a maximum of one hour per senator.


• The houses also differ in prestige. Senators, because of their longer term and fewer numbers, can achieve a level of personal recognition that is almost impossible to achieve unless one is a leader in the House of Representatives.

Congresspersons and the Citizenry: A Comparison

• In comparison to the general population the members of Congress are significantly different both demographically and economically. The members of Congress are older, wealthier, and better educated than the general public. Furthermore, there are relatively few women and racial minorities in Congress. Finally, there are a disproportionate number of lawyers in both houses of Congress.

Congressional Elections

• Candidates for congressional seats can be self-selected or recruited by the local political party. Usually the party attempts to select a candidate that has many of the social characteristics of the population in the district. It is also likely to pick a person who has been successful in elections at the local or state level.


• The importance of fund raising has increased in the past twenty years. Victorious candidates for the Senate will probably spend about $4.7 million, while successful House candidates typically spend about $675,000. The importance of fund raising ability is now an important consideration both for the political parties and for the potential candidates themselves.


• In many congressional elections there is more than one candidate within a party who wants the nomination of the party. In every state the nomination of the party for Congress is determined by the voters in a direct primary election. In this election (held before the general election) candidates will vie for the nomination among voters who are party identifiers. If a candidate wins the nomination, s/he will go on to run under the party label in the general election in November.


• Congressional elections are influenced by many factors. One important factor is presidential elections. If a strong presidential candidate is on the ticket, that candidate may have "coattails" that benefit "down ballot" candidate. Sources of presidential coattails include the tendency of some voters to vote "the ticket" (that is to vote for all members of the party running with a popular presidential candidate) and increased turnout that may benefit candidates for Congress and other offices.

Congressional Elections• Another important factor influencing congressional

elections is incumbency advantage. If the member of Congress has been previously been elected to Congress he or she is considered to be an incumbent. Incumbents have a huge advantage in congressional elections. Over 90 percent of the members of the House who sought re-election were re-elected. Since 1968 over 75 percent of the incumbent members of the Senate who ran for re-election were re-elected. Clearly the incumbent has a significant advantage. One of the major reasons for this is the free publicity the member of Congress receives. As an elected official, the media constantly reports on events that involve the members of Congress. The public usually knows much more about members of Congress than they do about the challenger. Incumbents have the advantage when it comes to fund raising, which is an important factor in electoral advantage.

Congressional Apportionment

• Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution provides that representatives to the House shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers and, "The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct." This provision requires that a census be conducted every ten years to determine how many representatives each state will receive. This count presents two political problems. First, the House has set a limit of 435 representatives, which means that if a state gains representation another state must loose representation. For example in the 2000 census California gained a representative. Because of this gain another state lost a representative.


• Another problem with reapportionment is a political problem within the state. For those states that have more than one representative, the separate districts must have an equal number of people in each district. Political parties want to construct districts that maximize their chance of gaining more congressional seats. This concept of designing a district for the advantage of the party is known as gerrymandering.


• The Supreme Court held that states can not construct districts on the basis of race. Districts in North Carolina and Texas, which were established to ensure a majority of the people in the district were from a particular ethnic minorities, were held to be invalid. Three districts in Texas were redrawn in the summer of 1996 and elections were conducted in December of 1996 in these newly created districts.

Perks and Privileges • A major controversy since the first Congress was elected

has been the salary for the members of Congress and the benefits that accompany the office. Like most issues there is no simple solution for this problem. Current congressional salary is $157,000. In comparison to the average American members of Congress are very well paid and they receive very attractive benefits. However, in comparison to individuals who have comparable qualifications in the private sector, members of Congress are not highly paid, nor are the benefits extravagant. When members of Congress vote for a pay increase, they are criticized because their salary is high in comparison to most jobs and the salary must be paid for by the taxpayers. On the other hand if the pay scale for members of Congress is low, in comparison to what these individuals could earn in the private sector, many qualified individuals will not seek office.

Perks and Privileges

• In addition to their own pay and privileges members of Congress have large staffs. The purpose for the staff is to help the members of Congress to deal with constituents requests and to provide the members of Congress with information about issues he or she is concerned with. This staff serves in both Washington D.C. and in the district of the congressional member. Without an adequate staff, the legislator could not accomplish the many demands made on the office, including constituent service.. If the staff is too large, the taxpayers must pay for the cost of the excess congressional bureaucracy.

The Committee Structure

• The key to understanding how Congress operates is to understand congressional committees. These "little legislatures" determine whether a bill will reach the floor and be called for a vote. The obstacles to a bill reaching the floor are numerous, and the committee structure is the maze through which bills must pass to become legislation.

