THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES Ch 13

Americans hate the Congress??

Congress versus Parliament Congress means a “coming together” You have to win a primary election Party has little to do with it Personalities and position on issues makes difference  Parliament means “to talk”  Political party has to put you on ballot to run  You are chosen based on your support for the national party Congress (US)Parliament (UK)

Congress v Parliament  Congress independent of President, vote based more on what is best for constituency  Political parties cannot enforce party discipline  Your vote is whether to support the party or not, PM is leader of majority party in HOC  Primary purpose of the parliament is debate Congress (US)Parliament (UK)

British Parliament

The Structure of the Bicamercal Congress

House Leadership positions-Majority  Speaker of the House The position is the most senior officer of the House of Representatives Institutionally, the Speaker holds broad-ranging powers and presides over debate in the House, makes rulings on points of order, has priority right of recognition on the floor, and sets the agenda by deciding what legislation comes before the House. Finally, by modern practice, the Speaker serves as the primary spokesperson for his congressional party.  House Majority Leader The Majority Leader, the second most senior official in the House, is by recent practice the day- to-day manager of business on the House Floor.  House Majority Whip The responsibilities of the Majority Whip include: persuading Members to support the Conference position on votes and projecting support for the Conference. The Majority Whip is assisted by a network of Members assigned to count votes and “whip” or convince their colleagues into supporting their party’s legislative position.

The State of the Union

House Leadership Positions-Minority  House Minority Leader The Minority Leader serves as the senior official for House Democrats. As leader of the minority party in the House, the Minority Leader works with the Democratic Caucus to set the party agenda, message, and strategy.  House Minority Whip The responsibilities of the Minority Whip are counting votes and persuading Members to support the Democratic Caucus position on votes.

Senate Leadership Positions-Majority  President of the Senate-VEEP of the US, tie breaking vote  President Pro Tempore-ceremonial leader of the Senate, presides  Senate Majority Leader The Majority Leader is in a practical sense the most senior Senate official. As the day-to-day manager of business on the Senate floor, the Majority Leader is responsible for working with each Committee on legislation and scheduling the sequence and manner of debate on all legislation. As the highest ranking partisan position in the Senate, the Majority Leader exercises broad powers, has the right of priority recognition on the Senate floor, and serves as the primary spokesperson for Senate Republicans.  Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader The responsibility of the Assistant Republican Floor Leader is to assist the Majority Leader in the coordination of Senate Floor activities. The Assistant Majority Floor Leader is also the Republican Whip and is the second ranking leadership position for the majority party.

Senate Leadership Positions-Minority  Senate Minority Leader The Senate Minority Leader serves as the senior official for Senate Democrats and is selected by a vote of the Democratic Caucus. The Minority Leader works with the Democratic Caucus to set the Democratic agenda, message, and strategy.  Senate Assistant Minority Leader The responsibilities of the Assistant Minority Leader are similar to that of the House Whip: persuading Members to support the Caucus position on votes and projecting support for the Caucus position.

Who is in Congress?  Typical member of Congress is middle-aged white Protestant male lawyer.  Gradually become less male and less white

Race

Indiana 1 st Congressional District-Peter Visclosky

Sen. Dan Coats and Sen. Joe Donnelly

The Powers of Congress

Exclusive Powers of House and Senate  Initiates all revenue bills  Initiates impeachment hearing by a majority vote  Chooses the President in case no majority in electoral college  Advice and Consent Powers for treaties and for Presidential appointments (ambassadors and judges)  Holds hearings for impeached officials- convicts with 2/3rds vote HouseSenate

Committees-most important feature of Congress where the work is done   Standing committees-permanent bodies in both House and Senate-essential to legislative function  Select Committee-limited temporary committees-help with oversight function  Joint committee-both reps and senators  Steering Committee-Committee on committees  Conference Committee-resolves differences between versions of same bill in the House and the Senate-hold no hearings

Majority party does the following   take the majority of seats  name the chairperson  allow the minority party to take the rest of the seats

