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180 Serving You Congress’s primary responsibility is to make law. Members of Congress also make appointments to military academies, provide passes to visit the Capitol and the White House, and help citizens deal with the govern- ment bureaucracy. To learn more about how Congress works and how to access its services, view the Democracy in Action Chapter 7 video lesson: Congress at Work Chapter Overview Visit the United States Government: Democracy in Action Web site at gov.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 7—Overview to preview chapter information. GOVERNMENT ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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Serving You Congress’s primary responsibility is to make law. Membersof Congress also make appointments tomilitary academies, provide passes tovisit the Capitol and the White House,and help citizens deal with the govern-ment bureaucracy.

To learn more about how Congress works and how to

access its services, view the Democracyin Action Chapter 7 video lesson:

Congress at Work

Chapter Overview Visit the United StatesGovernment: Democracy in Action Web siteat gov.glencoe.com and click on Chapter7—Overview to preview chapter information.

GOVERNMENT

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

180-188 CH07S1-860053 12/1/04 2:48 AM Page 180

In 1957 the Civil Rights Bill was one of manybills introduced in Congress. Unlike a majorityof the bills introduced that year, and againstthe backdrop of a lengthy filibuster, it passed.

During each 2-year term of Congress, thousandsof bills are introduced. Why are so many intro-duced? Congress, as the national legislature, isopen to all Americans who want things from thegovernment. The president, federal agencies, laborunions, business groups, and individual citizens alllook to Congress to pass laws favorable to theirvarious interests.

Of the thousands of bills introduced in eachsession, only a few hundred become laws. Most diein Congress, and some are vetoed by the president.If a bill is not passed before the end of a congres-sional term, it must be reintroduced in the nextCongress to be given further consideration.

In this section you will find out how the law-making process actually works. First you will lookat the different forms new legislation may take.Then you will learn about the steps a bill must gothrough in order to become a law.

Types of Bills and ResolutionsTwo types of bills are introduced in Con-gress. Private bills deal with individual

people or places. They often involve people’sclaims against the government or their immigra-tion problems. One such private bill waived im-migration requirements so that an Americanwoman could marry a man from Greece. Privatebills used to account for a large number of thebills introduced in Congress. Lately, however,their numbers have declined. In a recent Con-gress, only a few hundred of the 11,722 bills introduced were private bills.

On the other hand, public bills deal withgeneral matters and apply to the entire nation.They are often controversial. Major public billsusually receive significant media coverage.They may involve such issues as raising or

How a Bill Becomes a LawS e c t i o n 1S e c t i o n 1

Record Filibuster FailsWASHINGTON, D.C., AUGUST 1957

The Senate passed a major

civil rights bill tonight,

despite the efforts of South

Carolina senator Strom

Thurmond to prevent it from

coming to a vote. Thurmond

took the floor yesterday

evening and talked through

the night. A glass of orange

juice offered by another sena-

tor this morning refreshed

Thurmond for several more

hours, but by late this after-

noon, he was leaning on his desk and mumbling. Fi-

nally, at 9:12 P.M., he sat down, having held the floor

for more than 24 hours, the longest speech in Senate

history. A short time later a vote was called, and the

bill passed 60 to 18.

Strom Thurmond sets a record

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 181

Reader’s Guide

Key Termsprivate bill, public bill, simple resolution, rider,hearing, veto, pocket veto

Find Out■ Why is it easier to defeat legislation than to

pass it?■ What are the positive and negative implications

of the lengthy process through which all billsmust go before becoming laws?

Understanding ConceptsPolitical Processes Why does it take so long forCongress to pass legislation?

Inside the Senate▲

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the House and Senate, but on which a law is notneeded. A concurrent resolution, for example, mayset the date for the adjournment of Congress, or itmay express Congress’s opinion about an issue.Both houses of Congress must pass concurrentresolutions. They do not require the president’ssignature, and they do not have the force of law.

Riders Bills and resolutions usually deal withonly one subject, such as civil rights or veterans’benefits. Sometimes, however, a rider is attached toa bill. A rider is a provision on a subject other thanthe one covered in the bill. Lawmakers attach ridersto bills that are likely to pass, although presidentshave sometimes vetoed such bills because of a riderthey did not like. Sometimes lawmakers attachmany unrelated riders simply to benefit their con-stituents. Such a bill resembles a Christmas treeloaded with ornaments. “Christmas tree” billssometimes pass because of the essential nature ofthe underlying bill.

Why So Few Bills Become Laws Less than10 percent of all bills introduced in Congress be-come public laws. Why so few?

One reason is that the lawmaking process itselfis very long and complicated. A congressional

lowering taxes, national health insurance, gun con-trol, civil rights, or abortion. Major public bills ac-count for about 30 percent of the bills passed ineach term of Congress. They may be debated formonths before they become law.

Resolutions Congress may also pass severaltypes of resolutions to deal with unusual or tem-porary matters. A simple resolution covers mat-ters affecting only one house of Congress and ispassed by that house alone. If a new rule or proce-dure is needed, it is adopted in the form of a reso-lution. Because it is an internal matter, it does nothave the force of law and is not sent to the presi-dent for signature.

Joint Resolutions When both houses pass ajoint resolution the president’s signature gives it theforce of law. Joint resolutions may correct an errorin an earlier law, for example, or appropriate moneyfor a special purpose. Congress also uses joint reso-lutions to propose constitutional amendments,which do not require the president’s signature.

Concurrent Resolutions Another type ofresolution is a concurrent resolution. Concurrentresolutions cover matters requiring the action of

Initiating Legislation

H ave you ever said, “There ought to be a law!” when observing an apparent injustice? Some acts of Congress originate

with private individuals or groups. If you see a need for a law, you can write a bill and ask a representative or senator to introduce it for consideration.

Rarely, if ever, does a bill begin this way. How-ever, a representative may agree to sponsor yourbill. A sponsor will work to put your bill in the prop-er form for introduction. The sponsor may alsomake changes in your bill’s content to increase itschances for passage.

After your bill is introduced, if you are consid-ered an expert on the subject of the bill you may be asked to testify before a congressional

committee. You may alsocontact other members ofCongress to request theirsupport for your legislation.Finally, if Congress passesyour bill, be prepared for aninvitation to the White Houseto participate in the presi-dent’s signing ceremony!

Writing Legislation Most legislation springs froma problem that people cannot resolve them-selves. Brainstorm to discover a problem thatmight be solved by national legislation and writea description of it.

A C T I V I T YA C T I V I T Yarticipating

I N G O V E R N M E N T articipating

I N G O V E R N M E N T

182

Proposing a law

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study found that more than 100 specific steps maybe involved in passing a law. Thus, at many pointsin the lawmaking process a bill can be delayed,killed, or changed. This process has two importantimplications. First, it means that groups that op-pose a bill have an advantage over those that sup-port it. Opponents can amend the bill or kill it atmany steps along the way.

Second, because the lawmaking process has somany steps, sponsors of a bill must be willing to bar-gain and compromise with lawmakers and interestgroups. Compromise is the only way to get supportto move a bill from one step to the next. Withoutstrong support, most major bills have little chanceof becoming law. Moreover, bills that powerful in-terest groups oppose are not likely to be passed.

Another reason so few bills become law is thatlawmakers sometimes introduce bills they knowhave no chance of ever becoming law. Members ofCongress may introduce such bills to go on recordin support of an idea or policy or simply to attractthe attention of the news media. Members mayalso want to satisfy an important group from theirstate or district. Still another reason is to call atten-tion to the need for new legislation in an area suchas health care or highway safety. Introducing a billcan help lawmakers avoid criticism at reelectiontime. By introducing a bill, lawmakers can reportthat they have taken action on a particular prob-lem. When the bill does not move forward, theycan blame a committee or other lawmakers.

Introducing a BillThe Constitution sets forth only a few of themany steps a bill must go through to be-

come law. The remaining steps have developed asCongress has grown in size and complexity and thenumber of bills has increased.

How Bills Are Introduced The first step inthe legislative process is proposing and introduc-ing a new bill. The ideas for new bills come fromprivate citizens, interest groups, the president, orofficials in the executive branch. Various peoplemay write new bills, such as lawmakers or theirstaffs, lawyers from a Senate or House committee,a White House staff member, or even an interest

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 183

Critical Thinking Approximately 5 percent of all measures introduced in Congress become policy. Which Congress passed the most bills from 1983 to 2003?

Source: "Resumes of Congressional Activity," thomas.loc.gov.

*Figures represent activity through June 30, 2004.

