ongressional Webquest
Review the information contained in this webquest packet. Complete the tasks using the websites: house.gov and senate.gov. There are also opinion questions to answer. We will discuss your findings in class tomorrow. __________________________________________________________________________________________ All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Constitution, Article I, section 1.
American Bicameralism: legislature divided into two houses The House – 435 members, 2 year terms of office – Initiates all revenue bills, more influential on budget – House Rules Committee – Limited debates The Senate – 100 members, 6 year terms of office – Gives “advice & consent,” more influential on foreign affairs – Unlimited debates (filibuster)
Congressional Leadership The House – Led by Speaker of the House—elected by House members – Presides over House – Major role in committee assignments and legislation – Assisted by majority leader and whips The Senate – Formerly lead by Vice President – Really lead by Majority Leader—chosen by party members – Assisted by whips
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Must work with Minority leader
Go to house.gov to identify the following: Speaker of the House
Paul D. Ryan
Majority leader Minority leader
Kevin McCarthy Nancy Pelosi
Go to senate.gov to identify the following: Majority leader Mitch McConnell Minority leader Harry Reid
Review the following graph, The Incumbency Factor in Congressional Elections What does the graph indicate about incumbents in Congress?
There is a significant chance of being reelected if one is an incumbent, and there is a 10% higher chance that a House incumbent will be reelected rather than a Senate incumbent. What factors could account for this? Incumbents have more experience rather than candidates who have never been in Congress, and it will also incumbents will be able to take action faster since non-incumbents will need some time to settle in.
The Committees and Subcommittees Four types of committees: 1. Standing committees: subject matter committees that handle bills in different policy areas 2. Joint committees: a few subject-matter areas—membership drawn from House and Senate 3. Conference committees: resolve differences in House and Senate bills 4. Select committees: created for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation
Getting Ahead on the Committee: Chairs and the Seniority System Committee chair: the most important influencer of congressional agenda - Dominant role in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house - Most chairs selected according to seniority system: members who have served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled Congress become chair
See the following table, Standing Committees in the Senate and in the House. Select one Committee in the Senate and one in the House. Use house.gov and senate.gov to identify: (1) the chairman of the committee; (2) important issues that the committee is presently working on.
Senate-Foreign Relations Committee: Chairman-Bob Corker Important Issues-To promote US leadership to fight against ISIS and to counter all the destabilizing forces in the Middle East. To keep America safe from terrorism and to help others who have been afflicted, such as Paris. House-Science: Chairman-Lamar Smith Important Issues-Astronomical research, energy efficiency and renewable energy, climate research and the protection of the environment, and cybersecurity.
Caucuses: The Informal Organization of Congress – – – –
Caucus: a group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic About 300 caucuses Caucuses pressure for committee meetings and hearings and for votes on bills. Caucuses can be more effective than lobbyists
Use house.gov and senate.gov to identify some of the caucuses. If you were a member of Congress, which caucuses would you like to be a member of? Congressional Academic Medicine Caucus Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports Motorcycle Caucus Task Force on Anti-Terrorism and Proliferation Financing Sustainable Energy and Environmental Coalition I would like to be part of the rare disease caucus, democratic Israel working group, and the full employment caucus.
Congressional Staff - Personal staff: They work for the member, mainly providing constituent service, but help with legislation too. - Committee staff: organize hearings, research and write legislation, target of lobbyists - Staff Agencies: GAO, CBO provide specific information to Congress
Go to house.gov and click on Educators & Students. Click on Branches of Government. Under Legislative, find out what GAO and CBO stand for, and what information they provide to Congress?
GAO-The government accountability office is a government agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Congress. CBO-The congressional budget office provides budget and economic information to Congress.
Go to house.gov and click on Educators & Students. Go to Legislative Process to confirm the accuracy of the information in Figure 12.2. Is there any additional information provided? Also, the Government Printing Office prints the revised bill and in known as enrolling. The President has ten days to sign or veto the enrolled bill, and if he vetoes it, Congress can override his veto with enough votes. Party, Constituency, and Ideology Party Influence: - Party leaders cannot force party members to vote a particular way, but many do vote along party lines Constituency versus Ideology - Prime determinant of member’s vote on most issues is ideology - On most issues that are not salient, legislators may ignore constituency opinion. - But on controversial issues, members are wise to heed constituent opinion.
Lobbyists and Interest Groups There are thousands of registered lobbyists trying to influence Congress—the bigger the issue, the more lobbyists will be working on it.
- Lobbyists try to influence legislators’ votes. - Lobbyists can be ignored, shunned and even regulated by Congress. - Ultimately, it is a combination of lobbyists and others that influence legislators’ votes. * In 1974, 3% of retiring members of Congress became lobbyists. Today, 50% of senators and 42% of house members do.
Congress and Democracy: Representation versus Effectiveness Supporters claim that Congress: - is a forum in which many interests compete for policy - is decentralized, so there is no oligarchy to prevent comprehensive action Critics argue that Congress: - is responsive to so many interests that policy is uncoordinated, fragmented, and decentralized - is so representative that it is incapable of taking decisive action to deal with difficult problems
Your members of Congress Use only house.gov and senate.gov to answer the following questions: Who is your representative in the House? Rodney Frelinghuysen Go to your representative’s home page to identify: - Committees that he/she is a member of: Appropriations - Choose three issues (e.g., healthcare, terrorism, education) and find your representative’s positions on these issues: Healthcare: Portability of health coverage so you can take your plan with your from state to state and job to job. Requiring insurance companies to cover individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. Economic Growth and Opportunity: Fix the tax code to help job creators, and to encourage entrepreneurship and growth by investing in infrastructure. Immigration: To secure America’s borders and to reduce the number of legal immigrants admitted. Who are your two Senators? Cory Booker and Bob Menendez Go to your senators’ home pages to identify: - Committees that they are members of: Booker: US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation US Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs
Menendez: Foreign Relations Committee Banking Committee Finance Committee
- Choose three issues (e.g., healthcare, terrorism, education) and find your senators’ positions on these issues: Booker: Taking action to address climate change and cleaning up New Jersey communities, biomedical research and medicare, and to rebuild transportation and infrastructure networks. Menendez: Making college affordable for all students and expanding early childhood education, fighting against discrimination and hate crimes, and investing in new transportation infrastructure.
