congress in action ch. 12 notes and review. congress organizes sect. 12.1
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Congress In ActionCh. 12 Notes and Review
Congress Organizes
Sect. 12.1
Speaker of the House
Arguably the most powerful person in Congress (House or Senate)
The elected presiding officer of the House and the leader of the majority party in the House
Expected to preside in a fair and judicious manner, also expected to help their own party whenever possible
Roles and Duties
To preside and keep order over the House
Decides who gets to speak and when Interprets and applies the rules Refers bills to committees Decides when to call a vote With careful planning, can usually
decide the outcome of most votes
Speaker of the U.S. HouseJohn Boehner – Republican from
Ohio
President of the Senate
Sounds more important than it really is. Not a member of the Senate at all. The position is reserved for the Vice
Pres. When the VP is there, he or she does
have the powers of the presiding officer However, the VP is rarely present in the
Senate.
VP usually goes to the Senate for special occasions or events of critical importance
VP (Pres. Of the Senate) most important role is to vote in case of a tie
President of the Senate and V.P. of the U.S. Joseph Biden
Democrat from Delaware
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Presides over the Senate when the VP is not present; most of the time.
Elected by the members of the Senate A leading member of the majority party
(not necessarily the same party as the VP)
President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye – Democrat
from Hawaii
Floor Leaders and Party Whips
Floor Leaders (Majority and Minority)– These are “unofficial” positions but hold the
most power next to the Speaker of the House
– They are concerned with party strategy– Help to “steer” Congressional actions to
best benefit their party– Chosen by their party
Majority and Minority Whips
– Assistant to the Majority and Minority Floor Leaders
– Again, chosen by their party
– Try to organize the vote by their party members. Obviously, they try to convince their members to vote with the party
House Majority LeaderCong. Eric Cantor – Republican from
Virginia
House Minority LeaderCong. Nancy Pelosi – Democrat from
California
Senate Majority LeaderSen. Harry Reid – Democrat from
Nevada
Senate Minority LeaderSen. Mitch McConnell – Republican
from Kentucky
Senate Majority WhipSen. Richard Durbin – Democrat from
Illinois
Senate Minority WhipSen. Jon Kyl – Republican from Arizona
House Majority WhipCong. Kevin McCarthy – Republican
from California
House Minority WhipCong. Steny Hoyer – Democrat from
Maryland
Party Caucuses (Party Conference)
Closed meeting of each party in each house
Deals with party organization Selection of party leaders Discussion on committee selection Issues of party strategy
Committee Chairpersons The head of each standing committee in
each chamber of congress Decides when the committee will meet,
what bills they will discuss, when to hold public hearings and which witnesses to hear
Chairperson will try to see their committee’s bills all the way through passage
The Seniority Rule
An unwritten custom in Congress The most important jobs and committee
assignment go to the those with the longest records of service to Congress
Particularly important in committees since that is where most of the difficult work of Congress takes place
Seniority Rule Pros
The most experienced and respected people will hold the most important jobs
Easy rule to apply Eliminates bickering among party
members
Seniority Rule Cons
Ignores ability or someone’s specialty Discourages young members Members who have been in Congress
for a long time might be out of touch with the wishes of the people
No new people with new ideas
End of 12.1
More Later
Making Laws
12.3 & 12.4
Origin of Bills
Bills come from many sources.– Exec. Branch Agencies– Industry– Special Interest Groups– Private Citizens– Members of Congress
House or Senate
A Bill can begin its process in either the House or Senate.
Depends on who is sponsoring the Bill. Tax Bills MUST begin in the House of
Representatives.
Public and Private Bills
Public Bills apply to the nation as a whole.
Private Bills apply to a select group who are uniquely affected by the Bill.
Riders and Pork Barrel Additions to a Bill that are unrelated to
the intended subject. Items that are unlikely to pass on their
own. Included in an unrelated Bill so as to “ride” through the process and become law.
Usually a pet project of particular members of Congress.
Pork Barrel Spending!!
Christmas Trees
A Bill with LOTS of Riders. Gifts for everyone.
Introduction
Each Bill is numbered and given a title. Copies are made for each
Representative. Entered into The Record. The Bill is read to the whole House.
The Speaker
The House Speaker assigns the Bill to a Committee.
Has some discretion (flexibility) where he/she sends the Bill.
This can have a huge impact on the chances for the Bill’s survival.
Standing Committee Sieve
Standing Committees receive a huge amount of Bills.
They must sift through them and focus on only the Bills with the most merit or importance.
All others are “killed”.
“Pigeon Holed”
Not accepted and not rejected. Put on a shelf and never acted upon. Requires a majority vote in the House to
save it.
Subcommittees
Needed to divide up the overall workload of the committee as a whole.
Research, hearings, debates, mark ups and revisions.
Only when subcommittee work is done, the Bill will be considered by the committee as a whole.
Quorum
The minimum number of Representative that must be present for the House to do business (vote).
Quorum Calls – Force Reps. to drop what they are doing and go to the floor of the House.
Consideration by the HOUSE
Read, Debated, Amended, rewritten. Finally voted on! On to the Senate.
Lawmaking in the Senate
12.4 Notes
Formality and Strictness Rules
Senate rules are less formal and less strict. More “gentlemanly” behavior is just assumed.
Time and Subject Rules
Strict rules in the House. Senate:
– No limits on speaking time.– No limits on subject.– Only two speeches per Senator per day.
The Filibuster
A notorious feature of the Senate. Filibuster – an attempt to “talk a Bill to
death”, or at least to delay a vote. No time limits on a Senators speech.
He/She can talk for as long as they are able.
Delay a vote or force changes to a Bill.
Effectiveness– Very effective– Many compromises are reached just by the
threat of a filibuster.
Filibuster Video Clips
http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,62728779001_1955614,00.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVc2kMXF_8c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a94cm4Fv_34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIG-kfT9bI
Fixing the Filibuster http://video.app.msn.com/watch/video/fi
xing-the-filibuster/6wtibiv?cpkey=bf5dae20-e26c-467e-a023-da6634bebded%7C%7C%7C%7C
Cloture
The Cloture Rule, can essentially put an end to a filibuster.
Requires 3/5 vote of the Senate (60) votes.
Senators hesitate to call for Cloture.– Honor of Senate tradition– They may want to use the filibuster
themselves later
Conference Committees
A committee with members of both the House and the Senate
Must make House and Senate versions of a bill identical.
After leaving Conference, the bill must again be passed in both houses before being sent to the President.
The President’s Options
1. Sign the Bill and it becomes law. 2. Veto the Bill. Send it back to
Congress with objections.– 2/3 vote in both houses to override a veto;
not likely. 3. Do nothing for 10 days and the Bill
becomes law automatically.– What purpose?
4. Pocket Veto: Do nothing and Congress’ session ends before the 10 day rule. The Bill dies.
What purpose?
The Line Item Veto
Line Item Veto: Get out a marker and cross out items that the President does not like, then sign it into law.
Line Item Veto Pros? Line Item Veto Cons?
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