Bills, Acts, and ResolutionsMeasures Introduced

Measures Enacted

Congress Bills Total TotalPublic PrivateJoint

Resolutions

97th

98th

99th

100th

101st

102d

103d

104th

105th

106th

107th

108th*

10,582

10,134

8,697

8,515

9,257

9,601

7,883

6,545

7,532

8,968

8,956

7,359

908

1,022

1,188

1,073

1,095

909

661

263

200

190

178

139

11,490

11,156

9,885

9,588

10,352

10,510

8,544

6,808

7,732

9,158

9,134

7,498

473

623

664

713

650

590

465

333

394

580

377

256

56

54

24

48

16

20

8

4

10

24

6

0

529

677

688

761

666

610

473

337

404

604

383

265

Public Laws Enacted

0

100

200

300

400

500

’97 ’99 ’01 ’03’83 ’85 ’87 ’89 ’91 ’93 ’95

Number of Bills That Become LawNumber of Bills That Become Law

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group itself. Only a member of Congress, however,can introduce a bill in either house of Congress.Lawmakers who sponsor a major public bill usual-ly try to find cosponsors to show that the bill haswide support.

To introduce a bill in the House, a representa-tive drops the bill into the hopper, a box near theclerk’s desk. To introduce a bill in the Senate, thepresiding officer must first recognize the senatorwho then formally presents the bill.

Bills introduced in the House and Senate areprinted and distributed to lawmakers. Each bill isgiven a title and a number. The first bill intro-duced during a session of the Senate is designatedas S.l, the second bill as S.2, and so forth. In theHouse, the first bill is H.R.1, the second bill isH.R.2, and so on. This process is the first readingof the bill.

Committee Action In each house of Con-gress, new bills are sent to the committees that dealwith their subject matter. Committee chairpersonsmay send the bill to a subcommittee. To reject abill, committee members can ignore it and simplylet it die, a process called “pigeonholing,” or theycan kill the bill by a majority vote. When acceptinga bill, a committee can first completely rewrite it,make changes, or recommend that it be adopted asis before sending it back to the House or Senate forfurther action. Committee members and staff are

considered experts on their subjects. If they do notthink a bill should move ahead, other lawmakerswill usually agree with them. Time is also a seriousfactor. Lawmakers have heavy workloads and mustdepend on the judgment of their peers.

Committee Hearings When a committee de-cides to act on a bill, the committee holds hearings onthe bill. During a hearing, the committee listensto testimony from witnesses who may include expertson the subject of the bill, government officials, orrepresentatives of interest groups concerned withthe bill.

Hearings are supposed to be an opportunityfor Congress to gather information on the bill.Most detailed information about the bill, however,comes from research done by the committee staff.

Hearings can be very important in theirown right, though. Skillful chairpersons may usehearings to influence public opinion for or againsta bill or to test the political acceptability of a bill.Hearings can also help focus public attention on aproblem or give interest groups a chance to presenttheir opinions. In addition, hearings are often thebest point in the lawmaking process to influence abill. It is during hearings that letters, telegrams,and e-mails from interested citizens can have theirgreatest impact on a bill.

Many Senate and House committees use theInternet to set up interactive hearings with expertwitnesses at locations outside Washington, D.C.Committees may also broadcast hearings overthe Internet and allow visitors to e-mail questions tocommittee members.Committees also use their Webhome pages to make committee reports, documents,and other information available to Web users. Oneexample is the House Education and WorkforceCommittee, which became the first committeeto create a Spanish-language Web site to informSpanish speakers of President George W. Bush’s neweducation programs.

Markup Session After the hearings are com-pleted, the committee meets in a markup sessionto decide what changes, if any, to make in the bill.In this type of session, committee members gothrough the bill section by section, making anychanges they think the bill needs. A majority voteof the committee is required for all changes thatare made to the bill.

184 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

Follow the Leader In Congress, whipsaren’t there to speed up the process ofgovernment. Rather, whips are leaders whomake sure party members vote along with the rest of the party on bills. The term wasoriginally used in the British House of Commons. The term comes from fox hunting, in which a person, known as a “whipper-in,” whips the dogs to keep them running in a pack.

180-188 CH07S1-860053 12/1/04 2:49 AM Page 184

LAW

Critical Thinking At what point in Congress is a bill most closely examined?

1.1.

2.2.

1.1.

2.2.

1.1.

2.2.

3.3.

1.1.

2.2.

1.1.

1.1.

2.2.

3.3.

4.4.

2.2.

Approved Bill Sent to President

Pass

House votes on compromise bill. Senate votes on compromise bill.

*President can keep bill for 10 days and bill becomes law. If Congress adjourns before the 10 days (Sundays excluded), then the bill does not become law.

SENATE

Veto

HOUSE

Conference committee works out differences and sends identicalcompromise bill to both chambers for final approval.

Senator announces billon the floor.

Bill given S number.

Senate debates,votes on passage.

Representative hands bill toclerk or drops it in hopper.

Bill given HR number.

Referred to Senatesubcommittee.

Referred to Housestanding committee.

Referred to Senatestanding committee.

Referred to Housesubcommittee.

Reported bystanding committee.

Reported bystanding committee.

Rules Committeesets rules for debateand amendments.

House debates,votes on passage.

Bill passes; goes toSenate for approval.

Bill passes; goes toHouse for approval.

Floor Action

Bill is placed oncommittee calendar.

Bill sent to subcommittee forhearings and revisions.

Standing committeemay recommend passage or killthe bill.

Congress can override a veto by a 2/3 majority in both chambers. If either fails to override, the bill dies.

President signs bill or allows bill to become law without signing.*

Pass

President vetoes bill.OR

OR ORA different version passes;goes to conference committee.

Pass

Conference Action

Committee Action

A different version passes;goes to conference committee.

How a Bill Becomes LawHow a Bill Becomes Law

185

180-188 CH07S1-860053 12/1/04 2:50 AM Page 185

Reporting a Bill When all the changes havebeen made, the committee votes either to kill thebill or to report it. To report the bill means to sendit to the House or Senate for action. Along with therevised bill, the committee will send to the Houseor Senate a written report the committee staff hasprepared. This report is important. It explains thecommittee’s actions, describes the bill, lists themajor changes the committee has made, and givesopinions on the bill. The report is often the onlydocument available to lawmakers or their staffs asthey decide how to vote on a bill. The committeereport may recommend passage of the bill or itmay report the bill unfavorably. Why would acommittee report a bill but not recommend pas-sage? This happens extremely rarely. A committeemay believe the full House should have the oppor-tunity to consider a bill even though the commit-tee does not support it.

Floor ActionThe next important step in the lawmakingprocess is the debate on the bill on the

floor of the House and Senate.Voting on the bill fol-lows the debate. As you may recall, both houses havespecial procedures to schedule bills for floor action.

Debating and Amending Bills Usually, onlya few lawmakers take part in floor debates. Thepros and cons of the bill have been argued in thecommittee hearings and are already well known tothose with a real interest in the bill. The floor de-bate over a bill, however, is the point whereamendments can be added to a bill (unless theHouse has adopted a closed rule, which means noamendments may be adopted). During the floordebate, the bill receives its second reading. A clerkreads the bill section by section. After each sectionis read, amendments may be offered. Any lawmak-er can propose an amendment to a bill during thefloor debate.

Amendments range from the introduction ofmajor changes in a bill to the correction of typo-graphical errors. Opponents of the bill sometimespropose amendments to slow its progress throughCongress or even to kill it. One strategy opponentsuse is to load it down with so many objectionableamendments that it loses support and dies. In boththe House and the Senate amendments are addedto a bill only if a majority of the members presentapproves them.

Voting on Bills After the floor debate, the bill,including any proposed changes, is ready for a

186 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

Analyzing Votes Theelectronic voting system inthe House displays eachrepresentative’s name andvote on the wall of thechamber. Representativesinsert a plastic card in abox fastened to the chairsto vote “yea,” “nay,” or“present.” When do youthink a representativewould vote “present”?

Voting Electronically

180-188 CH07S1-860053 12/1/04 2:50 AM Page 186

vote. A quorum, or a majority, of the membersmust be present. The House or Senate now receivesthe third reading of the bill. A vote on the bill isthen taken. Passage of a bill requires a majorityvote of all the members present.

House and Senate members canvote on a bill in one of threeways. The first way is by a voicevote, in which members to-gether call out “Aye” or“No.” The second way ofvoting is by a standingvote, or division vote, inwhich those in favor ofthe bill stand and arecounted and then thoseopposed stand and arecounted. The roll-call voteis a voting method in whicheveryone responds “Aye” or“No” as their names are called inalphabetical order. The House alsouses a fourth method called a record-ed vote, in which members’ votes arerecorded electronically and displayed on panels inthe House chamber. This last method, used since1973, saves the House many hours of time that itonce took for roll-call votes in each session.

Final Steps in Passing BillsTo become law a bill must pass both houses of

Congress in identical form. A bill passed in theHouse of Representatives often differs at first froma Senate’s bill on the same subject.