Key facts…  House members serve on 2 standing committee, unless he or she is on “exclusive” committee—Appropriations, Rules, Ways and Means  Seniority was the issue that used to determine chairmen of committees  House choose Chairmen based on secret ballot in party caucus, senate uses secret ballot at request of 1/5 th of Caucus  No member of House or Senate may chair more than one committee  GOP-1994-term limits for Chairmen-House(3 terms or 6 years) Senate (6 years)

Easier to get stuff done   Closed rules-Rules Committee-only in House  Powerful Speaker  Powerful Committee Chairmen

Difficult to get stuff done  Open rules  Weak speaker  Powerful individual members

The Filibuster  Only in the Senate!  Allows a Senator or group of Senators the ability to talk a bill to death  Prevents closure of debate and the final vote  Only can be ended by cloture vote (3/5ths) 60 votes  Attempts to limit filibuster recently

Longest Filibuster  US Senator J Strom Thurmond  1957-debate over civil rights bill  Spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes

The Representatives Dilemma  Delegates-agents of the People, vote the way people want (Representational view)  Trustees-voters entrusted them with authority to make decisions, now votes based on attitudes and ideology (Attitudinal View)  Partisans-vote the way party leaders want (Organizational View)  Politicos-hybrid model that combines the first three

The Representative's Dilemma  You are a 3 term member of the Senate and you face the following dilemma. What should you do and why?  Fact #1  You are a Moderate Republican from a state that voted for the democratic President the last election.   Fact#2  You won your last election with a 10% margin of victory.   Fact # 3  Though by and large your state favors gun control measures, you have a very powerful segment of NRA members in your state and a tradition of hunting. The letters are coming in 10-1 against the legislation, though it is evident most of them are postcards from NRA members.   Fact # 4  The President of the US, who supports gun control, has submitted a bill to congress that requires universal background checks, and strict limits on assault rifles in response to a school shooting. 

The Rep’s Dilemma pt 2  Fact # 5  The vote in the Senate will be very close, it might come down to your vote to whether the legislation is approved or not.   Fact # 6  The Tea Party n your state is recruiting pro-gun candidates to run against you ina primary election if you support the legislation. The NRA is threatening to support the candidate with PAC donations and ads in favor of their candidacy.   Fact # 7  The President calls you, and offers to have dinner with you to discuss the legislation. He wants you to meet the families of the victims in the school shooting. Piers Morgan of CNN does a special on the families.   Fact # 8  The Senate majority leader threatens a filibuster of the legislation, which would prevent a vote on the final bill.  You have to decide on two votes. The 1 st is the vote to invoke cloture to stop the filibuster.  The 2 nd is on the vote to pass or reject the legislation. How do you vote?

Getting reelected…..Basic facts  Presidential campaign are more competitive than Congressional elections  Marginal districts-elections where members of the House win by less than 55% of vote  Safe districts-elections where member of the House win by 55% or more

Casework  Members of Congress can do things(casework) for their constituents that Presidents cannot

Franking Privilege  Members of Congress have franking privilege.-free postage service when doing official business

Earmarks and Pork-Barrel Politics  Members of Congress can earmark money to their districts through “pork-barrel” projects

Examples  $107,000 to study the sex life of the Japanese quail.  $1.2 million to study the breeding habits of the woodchuck.  $150,000 to study the Hatfield-McCoy feud.  $84,000 to find out why people fall in love.  $1 million to study why people don't ride bikes to work.  $19 million to examine gas emissions from cow flatulence.  $144,000 to see if pigeons follow human economic laws.  Funds to study the cause of rudeness on tennis courts and examine smiling patterns in bowling alleys.  $219,000 to teach college students how to watch television.  $2 million to construct an ancient Hawaiian canoe.  $160,000 to study if you can hex an opponent by drawing an X on his chest.  $800,000 for a restroom on Mt. McKinley.  $100,000 to study how to avoid falling spacecraft.  $16,000 to study the operation of the komungo, a Korean stringed instrument.  $6,000 for a document on Worcestershire sauce.  $10,000 to study the effect of naval communications on a bull's potency.  $100,000 to research soybean-based ink.  $57,000 spent by the Executive Branch for gold-embossed playing cards on Air Force Two.

The bridge to Nowhere-389 million