Chapter 10 Congress

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Chapter 10Congress

• Section One
• The National legislature

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The National legislature

• Congress stands as the leading example of the
  Founders dedication to a representative form of
  government
• Congress is the legislative branch of the
  National Government
• Congress then is charged with the most basic
  government function in a democratic society
• Translating public will into public policy

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• Madison called Congress the first branch of the
  National Government
• Article I
• 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
• Article I, Section 1, Clause 1

The National Legislature
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Bicameralism
Define Bicameralism

• Bicameral Legislature
• One made up of two houses
• Bicameral having or consisting of two
  legislative assemblies
• Bi Two camera Latin chamber

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Bicameralism

• Bicameral for three reasons
• List them
• Historical
• Practical
• Theoretical

The House Of Parliament
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Historical

• British Parliament had consisted of two houses
  since the 1300s
• Most of the colonial assemblies and, in 1787, all
  but two of the new State Legislatures were also
  bicameral

Another look at Parliament
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Practical

• The Framers had to create a two-chambered body to
  settle the conflict between the Virginia and the
  New Jersey Plans at Philadelphia in 1787

Why fly the maps in?
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Practical

• The Great Compromise
• The more populous States wanted representation
  based on population
• Smaller States want equal Representation

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Practical

• The Great Compromise
• Bicameralism is a reflection of federalism
• Each of the States is equally represented in the
  Senate and represented proportional to its
  population in the House

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Theoretical

• The framers favored a bicameral Congress in order
  that one house might act as a check on the other

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Theoretical
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Theoretical

• Jefferson who had just returned from France, told
  Washington that he was opposed to a two-chambered
  legislature. As he made his point, he poured his
  coffee into his saucer, and Washington asked him
  why he did so.

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Theoretical
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Theoretical

• Even so, Washington continued, we pour
  legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool
  it.

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Theoretical

• The Framers were generally convinced that
  Congress would dominate the new National
  Government.

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Theoretical
Federalist No. 51
In a republican government the legislative
authority necessarily predominates. The remedy
for this inconveniency is to divide the
legislature into different branches
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Bicameral

• For more than 200 hundred years some people have
  argued that the Senate should be abolished
• Those who argue against State equality in the
  Senate ignore a vital fact
• The Senate was purposely created as a body in
  which the States would be represented as coequal
  members and partners in the Union

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Terms and Sessions

• Since 1789, Congress has met for two-year terms

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Term

• Each term of Congress last two years and each
  term is numbered consecutively
• First term began on March 4, 1789 and ended two
  years later, on March 4, 1791
• The 20th Amendment changed the start of each term
  
• Now Noon of the 3rd day of January of every
  odd-numbered year

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Term

• 111th term began at noon January 3, 2009 and
  will run until Noon January 3rd 2011.

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Session

• A session of Congress is that period of time
  during which, each year, Congress assemblies and
  conducts business
• There are two sessions to each term of Congress

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Session

• The Congress shall assemble at least once in
  every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon
  on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by
  law appoint a different day.
• 20th Amendment, Section 2

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Session

• Congress adjourns as it sees fit
• From the Constitution
• Neither House shall without the Consent of the
  other, adjourn for more than three days,
• Today Congress remains in session most of the
  year

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Session

• Neither house may adjourn Sine Die, that is
  finally ending a session without the consent of
  the other

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Special Sessions

• Only the President may call Congress into special
  session
• Special session is a meeting to deal with some
  emergency situation

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Sessions

• Article II, Section 3 does give the President the
  power to prorogue, or adjourn, a session but only
  when the two houses cannot agree on a date to
  adjourn