Conference Committee Action If one housewill not accept the version of a bill the other househas passed, a conference committee must workout differences between the versions. The mem-bers of the conference committee are called conferees or managers. They usually come fromthe House and Senate committee members thathandled the bill originally.

The conferees work out the differencesbetween the two bills by arranging compromises.The conference committee is supposed to consideronly the parts of a bill on which there is disagree-ment, but sometimes it makes important changesin the bill or adds provisions not previously

considered by either chamber. A majority of themembers of the conference committee from eachhouse drafts the final bill, called a conference re-port. Once accepted, this bill can be submitted to

each house of Congress for final action.

Presidential Action on BillsArticle I1 of the Constitution

states that:

“Every Bill which shallhave passed the House ofRepresentatives and theSenate, shall, before it be-comes a Law, be presentedto the President of theUnited States. . . .”—Article I, Section 7

After both houses of Con-gress have approved a bill in

identical form, it is sent to thepresident. The president may signthe bill, and it will become law.

The president may also keep the bill for 10 dayswithout signing it. If Congress is in session, the billwill become law without the president’s signature.Most of the time, however, presidents sign the billsthat Congress sends them.

Vetoing Bills The president can also reject a billwith a veto. In a veto the president refuses to sign thebill and returns it to the house of Congress in whichit originated, along with reasons for the veto. Thepresident may also kill a bill passed during the last 10days Congress is in session by refusing to act on it.This veto is called a pocket veto.

Congressional Override of a Veto Congresscan override a president’s veto with a two-thirds votein both houses. If this happens, the bill becomes law. Itis usually difficult to get the necessary two-thirds votein both the House of Representatives and the Senate,so Congress does not override vetoes very often.

Line-Item Veto Presidents since Ronald Rea-gan have sought the power of the line-item veto, a

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 187

See the following footnoted materials in the Reference Handbook:1. The Constitution, pages 774–799.

Seal of the U.S. Congress

180-188 CH07S1-860053 12/1/04 2:50 AM Page 187

law is then added to the United States Code of cur-rent federal laws.

Tracking Legislation on the Internet Anonline information resource called THOMAS,after Thomas Jefferson, provides access to currentinformation about all legislation being considered byCongress. THOMAS allows you to search the full textof all versions of House and Senate bills by either billnumber or keyword.Another section of this databaseprovides the full text of the Congressional Record,committee reports, summaries of bills and updateson their status as they move through the legislativeprocess, and the history of bills.

Not everything about legislation appearson THOMAS. Bills do not appear in the databaseuntil they are published in an official version by theGovernment Printing Office. As a result, draftsof bills, committee recommendations,and the “chair-man’s mark,” the version of a bill as it goes through amarkup session, are not available.

THOMAS was designed to open up the compli-cated lawmaking process to individual citizens andhelp offset the power of lobbyists and special inter-ests. When Speaker of the House Newt Gingrichunveiled THOMAS at a 1995 press conference,he said:

“Knowledge is power. . . . [I]f every citizenhas access to the information that Wash-ington lobbyists have, we will have changedthe balance of power in America towardsthe citizens and out of the Beltway.”

tool used by many state governors. The line-itemveto allows a leader to reject specific lines or items ina bill while accepting the main body of the legisla-tion. Granting a true line-item veto, however, re-quires a constitutional amendment. In 1996,Congress avoided this obstacle by passing a specialbill which gave the president some of the powers ofa line-item veto. This enhanced recision bill allowedthe president to veto individual spending and taxitems from bills.

Clinton v. City of New York President Clin-ton first used the new veto power in August 1997 tocancel a provision of the Balanced Budget Act of1997 and parts of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.New York challenged the veto because it reducedMedicaid funding for New York state hospitals.Idaho farmers also challenged the veto of a tax breakin the Taxpayer Relief Act. The Supreme Courtruled in Clinton v. City of New York (1998) that theLine Item Veto Act was unconstitutional.

Registering Laws After a bill becomes law, it isregistered with the National Archives and RecordsService. The law is labeled as a public or private lawand assigned a number that identifies the Congressthat passed the bill and the number of the law forthat term. For example, Public Law 187 under the105th Congress is registered as PL105-187. This

Sect ion 1 AssessmentSect ion 1 Assessment

Political Processes Imagine that you areasked to help younger children learn how laws are made in the United States. Create a poster, using cartoonlike illustrations, toshow how a bill becomes a law.

Checking for Understanding1. Main Idea Create a flow chart to analyze the

major stages by which a bill becomes a law.Which stage do you think takes the longest?

2. Define private bill, public bill, simple resolution,rider, hearing, veto, pocket veto.

3. Identify voice vote, standing vote, roll-call vote.4. Why do so few bills actually become laws?

Critical Thinking5. Drawing Conclusions Is it possible for all

members of Congress to keep abreast of all bills under consideration? Support your answer.

188 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

180-188 CH07S1-860053 12/1/04 2:50 AM Page 188

Today, running the national governmentcosts about $2 trillion a year. The Consti-tution gives Congress the authority to decide where this money will come from

and in what ways it will be spent. Passing laws to raise and spend money for the nationalgovernment is one of the most important jobs of Congress. The government could not operatesuccessfully without money to carry out its manyprograms and services.

Making Decisions About TaxesThe national government gets most of themoney it needs to keep the government

functioning from taxes. Taxes are money that peo-ple and businesses pay to support the government.The Constitution states:

“The Congress shall have the power to layand collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex-cises, to pay the debts and provide for thecommon defense and general welfare ofthe United States. . . .”—Article I, Section 8

The House’s Power Over Revenue BillsThe Constitution gives the House of Representa-tives the exclusive power to start all revenuemeasures. Almost all important work on tax lawsoccurs in the House Ways and Means Commit-tee. The Ways and Means Committee decideswhether to go along with presidential requestsfor tax cuts or increases. It also makes the numerous rules and regulations that determinewho will pay how much tax. Some of these rulings are very simple while others are morecomplex. This committee, for example, influ-ences how much of a tax deduction parents areallowed on their income tax for each child living at home. It also decides what kind oftax benefit businesses can claim for buildingnew factories.

Taxing and Spending BillsS e c t i o n 2S e c t i o n 2

Wasteful Spending!WASHINGTON, D.C., 1985

Senator William Prox-

mire awarded the Na-

tional Institutes of Health

his Golden Fleece Award

for a grant it gave a Utah

researcher to study hexes

put on arm wrestlers. “It’s

$160,000 of the taxpayers’

money down the drain,”

Proxmire maintains. The

senator launched the

Golden Fleece Award in

1975 to call public attention to wasteful government

spending. The first went to the National Science

Foundation for spending $84,000 to find out why

people fall in love. Other notable past “winners” in-

clude the Department of Agriculture for a $46,000

study of the length of time it takes to cook breakfast.

100010001000

1000100

100

100100

100

10001000

1000100

100100

100100 100

100

100

100

100

100100

1000

1000

1000

1000

Arm wrestlers

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 189

Reader’s Guide

Key Termstax, closed rule, appropriation, authorization bill,entitlement

Find Out■ What authority does Congress have over how

the national government will raise and spendmoney?

■ What is the procedure whereby Congress pro-vides money to the executive agencies anddepartments?

Understanding ConceptsPublic Policy When Congress votes to begin agovernment program, what process is followed tofund that program?

189-193 CH07S2-860053 12/1/04 2:50 AM Page 189

Critical Thinking All of the countries listed have higher tax rates than the United States. How many nations listed collect more than 50% of their GDP in taxes? What do the countries that collect more than 50% have in common?

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2002 (Washington, D.C.: 2002).

56.4%

53.7%

53.5%

49.3%

48.0%

47.3%

46.1%

46.0%

42.8%

41.2%

41.1%

41.0%

40.9%

39.5%

32.3%

31.7%

31.6%

Sweden

Norway

Denmark

France

Finland

Austria

Belgium

Italy

Germany

New Zealand

Netherlands

Portugal

United Kingdom

Canada

Japan

Australia

United States

Taxes as a Percent of GDP

COMPARING GovernmentsCOMPARING Governments For many years the committee’s tax bills were

debated on the House floor under a closed rule. Aclosed rule forbids members to offer any amend-ments to a bill from the floor. This rule meant thatonly members of the Ways and Means Committeecould have a direct hand in writing a tax bill.

Other House members accepted this closed-rule procedure on tax bills for several reasons.House leaders claimed that tax bills were too com-plicated to be easily understood outside the com-mittee. Leaders also warned that representativescould come under great pressure from special in-terests if tax bills could be revised from the floor.Floor amendments, they argued, might upset thefair and balanced legislation recommended by thecommittee.

In the 1970s House members revolted againstthe Ways and Means Committee. In 1973 theHouse allowed members to amend a tax bill on the floor. In 1974 it forced Committee Chairper-son Wilbur Mills to resign following a personalscandal. Critics charged that tax bills soon becamea collection of amendments written to please spe-cial interests.

