Congress

1
Congress

• The First Branch

2
Overview of Congress

• Congress is composed of two parts the Senate and
  the House of Representatives.
• There are ________ seats in the Senate and ______
  seats in the House of Representatives.
• Congressional Session (2 years)

3
The Constitutional Powers of Congress

• Powers of the House and the Senate
• _________________________
• ________________________
• _________________________
• _________________________
• _________________________
• _________________________
• _________________________

4
The Constitutional Powers of Congress

• Responsibilities of the Senate
• __________________________
• __________________________
• __________________________
• The Senate is considered the more prestigious
  branch with less oversight, more media coverage
  and an equal distribution of power.
• Responsibilities of the House
• __________________________
• __________________________
• The House is considered less powerful with
  stringent rules, less media coverage and a strong
  seniority based system.

5
Getting Elected to Congress

• Election Process
• Who runs for Congress?
• The Importance of Funding
• Incumbency Advantage
• Incumbents win over 85 of electionsWhy?
• _______________________
• _______________________
• _______________________
• _______________________

6
Senate VIP

• President of the Senate Joe Biden
• Vice President of the United States (Ceremonial
  Role)
• President Pro Temp Robert Byrd
• Presiding officer of the Senate (Symbolic
  Position)
• Majority Leader Harry Reid
• Chief spokesman for the Majority Party
• Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
• Chief spokesman for the Minority Party
• Georgia Senators
• Saxby Chambliss Johnny Isakson (R)

7
House VIP

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
• Presiding officer (Majority Party)
• Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
• Chief spokesman for the Majority Party
• Minority Leader John Boehner
• Chief spokesman for the Minority Party
• Party Whips
• Aids to the Majority Leaders

8
Committees in Congress

• Congressional committees are critical to the
  structure of the legislative branch.
• Seniority Based
• Politics of Committees
• Distributive Theory v. Informational Theory

9
Types of Committees

• Standing Committees
• Permanent Committees that are responsible for
  approving legislation.
• Rules Committee (House of Representatives)
• Joint Committees
• Permanent Committees made up of members of both
  Houses.
• Select Committees
• Committee set up to address a specific issue for
  one or two terms.
• Conference Committees
• Temporary Committee that negotiates differences
  between the House and the Senate when different
  versions of a piece of legislation have passed
  thru both chambers.

10
How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step One Introduction
• Step Two Sub-Committee
• Step Three Full Committee
• Step Four Floor Debate
• Filibusters
• Step Five Approvals Enactment
• Types of Vetoes

11
The Politics of Policymaking

• Driving Forces behind Legislation
• Iron Triangle
• Frequent Elections
• Pork
• Reappointment and Redistricting
• Congressional districts are redrawn every _____
  years. Lines are redrawn based on ____________.
• Sometimes redistricting is done with a partisan
  advantage. This is called ________________.

12
Additional Vocabulary

• Appropriations
• Caucus
• Closed Rule
• Cloture
• Constituency
• Delegate
• Interest Group
• Logrolling
• Party Unity Vote
• Roll Call Vote