Section 2 Introduction-1

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Section 2 Introduction-1
The House of Representatives

• Key Terms
• constituents, caucus, majority leader, whips,
  bill, calendars, quorum

Find Out
Why are committees more important in the House
than they are in the Senate?
Why is the Rules Committee one of the most
powerful committees in the House?
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Section 2 Introduction-2
The House of Representatives

• Understanding Concepts
• Growth of Democracy Why does the majority party
  often get the credit or blame for everything
  Congress does?

Section Objective
Describe the rules and procedures used in the
House and explain the Houses role in the
lawmaking process.
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Section 2-1

• The Speaker of the House who served the longest
  was Democrat Sam Rayburn of Texas. He served from
  19401947,19491953, and 19551961, for a total
  of seventeen years. No other Speaker has served
  more than 10 years.

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Section 2-2
I. Rules for Lawmaking (pages 132134)

• A. Each house of Congress has rules to help
  members conduct business.

B. Congress carries out most of its work by
committees. Because of its large membership,
committee work is even more important in the
House than in the Senate. C. Party membership
guides Congress in its work, since the majority
party in each house organizes the committees,
appoints committee heads, and controls the flow
of legislation.
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Section 2-3
I. Rules for Lawmaking (pages 132134)
Do you agree or disagree with the House rule that
limits a representatives speaking time during a
debate? Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should support their
answers with logical reasons.
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Section 2-4
II. House Leadership (pages 134135)

• A. The Speaker of the House is leader of the
  majority party and has great power and influence
  over its members.

B. Floor leaders of both the majority and
minority parties are party leaders who help steer
bills through committees. C. Party whips assist
the floor leaders in persuading party members to
support laws the party favors.
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Section 2-5
II. House Leadership (pages 134135)
The Speaker of the House follows the vice
president in the line of presidential succession.
Do you support or object to this plan? Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should give sound
reasons for the plan they support.
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Section 2-6
III. Lawmaking in the House (pages 135137)

• A. Members attend House floor sessions to vote on
  legislation.

B. All laws begin as bills introduced in the
House, then go to committee. If approved there,
they are put on the proper calendar, listing the
order in which they will be considered on the
House floor. C. The House Rules Committee
receives all bills approved by the various
committees of the House.
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Section 2-7
III. Lawmaking in the House (pages 135137)

• D. The Rules Committee determines which bills
  will be considered by the full House and places
  them on the House Calendar.

E. The Rules Committee also settles disputes
among other House committees and delays or blocks
bills that representatives and House leaders do
not want to come to a vote. F. When the Rules
Committee sends bills to the floor, the House may
sit as a Committee of the Whole, in which 100
members constitutes a quorum, in order to speed
up consideration of an important bill, so that
the full House can then vote on it.
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Section 2-8
III. Lawmaking in the House (pages 135137)
Why is so much of the work of Congress done in
committees?
Committees divide up the tasks and make them
manageable.
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Section 2-9
III. Lawmaking in the House (pages 135137)
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Section 2 Assessment-1
Checking for Understanding

• 1. Main Idea In a graphic organizer similar to
  the one below, show three ways in which the Rules
  Committee controls legislation.

Answers might include directs flow of
legislation may limit debate on bills specifies
how much a bill may be amended.
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Section 2 Assessment-2
Checking for Understanding
Match the term with the correct definition.
___ constituents ___ caucus ___ bill ___ majority
leader ___ whips ___ quorum

• A. a private meeting of party leaders to choose
  candidates for office
• B. the Speakers top assistant
• C. an assistant to the party floor leader in the
  legislature
• D. a person whom a member of Congress has been
  elected to represent
• E. a proposed law
• F. the minimum number of members who must be
  present to permit a legislative body to take
  official action

D A E B C F
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Section 2 Assessment-3
Checking for Understanding

• 3. Identify Rules Committee.

The Rules Committee serves as the traffic
officer in the House, helping to direct the flow
of major legislation.
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Section 2 Assessment-4
Checking for Understanding

• 4. Analyze the role of House committees.

Committees enable House members to efficiently
accomplish their work with more influence as a
group than they could have as individuals on the
House floor.
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Section 2 Assessment-5
Checking for Understanding

• 5. How does a representative introduce a bill in
  the House?

The representative drops a copy of the bill into
the hopper.
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Section 2 Assessment-6
Critical Thinking

• 5. Understanding Cause and Effect Why are
  changes in House rules more likely to occur when
  political control of the House shifts to another
  party?

Answers will vary, but students may suggest that
once a party gains majority power, it will want
to do things its own way, so it will establish
its own rules.
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Section 2 Concepts in Action

• Growth of Democracy Browse through current
  newspapers and magazines to find out what
  legislation the majority party in the House is
  trying to pass. Make a chart of the key
  legislation and record its progress for several
  weeks.

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End of Section 2