The House of Representatives Chapter 5 section 3

House of Representatives The House of Representatives, with its frequent elections and regular reapportionment, is the more representative chamber of Congress. Its members carry out much of their work in committees.

Membership in the House of Rep. Qualifications 1) At least 25 years old 2) A U.S. citizen for at least 7 years 3) A resident of the state he or she represents

House of Representatives Each state must have at least one representative Number of representatives is based on population Constitution requires that House redistribute number of seats available to each state every 10 years After census results are tallied the house must undergo reapportionment in which some states gain seats and other states lose states

District 3 We are a part of the 3rd district in the House of Representatives Our representative in the House is Mike Rogers (R)

Gerrymandering State governments responsible for creating voting districts within state The party in power in each state tends to draw boundaries to their own political advantage by clustering areas they will win votes Drawing district boundaries for political advantage is known as gerrymandering

The Speaker of the House The presiding officer of the House is called the Speaker of the House. —Elected by his or her peers — Member of majority party The Speaker has authority over much of the business of the House. — Presides over debates — Rules on points of order — Assigns bills to committees The Speaker is behind the vice president in the line of succession to the presidency.

The Role of Committees Committees are formed to provide expert analysis on certain areas of public policy They divide the workload and allow members to specialize on specific areas of public policy There are 20 standing committees that address the major areas in which most proposed laws fall The House and Senate will form joint committees which address broad issues that affect both chambers