The Committee Structure • The following represent the types of congressional

committees:– Standing committees - the most important committees in

Congress because all bills are referred to a standing committee in each chamber. Members of the House usually serve on two standing committees while member of the Senate usually serves on three standing committees. Each standing committee is an area of specialization and is subdivided into subcommittees.

– Select committees - are created to accomplish a particular task. Unlike standing committees, select committees are not permanent. Once the task has been accomplished the select committee is abolished.

– Joint committees - are established with members of each chamber serving on the committee. The tasks assigned to these committees are very diverse.

The Committee Structure

– Conference committees - are convened when a bill has passed both chambers but there are differences between the version approved by the House and the version approved by the Senate. The role of the conference committee is to reach a compromise between the different versions. After the compromise is reached, both houses must approve of the compromise bill before it is sent to the president.

– House Rules committee - a very powerful standing committee in the House of Representatives. Once a bill has been approved by the appropriate standing committee in the House it is sent to the Rules Committee. This committee makes rules that will govern what happens to the bill on the floor of the House.

The Committee Structure • The selection of committee members is conducted by the

political parties. For Democrats in the House, the Steering and Policy Committee makes all standing committee assignments. For the Republicans in the House, the Committee on Committees makes all standing committee assignments. Similar party committees exist in the Senate for committee assignments. Once assigned to a committee, the member is likely to remain on the committee for the remainder of her or his career in that chamber. The longer the member has served on the committee, the more seniority he or she has. In general the most senior member of the majority party will be selected as the chairperson of the committee. Such a system rewards those who are from safe districts and can therefore, be re-elected numerous times.

The Formal Leadership

• The Constitution provides for the selection of the leaders of Congress. Article I, Section 2 states, "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; ..." Article I, Section 3 states, "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, ..." What the authors of the Constitution did not foresee was the development of political parties. Once parties became established they controlled the legislative process, including the selection of congressional leaders.


• Positions of leadership in the House include:– Speaker of the House of Representatives- the most

powerful member of the House. The Speaker must work with both political parties, and his or her power is largely derived from his or her personal appeal. While the Speaker has numerous responsibilities, his or her primary focus is to seek the enactment of his or her political party's legislative ideas.

– House Majority Leader - is second in line in the majority party leadership structure. He or she is responsible for assisting the Speaker in gaining the enactment of the majority party's ideas. The Majority Leader fosters cohesion among party members in the House.


– House Minority Leader - is the leader of the minority party in the House. His or her primary responsibility is to seek the enactment of his party's legislative proposals, and to provide a source of "loyal opposition" to the majority party. If the minority party would win a majority of seats in the House in the next election, the minority leader would be likely to be selected as the Speaker of the House.

– House Whips - both the majority and minority parties have "whips" whose job is to assists their party leaders, and to encourage party loyalty among House members.


• Positions of leadership in the Senate include:– President of Senate - the Vice President of the United

States. Rarely does the Vice President actually preside over the Senate. On rare occasions, the Vice-President will be called upon to vote in the Senate in order to break a tie vote.

– President Pro Tempore - usually referred to as the "pro tem," this position is filled by the member of the majority who has the longest continuous term of service in the Senate. Although this position resembles the Speaker of the House in a structural manner, the pro tem does not have the power of the Speaker.


– Majority Floor Leader - the most powerful member of the Senate. This position is roughly analogous to the Speaker of the House.

– Minority Floor Leader - the leader of the minority party in the Senate, and is responsible for attempting to achieve the enactment of the legislative ideas of the minority party.

– Senate Whips - as in the House, both the majority and minority parties have whips whose job is to assists their party leaders, and to encourage party loyalty among Senate members.

How Members of Congress Decide

• Research shows that party affiliation is the best indicator of how a representative will vote, but parties are not always unified. For example, during the 1950’s and 1960’s the Democrat party was split between northern liberals and southern conservatives. This gave rise to the conservative coalition—a voting bloc of conservative Democrats and Republicans.

• It is not unusual for individual representatives to vote against their party. For example, some representatives may be driven by influences other than politics, such as religious beliefs.

How a Bill Becomes Law

• The legislative process is a difficult and tedious process that results in most proposals being rejected. Few proposals are eventually enacted. Those that are have to negotiate a complex maze.

• In order for a bill to become law, it must pass through both houses of Congress. All "money bills" or spending measures must originate in the House, as prescribed by the Constitution.

How a Bill Becomes Law• House of Representatives

– Introduction - a member, or members, drafts a bill and submits it to the presiding officer.

