1. 7 th Grade Civics Miss Smith *pgs. 140-142 Civics in Practice

2.  Terms of Congress  Begin: noon January 3 rd of odd- numbered years (stated in the 20 th Amendment)  Ends: 2 years later  Congress meets at least once per year

3.  Terms are divided into 2 sessions (1 session per year of term)  Sessions also begin on January 3 rd  Sessions adjourn (or end) when legislative work is done  The Senate and the House meet separately  They meet together occasionally (a joint session)  ex: During the president’s State of the Union address

4.  Constitution lists 3 rules:  House of Reps must select a presiding officer  The vice president of US is president of Senate  Must select a senator to preside in VP’s absence

5.  At the beginning of each term, Republican and Democratic Party members meet in separate private meetings (or party caucuses)  Here they choose their own leaders within Congress  The political party that has the most members in each house is called the majority party  The party with the fewest is the minority party

6.  The president pro tempore presides over the daily meetings in the vice president’s absence  The “floor leaders” are:  The majority leader  The minority leader  Each leader has a “party whip”:  They try to get votes for their party’s legislation

7.  There are about 20 committees that:  Consider legislation  Hold hearings  There are subcommittees that consider legislation before it gets to the full committee  Each (sub)committee has a:  Chairperson- this person is a member of the majority party  Ranking minority member- this is the highest ranking/longest serving member of the min. party

8.  The Speaker of the House presides over the House when it is in session  The Speaker is:  always a member of the majority party  the most powerful officer of the House  the biggest influence on the order of business  2 nd in the US presidential line of succession

9.  Committee structure is very similar to committee structure in the Senate