In the Senate no closed rule exists, and tax billsoften do become collections of amendments.Many tax bills are amended so often on the Senatefloor they become “Christmas tree” bills similar toappropriations bills that include many riders.

The Senate’s Role in Tax Legislation Alltax bills start in the House. Article I, Section 7,1 ofthe Constitution, however, says, “The Senate maypropose . . . amendments. . . .” Because of this pro-vision, the Senate often tries to change tax bills theHouse has passed. As a result, many people viewthe Senate as the place where interest groups canget House tax provisions they do not like changedor eliminated.

The Senate Committee on Finance has primaryresponsibility for dealing with tax matters. Like the House Ways and Means Committee, the SenateFinance Committee is powerful. Although the Senate Finance Committee has subcommittees,the full committee does most of the work on taxbills. As a result, the chairperson of the FinanceCommittee is an extremely important figure.

190 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

See the following footnoted materials in the Reference Handbook:1. The Constitution, pages 774–799.

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Appropriating MoneyIn addition to passing tax laws to raisemoney, Congress has another important

power over government spending. The power ofappropriation, or approval of government spend-ing, is a congressional responsibility. In Article I,Section 9, the Constitution states,“No money shallbe drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of[except by] appropriations made by law.”1 Thus,Congress must pass laws to appropriate money forthe federal government. Congress’s approval isneeded before departments and agencies of the ex-ecutive branch such as the Department of Defenseor the Federal Communications Commission canactually spend money.

How Congress Appropriates MoneyCongress follows a two-step procedure in appro-priating money—an authorization bill and an ap-propriations bill. Suppose the president signs a billto build recreational facilities in the inner cities.

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 191

Congressional Funding Anartist, commissioned by theWorks Progress Administration,depicted California’s multi-ethnic workforce. In the mid-1930s, President Franklin D.Roosevelt convinced Congressto appropriate funds to a reliefprogram for the unemployed.WPA artists created hundredsof pieces documenting thetimes. Why must agencyheads testify before Con-gress to receive funding?

Managing the Nation’s Purse

Former head of the Na-tional Endowment for theArts, Jane Alexander, tes-tifies before the SenateLabor Committee.

See the following footnoted materials in the Reference Handbook:1. The Constitution, pages 774–799.

This first step in the legislation is an authorizationbill. An authorization bill sets up a federal pro-gram and specifies how much money may be ap-propriated for that program. For example, oneprovision of this law limits the amount of moneythat can be spent on the program to $30 million ayear. The recreation bill also specifies that the De-partment of Housing and Urban Development(HUD) will administer the program. HUD, how-ever, does not yet actually have any money to carryout the program.

The second step in the appropriations proce-dure comes when HUD requests that Congressprovide the $30 million. This kind of bill is an appropriations bill and provides the money needed to carry out the many laws Congress haspassed. HUD’s request for the $30 million for the recreational facilities will be only one smallitem in the multibillion-dollar budget HUD will send to Congress for that year. HUD’s budget,in turn, will be part of the president’s total annualbudget for the executive branch. Each year thepresident presents his budget to Congress. Therethe appropriations committees create their own appropriations bills. Congress might decide to

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grant HUD only $15 million to carry out thebuilding program. Next year, HUD would have to ask for another appropriation to continue theprogram.

The Appropriations Committees TheHouse and Senate appropriations committees andtheir subcommittees handle appropriations bills.Both the House and Senate appropriations com-mittees have 13 subcommittees that deal with thesame policy areas ineach house. Thus, thesame appropriationssubcommittees in theHouse of Representa-tives and the Senatewould review theHUD budget, includ-ing its recreational fa-cility program aspresented.

Every year headsof departments andagencies and program directors testify before theHouse and Senate appropriations subcommitteesabout their budgets. During the budget hearings,these officials explain why they need the moneythey have requested. Each year agency officialsmust return to Congress to request the money theyneed to operate in the coming year. In this way law-makers have a chance to become familiar with thefederal agencies and their programs.

Appropriations subcommittees often developclose relationships with certain agencies and pro-jects that they tend to favor in appropriating funds.In addition, powerful interest groups try hard toinfluence Congress and the appropriations sub-committees to give these agencies all the moneythey request.

Uncontrollable Expenditures The Houseand Senate appropriations committees, however,

do not have a voice in allthe current spending ofthe federal government.By previous legislation,some of which estab-lished many long-stand-ing programs, about 70percent of the money the federal governmentspends each year is al-ready committed to cer-tain uses and, therefore,not controlled by these

committees. These expenditures are termed uncontrollables because the government is legally committed to spend this money. Such required spending includes Social Security pay-ments, interest on the national debt, and federalcontracts that already are in force. Some of theseexpenditures are known as entitlements becausethey are social programs that continue from oneyear to the next.

A Social Security card

Sect ion 2 AssessmentSect ion 2 Assessment

Public Policy Using the library or the Internet,research the major categories of revenue and ex-penditure in the current federal budget. Find outwhat amounts of money the government plansto raise and spend in each category. Create anillustrated report or series of graphs and charts.

Checking for Understanding1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the one

to the right, show the two-step procedure that Congress follows when appropriating money.

2. Define tax, closed rule, appropriation, authoriza-tion bill, entitlement.

3. Identify Ways and Means Committee, HUD.4. What control does the House Ways and Means

Committee exert over presidential requests forchanges in tax laws?

Critical Thinking5. Synthesizing Information Do you think Congress

should have the power both to raise and tospend money? Support your answer.

192 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

1.

2.

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Analyzing Information

T o analyze information, you mustdetermine its accuracy andreliability. Biased informa-

tion may contain factual errors,be incomplete, or be distortedby propaganda techniques.

Learning the Skill

To analyze the information youencounter, follow these five steps:1. Determine the purpose and na-

ture of the information.2. Determine if the information is

from a primary or secondarysource.

3. Evaluate the reliability of the source.4. Determine what evidence the author presents.5. Compare the information with other sources

to see if they support or contradict each other.

Practicing the Skill

Read the excerpt below. It defines the nature ofthe Senate. Then answer the questions that follow.

“In the classic anecdote about the origins ofthe Senate, Thomas Jefferson—in Franceduring the Constitutional Convention—asked George Washington about the pur-pose of the new Senate. ‘Why,’ askedWashington, ‘did you pour that coffee intoyour saucer?’ ‘To cool it,’ Jefferson replied.‘Even so,’ responded Washington, ‘we pourlegislation into the senatorial saucer tocool it.’ That the Senate was intended to bethe more deliberative and reasoning of thetwo chambers is well known. In designingthe Senate, the Framers chose institutional

features with an eye to restraining any ill-con-sidered or rash legislation passed by thepopularly elected House. With its smaller

size, longer terms, older members,staggered elections by state leg-

islative elite, and exclusivepower to advise and consenton treaties and nomina-tions, the Senate was ex-pected to act ‘with morecoolness, with more systemand with more wisdom,than the popular branch.’

—from Politics or Principle, Sarah A. Binder

and Steven S. Smith

1. What subject are the authors addressing?2. Is it a primary or secondary source?3. Do you think the source is reliable? Why?4. What evidence do the authors offer to support

their viewpoint?5. What other places or sources would you check

to verify the accuracy of this article?

193

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Application ActivityApplication Activity

The Glencoe SkillbuilderInteractive Workbook, Level 2provides instruction and practicein key social studies skills.

Look through the letters to the editor inyour local newspaper. Prepare a short reportanalyzing one of the letters. Summarize the context of the article, the writer’s moti-vation, point of view, and possible bias.

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Like Senator Ross, members of Congressmust constantly make difficult decisions.They decide which policies they will sup-port and when to yield or not to yield to po-

litical pressures. They must also decide how to voteon controversial issues and when to make speechesexplaining their views. In a single session, membersmay cast votes on a thousand issues. By theirspeeches and actions they influence the direction ofgovernment policies and help shape the public’sviews about a particular bill or about an issue thatis before Congress. Who influences the lawmakers?

Influences on LawmakersA great many factors influence a lawmaker’sdecisions. One factor is the lawmaker’s per-

sonality. Some members of Congress, for example,are by nature more willing to take risks when mak-ing a choice. Sometimes the very nature of theissue determines the factors that will influencelawmakers most. For example, on a controversialissue such as the Second Amendment right to owna gun, a lawmaker may pay attention to the votersback home, no matter what his or her own beliefsmay be. On issues that have little direct effect ontheir home states or districts, most lawmakers arelikely to rely on their own beliefs or on the adviceand opinions of other lawmakers.

Congressional staff members also influencelawmakers’ decisions in Congress. They can dothis in several ways. One way is by controllingthe information on which lawmakers base theirdecisions. Another way is by setting the agendasfor individual lawmakers and for congressionalcommittees that may favor a certain point ofview.

