Congress in Action

Presiding Officers Speaker of the House Majority Leader Majority Whip Chosen by house membership Puts motions to a vote Third in line of succession Majority Leader Majority Whip Minority Leader Minority Whip

Presiding officers President of the Senate (Vice President) Presides over and breaks ties President pro Tempore Elected by senate Presides in Vice Presidents absence Majority Leader Majority Whip Minority Leader Minority Whip

Party Officers Party caucus- closed meeting of the members of each party in the house Deals with party organization Floor leaders and whips chosen by caucus

Committee Chairmen Chair of Committees Headed by members of majority party Seniority Rules

Standing committees Permanent panels to which all similar bills are sent 20 in house, 16 in the Senate Subcommittees- divide workload of committees 99 in House and 70 in the Senate

Other types of committees Select committee- panel set up for specific purpose Joint committee- composed of members of both houses Conference committee- iron out differences between house and senate bills to pass one single bill

Making Law: The House Bill- a proposed law presented for consideration Many bills born in executive branch Tax bills must first be enacted by House before the Senate Public bills- measures applying to the nation as a whole, ex. Taxes Private bills- measure applies to certain persons or places rather than to the entire nation

Making Law: The House Joint Resolution- similar to bill and when passed have the force of the law, often deal with unusual or temporary matters Concurrent resolution- deal with matters that both house must act jointly, don’t have force of law, used to state position Resolution- deal with matters concerning either house alone, like adopting new rules of procedure

The Bill in Committee Committees work as sieves deciding fate of most bills A bill must pass through committee before being brought to the floor Pigeon holed- burring a bill in committee Discharge petition- enables members to force a bill that has remained in committee 30 days onto the floor for consideration, motion must be signed by majority (218)

The Bill in Committee Committee often brings in experts to talk about bill or visit regions that may be affected Committee action Report bill as favorable, move to floor Refuse to report bill- pigeon hole it Report bill in amended form Report bill with unfavorable recommendation Report a committee bill, new bill substituted for one or several bills Schedule floor debate

Bill on the Floor Debate- no more than one hour per member Voting Engrossed- bill printed in final form

The Senate Debate unrestrained in the senate Can speak for as long as you please No speaker can speak more than twice on a given question on the same legislative day

Filibuster Filibuster- attempt to talk a bill to death, stalling tactic May use time killing tactics such as: qurum calls and other parliamentary maneuvers Block a bill that would pass if brought to a vote Longest filibuster by one man 24 hrs 18 minutes (Strom Thurmond) Usually team effort Usually strict rules enforced such as: no sitting, leaning, or walking about when speaking Cloture rule- limits debate Must have 60 votes to pass Ends debate at 30 hrs.

Conference Committee A committee made up of members from both houses Resolves differences between bills House and Senate must then vote on the same bill to approve it to be sent to the president

Presidents Desk President has 4 option when they receive the bill 1. President may sign the Bill, then it becomes law 2. President may veto the bill (rejected) Can be overturned by 2/3 vote of members of each house 3. President may allow the bill to become law without signing it by not acting with 10 days 4. Pocket Veto- President does nothing and congress adjourns its session within 10 days of submitting bill to the president