1. Congress in Action

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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