1. Congress
Chapter 10

2. Congress Where is Congress established? Two Houses
Article I
Two Houses
Senate
House of Representatives
Why was Congress established with two houses?
Parliament
Connecticut Compromise
Check the power of Congress

3. Terms Term How long do members of Congress serve? Congressional term
Length of time officials serve following elections
How long do members of Congress serve?
House – 2 year terms
Senate – 6 year terms
Congressional term
2 years
Currently, it is the 115th Congress
Term begins at noon on Jan. 3rd in odd-numbered years

4. Sessions Session Time during which Congress conducts business
Two sessions per term
One session per year
Begins on Jan 3rd unless Congress sets a different date
Adjourn
End the session
Both houses must agree on a date

5. Sessions How long is a session? No set length
Prior to WWII, lasted about 5 months
Now, last throughout the year
Congress recesses several times during a session
President may prorogue a session when the houses cannot agree on a date to adjourn
President may call a special session
No President has called one since Truman

6. House of Representatives Section 2

7. Size and Terms
435 members
Seats are apportioned among the states based on population
Every state guaranteed 1 seat
2 year term
How many terms can a Congressperson serve?

8. Qualifications for Members
Formal
25 years old
Must have been a US citizen for 7 years
Inhabit the state you represent
Custom
Live in the district you represent

9. Illinois 18th District
Darin LaHood

10. Reapportionment
What is reapportionment?
When does it happen?

11. Growing Nation First House - 65 members After 1790 census - 106

12. Reapportionment Act of 1929
Automatic reapportionment
“permanent” size of 435
Census Bureau determines the number of seats each state should have
President must send it to Congress
If Congress doesn’t reject it within 60 days, it takes effect

15. What trend do you notice from the map? 7 states have 1 seat
Alaska, Delaware, Montana, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming
D.C., Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have a delegate
Puerto Rico has a commissioner

17. Congressional Elections
Held on same day in every State
Tuesday following 1st Monday in Nov of each even-numbered year
Off-year elections
Incumbents

18. Districts Each member is chosen by voters in one of the 435 districts
Districts are NOT mentioned in Constitution
Single-member district
General ticket system
Seats filled at-large
Average District = 710,767 people

19. Gerrymandering Drawing districts to the advantage of a political party
Packing
Cracking

20. Ideal Districts “contiguous territory”
Nearly an equal number of inhabitants
“Compact territory”

22. House judges the elections and qualifications of its own members
If qualifications challenged, House decides
May refuse to seat a member or punish members with majority vote
May expel members with 2/3rds vote
5 expelled members, 3 in 1861, 1 in 1980, 1 in 2002

23. Wesberry v Sanders, 1964
Population differences between Georgia’s districts violated Constitution
One person’s vote should be roughly equal to another’s
Outcome?

24. Senate Section 3
Dick Durbin (D)
Tammy Duckworth (D)

25. Size and Election 100 members, 2 from each State
How were Senators originally chosen?
State legislatures
17th Amendment

26. Term 6 years Continuous Body Why were Senators given a 6 year term?
Staggered terms – 1/3 of Senate up for re-election every 2 years
Why were Senators given a 6 year term?
Less concerned with public opinion and special interests

27. Constituencies The people and interests a political figure represents
How does a Senator’s constituency differ from a House member’s?

28. Qualifications 30 years old US citizen for at least 9 years
Resident of State from which he/she is elected
Senate judges qualifications of members
May punish and expel members
How do these differ from the House?

29. House Senate 435 members 2 year terms Small constituencies
Younger membership
Strict rules, limited debate
Most work done in committees
100 members
6 year terms
Large constituencies
Older membership
Flexible rules, nearly unlimited debate
Work split between committees and floor

30. Answer these question on a separate sheet of paper.
What was the Framers’ intention for the Senate?
What characteristics of the Senate help it to achieve that goal?

31. Members of Congress
10.4

32. Background Race/Ethnicity/Gender Mostly white males 108 women
48 African Americans, 38 Hispanics
14 Asian-Americans or Pacific Islanders
2 Native American
Age
61 for Senators, 57 for House
Prior Work
Politics/government – 331
Business – 273
Law – 202
Education – 105
Military – 101
Education
100% of Senate and 94% of House have Bachelor’s Degrees
213 have Law Degrees, 98 have Master’s Degrees
23 Doctoral Degrees, 22 Medical Degrees
Religion – 92% Christian
57% Protestant
31% Catholic
5.2% Jewish
3% Mormon
2 Buddhists, 2 Muslims, 1 Hindu

33. 54 Republicans
44 Democrats
2 Independents

34. 188 Democrats
245 Republicans
2 Vacant

35. Roles of a Congressperson
Legislator
Representative of their constituents
Committee members
Servants for their constituents
Politicians

36. Representatives Committee Members Servants Trustee Oversight function
Delegate
Partisans
Politicos
Committee Members
Oversight function
Servants
Deal with bureaucracy
Personal tours
Appointment to military
Business loan

37. Salary and Benefits Regular Member $174,000
Senate Leadership Majority Party Leader - $193,400 Minority Party Leader - $193,400
House Leadership
Speaker of the House - $223,500
Majority Leader - $193,400
Minority Leader - $193,400
Non Salary Benefits
Housing Tax deduction
Travel allowances
Insurance
Pension
Franking privilege