– Committee stage - after the bill has been introduced, the Speaker will refer the bill to the standing committee that has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill. In most cases there are two or more committees that have jurisdiction and each committee will take action on the bill. This is called multiple referral.

How a Bill Becomes Law• House of Representatives, cont.

– Rules Committee - after all the committees have acted on the bill it is referred to the Rules Committee which will draft a special set of rules that will govern what happens to the bill on the floor of the House. The rules will set a day the bill will reach the floor (this is called putting the bill on calendar) and they will set the time limit for debate on the bill, and the determine the extent of amendments that can be proposed on the floor.

– Floor action - the bill and all of the amendments that have been proposed are debated. Each amendment is voted on separately. If a majority is in favor of an amendment, the bill has been altered according to the provisions of the amendment. After all amendments have been voted on the bill is put to a vote. If a majority of the members are in favor of the bill it is considered passed by the House.


• Senate– Introduction - a member, or members, drafts a bill and

submits it to the presiding officer.– Committee stage - after the bill has been introduced

the President pro tem will refer the bill to the standing committee that has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill. In most cases there are two or more committees that have jurisdiction and each committee will take action on the bill.

– Scheduling for floor action - after all the committees have acted on the bill it is referred to the Majority Leader who will schedule a day for the bill to reach the floor of the Senate.

How a Bill Becomes Law• Senate, cont.

– Floor action - the bill and all of the amendments that have been proposed are debated. Each amendment is voted on separately. If a majority is in favor of an amendment the bill has been altered according to the provisions of the amendment. Unlike the House, amendments in the Senate can be non-germane, meaning the amendment does not have to pertain to the subject matter of the bill. After all amendments have been voted on the bill is put to a vote providing no member objects. If a member objects he or she can continue to discuss the bill, or discuss anything the Senator wants as long as he or she desires. This delaying tactic is known as a filibuster. If successful the filibuster prevents the bill from being voted on and therefore kills the bill. Most bills do not encounter a filibuster. If a majority of the members are in favor of the bill, it is considered passed by the Senate.


• Conference committee – If there are differences between the House

version of the bill and the Senate version of the bill, the bill will be sent to a conference committee.

– Members of each chamber who have been selected by the congressional leaders will attempt to reach a compromise on the bill. If the members cannot reach a compromise the bill is considered dead. If the members are able to work out a compromise, the bill is sent back to the floor of each chamber.


• Conference committee, cont. – The House will proceed to vote on the bill as

reported by the conference committee. If a majority of the members are in favor of the bill, it is then referred to the Senate.

– The Senate will proceed to vote on the bill as reported by the conference committee. If a majority of the members are in favor of the bill, it is then sent to the President. If either the House or the Senate rejects the conference committee report, the bill is considered dead.

How a Bill Becomes Law• Presidential action

– If the President is in favor of the bill he will sign the bill into law.

– If the President is opposed to the bill he, will most likely veto the bill and send it back to the chamber that originated action on the bill with his reasons for the veto.

• If 2/3 of the members of one chamber vote to override the veto, the bill is sent to the other chamber.

• If 2/3 of the members of the other chamber vote to override the veto, the bill is considered enacted (the veto is overridden).

• If less than 2/3 of the members of either chamber vote to override the veto, the veto holds and the bill is considered dead.


• Presidential action, cont.– The President may opt to take no action on the bill.

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution provides that the President has ten working days in which to take action on a bill.• If Congress has not adjourned, the bill is considered

to be enacted after ten working days without action on behalf of the President.

• If Congress has adjourned, the bill is considered to be dead after ten working days. This is known as a pocket veto.

How Much Will the Government Spend?

• Preparing the budget begins 18 months prior to the actual spending of the money. A fiscal year, the 365 days that are used for accounting, begins on October 1 and ends September 30. The president submits an extremely detailed budget to Congress in January. This is called the Executive Budget. This budget attempts to estimate all the revenue the government will generate (through taxes, fees, duties, etc.) and all of the expenditures of the federal government. In 1998, President Clinton and the Republican Congress passed the first balanced budget in decades.

How Much Will the Government Spend?

• The Congress must pass the First Budget Resolution by May 15. This resolution sets overall revenue and spending goals, thus determining the size of the deficit (or, now, the surplus) for the next fiscal year.

• In September, Congress passes the Second Budget Resolution. This resolution sets binding limits on taxes and spending for the fiscal year beginning October 1.

• If Congress fails to pass the Second Budget Resolution by October 1, they must pass a Continuing Resolution. This is a temporary resolution that allows the government to continue operating when an appropriations bill has not yet been passed.

chapter 10: the congress. why was the congress created? the authors of the constitution were...

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