Thus, many factors affect a lawmaker’s de-cision on any given issue. Most lawmakers agreethat the most important influences on their de-cision making are the concerns of voters backhome, their own political parties, the president,and special-interest groups.

Influencing CongressS e c t i o n 3S e c t i o n 3

Senator Saves Johnson

The refusal of Senator

Edmund G. Ross to side

with other Senate Republi-

cans has saved President An-

drew Johnson from being

removed from office. Only

one vote short of what they

needed to convict Johnson

of the impeachment charges

brought against him, Re-

publicans’ pressure on the

freshman senator from

Kansas had been intense. By

refusing to vote with 35

other Republicans, Ross has knowingly put his Sen-

ate career on the line.“I almost literally looked down

into my open grave,” he said of his vote. Political ob-

servers agree with the senator’s assessment and do

not expect him to be reelected to a second term.

194 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

Reader’s Guide

Key Termslobbyist, lobbying

Find Out■ How closely should the votes of members

of Congress reflect the opinions of their constituents?

■ What factors must a member of Congressweigh when deciding whether to support theviews of an interest group or of the president?

Understanding ConceptsPolitical Processes What specific groups and individuals influence the legislators’ decisions?

WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 1868

Senator EdmundRoss

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The Influence of VotersThe political careers of all law-makers depend upon how the

voters back home feel about lawmak-ers’ job performance. Only very un-usual lawmakers would regularly voteagainst the wishes of the people intheir home states or districts.

What Voters Expect Experi-enced lawmakers know that their con-stituents expect them to pay a greatdeal of attention to their state or dis-trict. Most people expect their repre-sentatives to put the needs of theirdistrict ahead of the needs of the na-tion. What if a conflict arises betweenwhat the lawmaker believes should bedone and what the people in the dis-trict want? In a national opinion sur-vey, most people said their lawmakershould “follow what people in the dis-trict want.”

The voting behavior of mostmembers of Congress reflects the re-sults of this survey. On issues that af-fect their constituents’ daily lives, suchas civil rights and social welfare, lawmakers gener-ally go along with the voters’ preferences. In con-trast, on issues where constituents have lessinformation or interest, such as foreign affairs,lawmakers often make up their own minds.

Voters say they want their lawmakers to followconstituents’ wishes on the issues and enact lawsthat reflect their needs and opinions. Most voters,however, do not take the trouble to find out howtheir senators and representatives cast their votesin Congress. Sometimes voters are not even awareof all the issues lawmakers must decide and voteon. Why, then, is the way lawmakers vote so im-portant to their chance of reelection?

In an election campaign, the candidate fromthe other party and opposing interest groups willbring up the lawmaker’s voting record. They maydemand that the lawmaker explain votes thatturned out to be unpopular back home. The oppo-site is also true. A legislator running for reelectionmay call attention to his or her votes on certainmeasures in order to attract constituents’ support.

As a result, voters who might otherwise not knowhow the lawmaker voted are told how well he orshe “paid attention to the folks back home.” Themargin between a candidate’s victory and defeatmay be only a few thousand votes. Consequently, asmall group of voters on either side—those whowere unhappy with a lawmaker’s voting record andthose who strongly supported that record—couldmean the difference between the candidate’s victo-ry and defeat. As a result, lawmakers try to find outwhat the voters back home are concerned aboutwell before an election.

Visits to the District Most lawmakers useseveral methods to try and keep track of theirconstituents’ opinions. One method is to makefrequent trips home to learn the local voters’concerns. Senators and representatives makedozens of trips to their home districts each year.During these trips they will try to speak with asmany voters as possible about the issues concern-ing them.

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 195

Influencing Government Lawmakers represent the citi-zens of their districts and their own political parties. At elec-tion time, these groups will hold lawmakers accountable fortheir votes. What does the cartoonist seem to be sayingabout who influences a legislator’s vote?

Influencing Policy Makers

“Whose conscience are we voting today?”

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Messages From Home Lawmakers also payattention to the messages pouring into their officesevery day. Staff members screen the lawmakers’ mailto learn what issues concern voters the most. Not allmessages carry equal weight. Most lawmakers areonly interested in messages that come from voters intheir district or state or from interest groups of specialconcern to them. The form of the message is also im-portant. Sending an e-mail to your lawmaker is oneof the easiest ways to communicate with him or her.So far, however, lawmakers have ranked e-mails asbeing less important than other forms of communi-cation. Faxes, form letters, and preprinted postcardsare also ranked low. Congressional offices rate per-sonal letters sent through the mail as most important,followed by visits and telephone calls.

Surveys and Polls Many lawmakers sendquestionnaires to their constituents asking fortheir opinions on various issues. Increasingly,lawmakers are using Web sites and e-mail toregularly collect voters’ opinions about key issues.As an election draws near, lawmakers will oftenhire professional pollsters to conduct opinionsurveys among the voters of their districts.

Key Supporters Finally, all lawmakers payclose attention to the ideas of their rain-or-shinesupporters—those people who work in candidates’campaigns, contribute money, and help ensure re-election. As one lawmaker put it,“Everybody needs

Voting Along Party Lines

Political Processes Political parties greatlyinfluence legislators’ voting decisions. Howmay congressional party leaders persuadelawmakers to support the party position?

196 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

some groups which are strongly for him.” Thesesupporters also help lawmakers keep in touch withevents back home.

The Influence of PartiesAlmost every member of Congress is either a

Republican or a Democrat.Both political parties gen-erally take stands on major issues and come out for oragainst specific legislation. Political party identifica-tion is one of the most important influences on a law-maker’s voting behavior. In many cases, knowingwhich political party members of Congress belong towill help predict how they will vote on major issues.

Party Voting Both Democrats and Republicanstend to vote with their parties on bills. In the Houseof Representatives, members vote with their partymore than 70 percent of the time. Senators, who aregenerally more independent than House members,are less likely to follow their party’s position.

Party voting is much stronger on some issuesthan on others. On issues relating to governmentintervention in the economy, party members tendto vote the same way. Party voting is also strong onfarm issues and fairly strong on social-welfareissues. Party voting is usually weaker on foreignpolicy issues because the two parties often do nothave fixed positions on international questions.

The Importance of Parties Republicans or Democrats vote with their parties because membersof each party are likely to share the same generalbeliefs about public policy. As a group, Democraticlawmakers are more likely than Republicans to favorsocial-welfare programs, job programs throughpublic works, tax laws that help people with lowerincomes, and government regulation of business. Ingeneral,Republican members of Congress are likely tosupport lower taxes, less government spending, localand state rather than federal solutions to problems,and policies that support businesses and corporationsand limit government intervention in the economy.

Another reason for party voting is that mostlawmakers do not have strong opinions aboutevery issue on which they vote. They cannot knowenough about all the issues to make informeddecisions about every bill. Therefore, they often seekadvice on how to vote from fellow party memberswho know more about an issue than they do.

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On some issues party leaders pressure membersto vote for the party’s position. Often, party leaderssupport the president’s program if the president is amember of the same party. On the other hand, lead-ers of the opposing party may vote against the pres-ident’s program and seek to turn such oppositioninto a political issue. Congressional party leaderssuch as the Senate majority leader or the Speaker ofthe House usually use the power of persuasion.These leaders do not expect to get their way all thetime. But they do work hard to influence lawmakersto support the party’s position on key issues. Gain-ing the support of party members is one of themain jobs of a party leader. Very few issues are un-affected by political party affiliation.

Other Influences on CongressAlthough voter preferences and politicalparties strongly influence the decisions of

lawmakers, two other influences are often equallystrong: the president and interest groups.

The Influence of the President All presi-dents try to influence Congress to pass the laws

that the president and his party support. Somepresidents work harder than others at gaining sup-port in Congress, and some are more successful ingetting Congress to pass their programs.

Members of Congress have often complainedthat presidents have more ways to influence legisla-tion and policy than do lawmakers. Presidents canappear on television to try to influence public opin-ion and put pressure on Congress. In late 1990 andearly 1991, for example, President Bush deployedUnited States troops to Saudi Arabia. More than 6months of military buildup followed, in which theUnited States government attempted to force Iraqout of Kuwait. Congress let the president take thelead in responding to Iraq. President Bush tookevery opportunity to express his views in the pressand on television. With growing public support formilitary action behind the president, Congressvoted to approve military action in the PersianGulf. Presidential influence, in this instance of pol-icy making, had tremendous influence.

