1. Monday, Feb. 27th Turn in: Chapter 10 (p. 286, #11-23)
Current Events (last chance for the first 9 weeks)
Notes Today
HW: Chapter 11 (p.316, #16-32) Due Wednesday

2. “Representing the People”

3. The U.S. Congress
Who Can be a Member of Congress:

4. Want to be a U.S. Senator? Requirements to be a Senator:
Must be at least 30 years old
Must live in state you represent
Must be a citizen of the U.S. for at least 9 years
Florida’s Senators
Bill Nelson (D) years old when he ran for Senator (2000), Born in and resided in FL – Fun Fact: payload specialist in Columbia space shuttle mission
Marco Rubio (R) – 39 years old when he ran for Senator (2010), Born in and resided in FL – Fun Fact: Rubio is currently a candidate in the Presidential Election

5. Want to be a U.S. Representative?
Constitutional Requirements to be a Representative:
Must be at least 25 years old
Must live in state and district you represent
Must be a citizen of the U.S. for at least 7 years
There are NO TERM LIMITS in The House of Representatives or The Senate!!
Leon County (District 2) Representative: Gwen Graham (D) – 51 years old when she ran for office (2014), born and raised in FL (graduated form Leon High School)
Women in Congress

6. Career Backgrounds
Nearly half of all Senators and Representatives are lawyers
They are also “joiners” (people who are actively involved in community organizations)
Nelson, Rubio, and Graham all have law degrees.
Why is it common for members of the legislative branch to be lawyers?
Why do we want representatives who are actively involved in community organizations?

7. Benefits of being in Congress
The salary for a member of the U.S. Congress is $174,000 a year (for both houses).
Certain positions receive more compensation, i.e. Speaker of the House or being a Leader in either house.
Compared to median income of ~ $50,500
Members of Congress cannot accept gifts over $50, however. This includes ay item that can be applied monetary value.
Example from House Committee on Ethics: A Member has been invited to play golf by an friend who belongs to a country club, and under the rules of the club, the guest of a club member plays without any fee.  Nevertheless, the Member’s use of the course would be deemed a gift to the Member from his host, having a value of the amount that the country club generally charges for a round of golf.

8. Added Benefits of being in Congress
Members also get an office space, free parking, and transportation to their home state.
Members are left with a generous retirement plan and pay relatively small amounts for health and life insurance.
Allowances allow for members to maintain offices and staff at home and in Washington
Members get free “franking privileges” (sending job-related mail without paying postage)
Despite all these “free” things, Members of Congress cannot accept gifts over $50. This includes ay item that can be applied monetary value.
Example from House Committee on Ethics: A Member has been invited to play golf by an friend who belongs to a country club, and under the rules of the club, the guest of a club member plays without any fee.  Nevertheless, the Member’s use of the course would be deemed a gift to the Member from his host, having a value of the amount that the country club generally charges for a round of golf.

9. Benefits of being in Congress
Members get “immunity” (legal protection) in some cases so they may speak or act freely.
Representatives and Senators limited immunity from arrest for some offenses while Congress is in session. It does not grant them immunity from indictment and subsequent prosecution, however.
This does NOT allow them to break the law.
This is done so that members of Congress can perform their duty without arrest. It does not mean that members of Congress can break the law or violate the code of conduct.

10. Congressional Staff

11. Personal Staff
The “personal staff” of a member of Congress run their Washington and state offices.
They handle the day to day business for the member.

12. Personal Staff
The “personal staff” also helps the members deal with different “lobbyist” groups (people hired by private groups to influence government decision makers)
The “personal staff” is sometimes supported by interns and pages (students who volunteer their time to learn more about the political process)
Lobbyists work to persuade members – through meetings, etc. Lobbyists exist for education, medicine, and most private industries you can think of. That means there are a lot of people wanting to meet with members to influence their decisions in Congress. Therefore, dealing with lobbyists is an important job for personal staff.
The number and role of interns depends on the member. Most will have internship opportunities listed on their websites. Here is Gwen Grahams:

13. Committee Staff
The “committee staff” are people who work directly for a specific Congressional committee.
These people usually have expert knowledge of the issue or topic and keep the process moving.
Why do we want expert? Members have important decisions to make, it’s vital that they know everything they can about the issue before making these decisions. Including benefits, consequences, etc.

14. Support Services
The “support services” are different agencies that are created to help members of Congress with their work.
These services include the Library of Congress and the Congressional Budget Office.

15. Congress At Work

16. Congress At Work Congress works in “sessions” or regular time periods.
These sessions begin on January 3rd each year and continue throughout most of the year.
Congress has 3 main jobs to accomplish

17. 1. Lawmaking
Making laws for the nation is the most important job the Congress accomplishes each session.
Hearing from the people, writing bills, etc.
This is where law degrees, lobbyists, and those experts most come into play

18. 2. Casework
“Casework” (helping constituents work out problems) is also very important to keep the member “in touch” with it’s constituents.
Some members of Congress get over 10,000 requests for help each year.
How to contact your senator or representative: You can find contact information for your members on their website, or on the US Senate and US HoR websites. The most common form of contact is by letter. For example: When I was in school, we wrote letters to our representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen about pollution in the St. Lucie River.

19. 3. Helping the District or State
Looking out for or helping a member’s home district or state is also very important.
Pushing issues that help their own constituents is a priority, but they also look out for the interests of the U.S.
Define constituents and relate to representative democracy

20. 3. Helping the District or State
Members of Congress try to work to get their constituents their share of the federal budget each year.
“Pork barrel projects” are government projects or grants that benefit the home state or district of a member of Congress.
The term comes from members of Congress dipping into the “pork barrel” (federal treasury) to pull out a piece of “fat” (federal $$ for projects for their state or district).

21. “Pork Barrel Projects”
Analyze this political cartoon:
Who do the figures in the image represent?
What is the issue at hand?
What does the cartoon imply?
Interpret this Political Cartoon

22. Congressional Elections Crash Course