How Congress Works

Who’s in Congress?

Demographic Profile of the 111th Congress

Age Groups

Source: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/demographics.tt

Party

Gender Ethnicity

House-Senate Differences

House

435 members; 2 yr terms

Low turnover

Speaker bill referral hard to challenge

Scheduling/rules controlled by majority party with powerful Rules Committee (controls time of debate, amends., etc)

Senate

100 members; 6 yr

terms

Moderate turnover

Referral decisions

easily challenged

Scheduling/rules

agreed to by majority &

minority leaders

House-Senate Differences

House

Debate limited to 1 hour

Members policy specialists

Emphasizes tax & revenue policy

More formal & impersonal

Senate

Unlimited debate unless cloture invoked

Members policy generalists

Emphasizes foreign policy

More informal & personal

Strength of Party Structure?

• Measure of party strength:

1. Ability of leaders to control party rules

and organization

2. Extent to which party members vote

together in the House and Senate

• Senate: less party-centered and leader

oriented

CAUCUSES

• Groups (may be bipartisan) meeting to pursue

common legislative objectives

• Rivals to parties in policy formulation

• Examples: Democratic Study Group,

Congressional Black Caucus, Tuesday Lunch

Bunch, Human Rights, Congressional Caucus for

Women’s Issues, Out of Iraq Caucus,

Rural Caucus, Travel & Tourism Caucus, House

Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children

Legislative Committees:

Function and Purpose

Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose

1. Consider bills (a.k.a. “mark-up” bills)

A bill with a member’s mark-up notes

Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose

2. Maintain oversight of executive agencies

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before a Senate Appropriations

Committee hearing re: the Department of Defense Budget (May, 2006)

Legislative Committees:Function & Purpose

3. Conduct investigations

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testified before the Senate Homeland Security

and Governmental Affairs Committee on Hurricane Katrina (Feb., 2006

Types of Committees

Standing Committees - permanent panel with full legislative functions and oversight responsibilities

• Subcommittees – formed to tackle very specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committees

Select or Special Committees - groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration

Joint Committees - includes members of both chambers to conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks

Conference Committee - includes members of House & Senate to work out differences between similar bills

Standing Committees

House Standing Committees

Agriculture

Appropriations

Armed Services

Budget

Education & Workforce

Energy & Commerce

Financial Services

Government Reform

House Admin.

International Relations

Judiciary

Resources

Rules

Science

Small Business

Standards of Official Conduct

Transportation & Infrastructure

Veterans Affairs

Ways & Means

Senate Standing Committees

Agriculture, Nutrition, &

Forestry

Appropriations

Armed Services

Banking, Housing, & Urban

Affairs

Budget

Commerce, Science,

Transportation

Energy & Natural Resources

Environment and Public

Works

Finance

Foreign Relations

Governmental Affairs

Health, Education, Labor

& Pensions

Judiciary

Rules and Administration

Small Business and

Entrepreneurship

Veterans Affairs

Special, Select Committees

• House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming

• Senate Select Committee on Ethics

• House & Senate Select Committees on Intelligence

Gen. Michael Hayden is sworn in during a full

committee hearing of the Senate Select

Intelligence Committee on his nomination to be

director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Joint Committees

• Joint Economic Committee

• Joint Committee on Printing

• Joint Committee on Taxation

Joint Committee on

Taxation hearing

Title: Resolution Artist: Bob Gorrell

Date: 12/28/06 Source: http://www.gorrellart.com/

Artist: R.J. Matson, New

York Observer & Roll Call

Date: 1/18/07

Source:

http://www.cagle.com

How Congress Works

A Bill v. A Law

Bill - a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not yet been passed, enacted or adopted

A Bill v. A Law

Law - a bill or act passed by a legislative body

Types of Bills

• public bill – proposed legislative bill that deals with matters of general concern and application

• private bill – a proposed legislative bill that deals with specific private, personal, or local matters rather than general affairs

• appropriation bill – legislative motion authorizing the government to spend money

Types of Resolutions

• simple resolution – measure dealing with “house-keeping” or procedural matters that only affect one house

• joint resolution – measure when approved by both houses and the president carries the force of law

• concurrent resolution – legislative motion that must be approved by both houses, but does not have the force of law

resolution - a measure expressing

opinions on policies or issues

Legislator Representative

Committee

Member

Partisan

Politician

How should I

vote? My

constituents

first or my

country???