Presidents may also use their powers to influenceindividual members of Congress. They can give orwithhold support of lawmakers. In the mid-1960s,for example, Senator Frank Church of Idaho criti-cized President Lyndon Johnson’s conduct of the

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 197

Arlys Endres

Making a DifferenceMaking a Difference While she may not be em-ployed as a lobbyist or amember of a political

action committee, Arlys Endres of Phoenix, Arizona, has alreadymade her mark in the hallowedhalls of Congress. In 1996, whenshe was 10 years old, Endreswrote a school report on suffrag-ist Susan B. Anthony. Endreslater discovered that a statuehonoring Anthony and two othersuffragists, Elizabeth Cady Stan-ton and Lucretia Mott, had beengiven to Congress in 1921. Thisstatue was unveiled on the anniversary of Anthony’s birth-day. It was then briefly dis-

played in the Capitol Rotundabefore being moved to a perma-

nent display area in the CapitalCrypt, an area on the first floor

of the Capitol below the floor ofthe Rotunda.

Endres wanted to convince Congress to move the statue backto a position of prominence. Shediscovered a national effort led byfemale members of Congress toraise money to reinstall the stat-ue. Endres mailed at least 2,000letters to round up supporters anddonations. She also went on adoor-to-door fund-raising campaign.

In all, Endres helped raisealmost $2,000. Her efforts alsotook her to Washington, D.C.,to see the statue and speak ata “Raise the Statue” rally. Hercampaign did not go unnoticedby national legislators. The UnitedStates Congress unanimouslyvoted to reinstall the statue in theCapitol Rotunda in 1996.

Susan B.Anthony

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Vietnam War. To support his viewpoint, Churchshowed President Johnson a newspaper columnwritten by journalist Walter Lippmann criticizingthe war. “All right,” Johnson said, “the next time youneed a dam for Idaho, you go ask Walter Lippmann.”

Since the early 1900s, many presidents havetried to increase their influence over Congress andthe lawmaking process, and they have succeeded. Inmore recent years Congress has taken steps to limitthe president’s influence, letting Congress remain amore autonomous legislative body.

The Influence of Interest Groups Therepresentatives of interest groups, called lobbyists,are another important influence on Congress.Lobbyists try to convince members of Congress to support policies favored by the groups they rep-resent. Their efforts to persuade officials to supporttheir point of view is called lobbying. The largestand most powerful lobbies have their own build-ings and full-time professional staffs in the nation’scapital.

Lobbyists represent a wide variety of interestssuch as business organizations, labor unions, doc-tors, lawyers, education groups, minority groups,and environmental organizations. In addition,lobbyists work for groups that sometimes form tosupport or to oppose a specific issue.

Lobbyists use various methods to influencemembers of Congress. They provide lawmakerswith information about policies they support oroppose. They visit lawmakers in their offices or in

the lobbies of the Capitol and try to persuade themto support their position. They encourage citizensto write to members of Congress on the issues theyfavor or oppose.

Interest groups and their lobbyists also focustheir attention on congressional committees. Forexample, farm groups concentrate their attentionon influencing the committees responsible for lawson agriculture. Labor unions focus their effort oncommittees dealing with labor legislation and theeconomy.

Political Action Committees Some ob-servers believe that the importance of individual lob-byists has declined in recent years as political actioncommittees, known as PACs, have dramatically in-creased in number and influence with lawmakers.PACs are political fund-raising organizations estab-lished by corporations, labor unions, and other special-interest groups. PAC funds come from vol-untary contributions by employees, stockholders,and union members.A PAC uses its funds to supportlawmakers who favor the PAC’s positions on issues.

Sect ion 3 AssessmentSect ion 3 Assessment

Political Processes Contact a special-interestgroup to request literature on the group’s pur-pose and activities. Summarize how the groupattempts to influence legislators. Post the liter-ature and summary on a bulletin-board display.

Checking for Understanding1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the one

to the right, identify four ways lawmakers can keep in touch with voters’ opinions.

2. Define lobbyist, lobbying.3. Identify PAC.4. On which type of issues do lawmakers tend to

pay less attention to voter opinion?5. What influence does the president have on

Congress?

Critical Thinking6. Making Inferences Why do some people think

that PACs now have more influence over mem-bers of Congress and the process of congres-sional legislation than do individual lobbyists?

198 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

Student Web Activity Visit the United StatesGovernment: Democracy in Action Web site atgov.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 7–StudentWeb Activities for an activity about influencingCongress.

GOVERNMENT

2.

3.

1.

4.

Lawmakers

194-199 CH07S3-860053 12/1/04 2:52 AM Page 198

CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK 199

SPACE STATION: WHATSHOULD CONGRESS DO?

COST-CONSCIOUS GOVERNMENT

This original vision, as proposed in 1984, wassoon questioned because the government had be-come more cost conscious. By late 1996 PresidentClinton confirmed that the manned mission to Marsproject was dead. Instead, the National Aeronauticsand Space Administration began preparing a vast armada of robots to send to the red planet. In1997, the first robot landed on Mars and sent backdramatic images and extensive data. It collectedmost of the data that human explorers could col-lect, at a fraction of the cost. A human missionwould have cost $500 billion. NASA builds each ofits automated probes for far less money. Some sci-entists argue that the original plans for a mannedspace station also should be abandoned becausethey are no longer relevant.

Assume you are a member of Congress whowill vote on funding for a manned space station.Your home district has research companies thatmight benefit from government contracts if the sta-tion were built. However, you were elected on apledge to reduce unnecessary government spend-ing. The proposed budget is for $94 billion over a15-year period.

KEY ISSUES✔ What are the benefits and costs of a mannedspace station?

✔ Could the same benefits be gained at less costby another method?✔ How will your decision affect your constituents?Your nation?

Debate Discuss the issue in class. Allow time fortwo people on either side of the issue to prepareshort speeches to present to the class.

Vote Make your decision for or against the fundingbill. Then have the class vote and record the results.Discuss the outcome of the vote.

Debating the IssueDebating the Issue

WOULD YOU VOTE FOR OR AGAINST THE FUNDING BILL?

In 1984 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration proposed to build a space station as a long-term project that would provide valuable knowledge and be a

way station for trips to other planets or the moon. The project provided additional justification for another major project, the space shuttle.

HUMANS IN SPACE

The space station is an inspir-ing international project that willallow the world’s most talentedspace scientists to keep activeuntil human exploration of spaceis feasible. The lucrative construc-tion contracts from the UnitedStates and other countries furthersupport pursuing a manned sta-tion. Scientists also plan to usethe station for biological experiments. U.S.leadership in this area would be questioned ifAmerica withdrew from the project. There are risks,however. In 2003, tragedy struck the shuttleColumbia when it blew apart on re-entry into theatmosphere, killing all seven crew members.

toto

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Representative Doggett’s experience mir-rors what many seasoned lawmakers havelearned—they are expected to do more inWashington, D.C., for their constituents

than debate great issues. To be reelected, lawmak-ers must spend much of their time on two otherimportant tasks. First, they must act as problemsolvers for voters who have difficulties with de-partments or agencies of the federal government.Second, they must make sure that their district orstate gets its share of federal money for projectssuch as new post offices, highways, and contracts.

These two duties are not new to members ofCongress, but in recent years these duties have become increasingly important. As the national government has grown, they have become a time-consuming part of the lawmaker’s job.

Handling ProblemsAll lawmakers today are involved withcasework. Helping constituents with prob-

lems is called casework. One House member putit this way, “Rightly or wrongly, we have becomethe link between the frustrated citizen and thevery involved federal government in citizens’lives. . . . We continually use more and more ofour staff time to handle citizens’ complaints.”

Many Different Requests Lawmakers re-spond to thousands of requests from voters forhelp in dealing with executive agencies. Typicalrequests include: (1) A soldier would like theArmy to move him to a base close to home because his parents are ill. (2) A local busi-nessperson claims the Federal Trade Commis-sion (FTC) is treating her business unfairly. Shewould like to meet with top FTC officials. (3) Aveteran has had his GI life insurance policycancelled by a government agency. The agencysays the veteran failed to fill out and return acertain form. The veteran says he never got theform, but he wants the life insurance. (4) A

Helping ConstituentsS e c t i o n 4S e c t i o n 4

Chasing Federal MoneyWASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 1997

Displaying a photo of

a fiery auto crash

on Interstate 35 in down-

town Austin, Texas, Rep-

resentative Lloyd Doggett

called for federal help in

building a bypass around

the city. Doggett wants

the House to change the

way it distributes federal

gasoline taxes among the

states. Currently Texas receives just 77 cents of each

dollar it contributes in gasoline taxes. Under the

Texan’s plan, that would increase to 95 cents. The

idea angers legislators from northeastern states,

which currently receive more of the tax money.

New York representative Susan Molinari thinks

Texas gets its share of federal money in other areas.

“The extra six billion defense dollars that go to

Texas, kiss it good-by,” she said.

Texas state seal

200 CHAPTER 7: CONGRESS AT WORK

Reader’s Guide

Key Termscasework, pork-barrel legislation, logrolling

Find Out■ Why do legislators spend much of their time

helping their constituents?■ How do the organization and methods of

Congress contribute to pork-barrel legislation?

