1. Congress at Work - committees / lawmaking (4.5/4.6)
Government and Politics

2. Essential question - Legislative
How should government meet the needs of its people?

3. Review The Two houses Congressional districts House and Senate
size, terms, qualifications
Congressional districts
reapportionment
gerrymandering

4. When does Congress meet
Congress begins a new term every two years
of every odd-numbered year
ex. next election 2016, next term Jan 2017
State of the Union Message
late Jan or early Feb
a joint session of Congress
President reports on the state of the nation in both domestic and foreign policy terms

5. Presiding officers in Congress
House of Rep
Speaker of the House = chosen by members
preside in a fair manner and keep order
interprets, applies rules, refers bills to committees, rules on points of order, motions to vote, and decides outcomes
Senate
President of the Senate = Vice President
not elected and not a member of the body
President pro tempore = if the VP is not able to attend

6. Party Officers Caucus meetings Floor leaders
closed meeting of the members of each party in each house
Floor leaders
majority leader
minority leader
whips

7. This chart shows party strength at the start of the past 15 terms of Congress. What is the largest majority each party has held in each house over the past 30 years?

8. The colors on these maps indicate the party composition of each State's delegation in the House and Senate. Which States are the same color on both maps?

9. Your District 4
Representative
Betty McCollum (D)
Elected: 2000
Re-Elected: ’02, ’04, ’06,
’08, ’10, ’12, ‘14

10. Amy Klobuchar (D)
Elected: 2006, re- elected 2012
Al Franken (D)
Elected: 2008,
Re-elected 2014

11. Committees Congressional representatives assigned to committee work
a “division of labor”
Chairmen/women
less powerful
control which bills a committee will consider, in what order and at what length
control if there is a public hearing
usually manages the debate and tries to help the passage

12. Committees Standing Examples
a permanent panel to which all similar bills can be sent
Examples
agriculture, nutrition and forestry
armed services
energy and natural resources
finance
foreign relations
homeland security and governmental affairs

13. Other Committees Subcommittees Select/Special Joint and Conference
do most of the committee’s work
Select/Special
panels set up for some specific purpose
limited time
Joint and Conference
one composed of members of both houses
some serve temporary purposes

14. Review/Reflection
Review lesson Congress at work - organization and committees

15. End of Day 1

16. Review
Congress at work
presiding officers
committees

17. Making Laws Video: I’m Just a Bill, SNL version Introduce a bill
Committee work
Full body / floor debate
conference committee
congressional approval
President acts on bill

18. How a Bill becomes a Law
Step 1 - Bill is introduced in House of Representatives and/or Senate
Step 2 - The bill is sent to the appropriate committee where they review the bill, make changes (amendments), and vote on the bill to send to the entire group
Step 3 - The entire House and Senate vote on their version of the bill

19. How a Bill Becomes a Law
Step 4 - Usually the House and Senate versions of the bill are different. The two bodies meet and work out compromises in a Conference committee.
Conference Committees- a group in Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill.
Step 5 The entire House and Senate vote on the Conference Committee version of the bill
Step 6 - The president signs the bill into law or vetoes the bill. If vetoed, Congress may still turn the bill into a law by overriding the veto with a supermajority (2/3) vote.

21. How a bill becomes a law
quorum - a majority of the membership (218 or 51);
they must be present for each body to do business
Filibuster- an attempt to “talk a bill to death;” it’s a stalling tactic by minority senators to delay or prevent action on the measure
Strom Thurmond- set the record for the longest filibuster at 24 hours and 18 minutes; AGAINST the Civil Rights Act