Floor vote

on the

Energy

Bill!

A Congressman’s Balancing Act

Navigating the Legislative

Obstacle Course

Step 1: An Idea for a Bill

Sources:

Step 2: Writing & Introduction of Bill

Senate:

• Bill formerly read aloud on floor

• Bill then given to clerk

• Referred to committee by Steering Committee

House:

• Bill dropped in

hopper

• Referred to

committee by the

Speaker

Sen. Smith introduces bill on the Senate floor

~ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Step 3: Committee Action

• House & Senate committees conduct

public hearings

• Experts testify

• Markup of bills

• Committee vote:

report favorably,

unfavorably,

or table billHouse Armed Services Committee

Step 4: Floor Action - Senate

• Party leaders schedule bills for floor debate on the calendar

• Unlimited debate

• Filibuster - member(s) keep talking to block debate on a bill

• Cloture vote by 3/5 of Senators (60) can end filibuster

• Floor vote: Roll Call, Standing, Voice Senator Strum Thurman still holds the record for the longest

filibuster - 24 hrs 18 min. on the 1957 Civil Rights Act

Step 4: Floor Action - House

• Rules Committee schedules bills on calendar &

decides whether amendments may be added

• Limited debate

• Floor vote:

Recorded,

Standing,

Voice

Step 5: Approved Bill

Crosses Over to Other House

• Approved bill

must pass each

chamber by a

simple majority

Step 6: Conference Committee

• Members from each chamber meet to

reconcile differences in the two bills

Senate-House Conference Committee works out details of the

2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act

Step 7: Both Chambers Vote on Final

Version of the Bill

Step 8: President Considers Bill

President can:

1. sign the bill

into law

2. veto bill

3. pocket veto

Note: Congress can override veto with 2/3 vote in each house; only 4% of vetoes have been overridden

Title: Imagine there’s no Congress Artist: Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette

Date: 6/06/07 Source: http://www.politicalcartoons.com/

Title: Breaking the Filibuster is not Enough

Source: http://www.republicanvoices.org/may_2005_newsletter.html

Artist: RJ Matson

Date: 6/14/07

Source:

http://themoderatevoice.co

m/category/politics/politic

al-cartoons/

Source: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/ Date: 5/6/06

Congressional Earmarks

Should We Bring Home the Bacon?

Who Likes Bacon?

Who likes bacon?

Is bacon always good for you?

What are some alternatives for bacon?

What would happen if you ate bacon all day, everyday?

What recommendations would you make to people who are considering adding bacon to their diets?

Pork Barrel Spending

Earmark- a congressional provision that

directs sets aside funds to be spent on

specific projects within a member’s district.

•From hog slaughtering houses.

•Distinguishes the pigs selected for

specific purposes.

•Is a notch in the pigs ear.

Pork Barrel- legislation that allows

representatives to bring home the bacon to their

districts in the form of public works programs,

military bases, or other programs designed to

directly benefit their districts.

Pork BarrelSpending cont.

•From early American history

•Slaves were given a barrel of salt port as a

reward

•Slaves competed amongst themselves for

the handout

Pork Barrel Spending

The “Prince of Pork”

Due to his position on the

Senate Appropriations

Committee and his

leadership as President

Pro Tempore of the

Senate, Robert Byrd (D-

WV) is known as the

“Prince of Pork” for his

ability to bring home the

bacon in the form of

public works projects to

West Virginia.

Bringing Home the Bacon?

Who is the pig? Why is he happy?

What does the pot-o-gold represent?

Why is the leprechaungressman lucky?

What is the artist saying about congressional spending? How do you know?

Should congressman bring home the bacon?