Understanding ConceptsFederalism How does the need to weigh the interests of their constituents affect national policydecisions by members of Congress?

200-209 CH07S4-860053 12/2/04 4:14 AM Page 200

new high school graduate would like help findinga government job in Washington.

Many lawmakers complain that although vot-ers say they want less government they demandmore services from their members of Congress.Sometimes voters make unreasonable requests orask for help that a lawmaker is unwilling to deliv-er. A representative from New York, for example,was asked to fix a speeding ticket. Another memberreceived a call asking what the lawmaker was goingto do about the shortage of snow shovels at a localhardware store during a blizzard.

Who Handles Casework All lawmakers havestaff members called caseworkers to handle theproblems of their constituents. In most instancesthe caseworkers are able to handle the requests forhelp themselves. Sometimes the problem can besolved with a simple question from a caseworker tothe agency involved. At other times, however, thesenator or representative may have to get directlyinvolved. One representative explained, “Whennothing else is working and the staff feels they’vehad it with the bureaucracy, then I step in.”

Purposes of Casework Why do lawmakersspend so much of their time on casework? Law-makers are involved in casework because it servesthree important purposes. First, casework helpslawmakers get reelected. Lawmakers know thathelping voters with problems is part of what theycan do for the people in their states or districts. “Ilearned soon after coming to Washington,” a Mis-souri lawmaker once said,“that it was just as impor-tant to get a certain document for somebody backhome as for some European diplomat—really, moreimportant, because that little guy back home votes.”

As a result, many lawmakers actually look forcasework. One lawmaker, for example, regularlysent invitations to almost 7,000 voters in his dis-trict asking them to bring their problems to a townmeeting his staff runs. Today lawmakers may en-courage voters to communicate with them by elec-tronic mail. Many representatives have vans thatdrive through their districts as mobile offices tokeep watch on problems back home.

Second, casework is one way in which Con-gress oversees the executive branch. Caseworkbrings problems with federal programs to the at-tention of members of Congress. It provides op-

portunities for lawmakers and their staffs to get acloser look at how well the executive branch is han-dling such federal programs as Social Security, vet-erans’ benefits, or workers’ compensation.

Third, casework provides a way for the averagecitizen to cope with the huge national government.In the years before the national government grewso large, most citizens with a problem turned totheir local politicians—called ward heelers—forhelp. One member of Congress explained that:

“In the old days, you had the ward heelerwho cemented himself in the communityby taking care of everyone. Now the Con-gressman plays the role of ward heeler—wending his way through bureaucracy,helping to cut through red tape and confusion.” —Sam Rayburn

Helping the District or StateBesides providing services for their con-stituents, members of Congress also try to

bring federal government projects and money totheir districts and states. Lawmakers do this inthree ways: (l) through pork-barrel legislation; (2)through winning federal grants and contracts; and(3) through keeping federal projects.

Public Works Legislation Every year, throughpublic works bills, Congress appropriates billions of dollars for a variety of local projects. These projects may include such things as post offices,dams, military bases, harbor and river improve-ments, federally funded highways, veterans’ hospi-tals, pollution-treatment centers, and mass-transitsystem projects.

Such government projects can bring jobs andmoney into a state or district. For example, Sena-tor Robert Byrd’s pet project, the Appalachian Re-gional Commission, oversaw more than a billiondollars worth of government spending in its firstthree years. Beginning in 1989, Byrd used his posi-tion as chair of the Appropriations Committee totransplant federal agencies into his home state ofWest Virginia. For example, agencies or divisionsof the FBI, CIA, Internal Revenue Service, and eventhe Coast Guard were moved from Washington toByrd’s state.

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When Congress passes laws to appropriatemoney for such local federal projects, it is oftencalled pork-barrel legislation. The idea is that amember of Congress has dipped into the “porkbarrel” (the federal treasury) and pulled out a pieceof “fat” (a federal project for his or her district).Sometimes such legislation draws criticism. Refer-ring to Robert Byrd’s project, a Maryland con-gresswoman claimed she was “afraid to go to sleepat night for fear of waking up and finding anotheragency has been moved to West Virginia.”

More often, lawmakers take the “You scratchmy back and I’ll scratch yours” approach to publicworks legislation. Believing that getting federalprojects for the home state is a key part of their job,they usually help each other. Such agreements bytwo or more lawmakers to support each other’sbills is called logrolling.

Winning Grants and Contracts Lawmak-ers also try to make sure their districts or states gettheir fair share of the available federal grants andcontracts which are funded through the nationalbudget. A senator from Colorado put it this way,“If a program is to be established, the state of Col-orado should get its fair share.”

Federal grants and contracts are very impor-tant to lawmakers and their districts or states.These contracts are a vital source of money andjobs and can radically affect the economy of a state.Every year federal agencies such as the Departmentof Defense spend billions of dollars to carry outhundreds of government projects and programs.For example, when the Air Force decided to locatea new project at one of its bases in Utah, almost1,000 jobs and millions of dollars came into thestate. Lawmakers often compete for such valuable

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Constituent Services Although Representative Ronald Dellums, who chaired theHouse Armed Services Commission, maintained that defense funds could be betterused to help the disadvantaged, when defense cuts hit close to home, he foughtthem. In 1993 Dellums challenged the closing of the Alameda Naval Air Station inhis California district. Why would Dellums oppose the closing of the AlamedaNaval Air Station despite his criticism of military spending?

Protecting Their Districts

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federal grants or contracts. For exam-ple, several other states wanted theAir Force project, but Utah’s lawmak-ers won the prize for their state.

Behind the Scenes Lawmakersdo not have the direct control overgrants and contracts that they do overpork-barrel legislation. Instead, agen-cies of the executive branch such asthe Department of Defense or theDepartment of Labor award federalgrants and contracts. Lawmakers,however, may try to influence agencydecisions in several ways. They maypressure agency officials to give a favorable hearing to their state’s re-quests. Lawmakers may also encour-age their constituents to write,telephone, or E-mail agency officialsin order to make their requests orneeds known. If problems come upwhen someone from the state is ar-ranging a grant or contract, congres-sional members may step in to help.

Many lawmakers assign one ormore of their staff members to act as specialists in contracts and grants.These staff members become experts on how individuals, businesses, and local governments can qualify for federal money. They will help

constituents apply for contracts and grants. Thelawmakers’ job is to make sure federal grants andcontracts keep coming into their state or district.

Congressional Politics This 1963 cartoon illustratesthe pressures for a lawmaker to “bring home the bacon” to his or her congressional district. What kinds of projects receive “pork” handouts from Congress?

Distributing the Pork

Sect ion 4 AssessmentSect ion 4 Assessment

Federalism Look through several editions ofyour local paper to find examples of federalmoney spent in your state or community. Pre-sent your findings in the form of a radio newsbroadcast. Your broadcast should explain howthe pork-barrel legislation benefited your stateor local community.

Checking for Understanding1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the one

below, explain how allocation of grants and con-tracts is different from pork-barrel legislation.

2. Define casework, pork-barrel legislation,logrolling.

3. Identify caseworker, public works bill.4. Why do lawmakers get involved in casework?5. List three ways lawmakers bring federal

projects to their states.6. Which branch of government awards federal

grants and contracts?

Critical Thinking7. Drawing Conclusions Why do you think the size

of the lawmakers’ staff has increased in recentyears?

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Grants/ContractsPork

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IN CHAPTER 7 you learned that thousands of bills are introduced in Congress each year, yet only a handfulbecome law. In this activity, you willtake a bill through the process to createyour own law. The activity will help youunderstand the lawmaking process inboth houses of Congress and demonstratethe role that compromise plays in gettinga bill passed. You may want to rereadpages 181–188 beforeyou begin.

The following excerpt from TIME providesa real-life look at the Senate deliberation ofthe campaign-finance reform bill, whichsought to reduce the influence of money in the federal electoral process.

F or years, Senator John McCain had imaginedhow the Last Battle would be fought, how he would be tested if campaign-finance

reform actually came to a vote on the floor of theU.S. Senate. Ever the rebel among his risk-aversepeers, McCain would have to do some things he had never been much good at, cut some corners, playthe inside game, be a dealmaker. And then, once he had bullied and cajoled and converted his Senatecolleagues, he would have to do something evenharder. He would have to trust them. And that's what finally happened when a big, messy coalition ofreformers from both political parties gathered in theLyndon Baines Johnson Room to decide whether tohold hands and jump off the cliff together.

By the end of the day, the chances for the campaign-finance reform bill’s success looked considerably better; the two sides agreed to increasethe amount of hard money individuals could givecandidates and parties, and that compromise pavedthe way for the historic vote to ban the unlimitedsoft-money donations that parties could collect fromcorporations, unions and the wealthy. By the end ofthe week the Arizona Senator (McCain), his sidekick,Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and their merry band of china breakers actually had victory in sight—a victory that could lead to the most dramatic campaign-finance overhaul since the post-Watergatereforms of 1974. [After passing votes in both Houses

of Congress, the campaign-finance reform bill wassigned into law by President George W. Bush in

March 2002.] — From TIME,

April 9, 2001

From a Bill to a Law

From a Bill to a Law

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Setting Up the Workshop1For this activity you will need pencils, paper, a

receptacle for drawing names, and access to a copy machine. If available, you can also useblank transparencies and an overhead projector.

2Use the lottery method to divide the class intothe following three groups:

Group 1 Witnesses to testify at hearings (six members)

Group 2 One-half the remainder of the class to be representatives and one-half to be senators

Group 3 Three students from the Senate groupand three students from the House group to act as official recorders to keep track of the wording of bills and alterations to the billsthroughout the lawmaking process

Introducing a BillWork as a class to develop a list of three

proposals for change or improvements in yourclassroom environment. These proposals mightdeal with the arrangement of seating, the use of the bulletin board, orderliness of materials on shelves, room decorations, and so on.

Have the recorders from the House and theSenate write down each suggestion in the form ofa bill for that house. Number the bills appropriatelyas explained in the text on page 184.

Moving to CommitteeGroups 2 and 3 Senators and representativesshould adjourn to separate areas of the class-room. Each house should choose its leader—Speaker of the House, and president pro tem ofthe Senate. The recorders should then read thetext of their three bills out loud. If a copy machine

is available, provide a copy of each bill to eachmember and to the witnesses who were chosen at the beginning of the activity.

The leader of each house should appoint each member to one of three committees. Theleader will give each committee one bill for which it will be responsible. Each committee shouldchoose a recorder to keep track of the progressand changes made to the bill. Members of each committee should also select a chairperson for their committee. The chairperson will be responsible for organizing the agenda for the committee meeting, assigning tasks, presidingover the meeting, and conducting votes.

Each committee’s task will be to:

1. hold a hearing to hear witnesses in favor of and opposed to the bill

2. make changes to the bill to make it more acceptable

3. prepare a written report on the bill and move it to the floor for a final vote or, if committee members decide that their bill should not be moved to the floor, pigeonhole the bill

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Committee ActionGroups 1, 2, and 3 After the hearing, the committee should meet in a markup session to go through the bill line by line and decide whatchanges should be made. Committee membersshould be prepared to present their suggestionsfor change in a convincing manner. Votes shouldbe taken on all of the changes.

When all changes have been made, the committee should vote to either kill the bill or report it to Congress. To report the bill, the committee must make a written copy of the finalrevised bill to send to the House or Senate andprepare a report that includes the following:1. a description of the bill

2. an explanation of the committee’s actions

3. major changes made in committee

4. opinions on the bill

Floor ActionGroups 1, 2, and 3 Once the committees have prepared their reports, the bills are ready forfloor action. The members of all three committeesshould now reconvene as the Senate or House tohold debate on each bill. The leader of each houseshould preside over the debate, allowing one person at a time to speak. Changes (amendments)can still be made to the bills if a majority of members vote to do so.

A bill must be dropped into the House hopper to be considered for legislative action.

Calling WitnessesGroups 1, 2, and 3The chairperson for each committee should callfor a hearing and invite one witness to present hisor her opinion on the bill. Committee membersshould be prepared to ask witnesses questionsabout their knowledge of the subject and reasons for supporting or opposing the bill.

Group 1 Before the hearing, the witnessesshould meet to divide up the bills being introduced. Each witness should be prepared to support or oppose passage of one bill at the committee hearing.

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Taking a VoteAfter the debate on each bill, it is time for the

final vote. Each house should take a vote of itsmembers to determine if the bill will pass or be defeated in its amended form. A roll call of eachperson’s vote should be recorded.

Conference CommitteeIf a different version of a bill passes in both

the House and Senate, leaders of Congress should organize a conference committee with threemembers from each house. This committee shouldiron out the differences between the House andthe Senate versions of the bill and present a compromise to be voted on in both houses.

Presenting the BillEach bill that passes through both houses

should be forwarded to the president (teacher) for action in writtenform. If the president vetoes a bill, the Houseand Senate may voteagain to override theveto, or let the vetostand.

A House bill

Choose a spokesperson to read thebills that have survived. On an overheadprojector, display the original form of eachbill in each house, along with the final versions. You may want to hold a class discussion on the following questions.

Questions for Discussion1. What improvements were made

by the changes in each bill?

2. If any of the bills were killed in committee, why did this happen?

3. What disagreements in your committeewere resolved by compromise?

4. How much effect did the testimony ofwitnesses have on the final bill?

5. At what point in the lawmaking processis a bill most likely to be changed themost?

6. Could this system be made more efficient? How?

Summary ActivitySummary Activity

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Reviewing Key TermsFill in the blank with the letter of the correct termor concept listed below.

a. tax f. closed ruleb. rider g. authorization billsc. hearing h. entitlementsd. pocket veto i. caseworke. lobbyist j. pork-barrel legislation

1. A _____ is money that citizens and businessespay to support the government.

2. _____ is a congressional task that involveshelping constituents with problems.

3. A _____ is an often controversial provisiontacked on to a bill pertaining to a different subject.

4. Interest on the national debt and Social Security payments are examples of _____.

5. A person who represents a special-interestgroup to Congress and other government officials is known as a _____.

6. Witnesses usually offer testimony in a committee _____ regarding a specific bill.

7. Under a _____, House members were forbid-den to offer amendments to tax bills from the floor.

8. _____ is when Congress passes laws to appropriate money for local federal projects.

9. The president gives a _____ by not signing a billduring the last 10 days Congress is in session.

10. _____ set up federal programs and specifyhow much money may be appropriated forthose programs.

Recalling Facts1. Describe the two types of bills that may be

introduced and three types of resolutions thatmay be passed in Congress.

2. What are four actions a president may take on a bill?

3. What role does the House Ways and MeansCommittee play in tax legislation?

4. What factors influence lawmakers when theyconsider legislation?

5. What key tool do lawmakers use to secure the passage of public works legislation?

Assessment and ActivitiesChapter 7Chapter 7

Self-Check Quiz Visit the United States Government:Democracy in Action Web site at gov.glencoe.com andclick on Chapter 7–Self-Check Quizzes to prepare forthe chapter test.

GOVERNMENT

Congress at Work

ConstituentsMoneyBills• Bills pass through many steps

before becoming law• Congress considers new bills in

committee, then debates andvotes on them

• Bills must be signed by presidentto become law; Congress canoverride presidential veto with atwo-thirds vote in both houses

• House of Representatives has solepower to start revenue measures

• Congress has power to appropriate,or approve, government spending

• Lawmakers spend time doingcasework, helping constituentswith problems

• Lawmakers pass public works billsto appropriate money for projectsin their home districts or states

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UnderstandingConcepts

1. Public Policy What proce-dure is Congress supposed to use to fund its programs and control its expenses?

2. Political Processes Wouldlawmakers’ activities bedifferent if there were nospecial-interest groups?

Critical Thinking1. Making Inferences Use the

graphic organizer below toshow three characteristicsthat help a bill make itsway through the lawmakingprocess.

2. Drawing Conclusions Why isCongress reluctant to appropriate the full amountof money an agency requests?

Analyzing Primary SourcesDuring the 1930s, President Franklin D. Rooseveltused his power as chief executive to propose arecord number of laws to deal with the Great De-pression. In the “fireside chat” excerpted below,Roosevelt explains why the New Deal did not takepower away from Congress. Read the excerpt andanswer the questions that follow.

“A prompt program applied as quickly as possible seemed to me not only justified but imperative to our national security. . . . The members of Congress realized that the methods of normal times had to be replaced in the emergencyby measures which were suited to the serious and pressing requirements of the moment. There was no actual surrenderof power, Congress still retained its constitutional authority. . . . The function of Congress is to decide what has to bedone and to select the appropriate agency to carry out its

Interpreting Political Cartoons Activity

will. . . . The only thing that has been happening has been todesignate the President as the agency to carry out certain ofthe purposes of the Congress.”

1. Where did many proposals for New Deal legisla-tion originate, and why was this important?

2. Why do you think the president was careful tospecify that Congress had not surrendered itsconstitutional power?

Participating in Local GovernmentObtain a copy of a bill beingconsidered in your state fromyour state representative or senator. Decide what changes you would suggest in the bill. Forwardthese suggestions to your representative or senator and ask for a response.

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Chapter 7Chapter 7

1. What is the “Political Inaction Committee” referred to in the cartoon?

2. How is the “Political Inaction Committee” different from otherinterest groups?

3. Why is this situation unrealistic?

“Someone called from a Political Inaction Committee to speak to you on behalf of apathetic voters. He said he might call back.”

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