Chapter Focus
Section 1 How a Bill Becomes a Law
Section 2 Taxing and Spending Bills
Section 3 Influencing Congress
Section 4 Helping Constituents
Chapter Assessment
Chapter Objectives
•
How a Bill Becomes a Law Explain the
process by which federal legislation is
proposed, reviewed, and enacted.
•
Taxing and Spending Bills Analyze the power
of Congress to raise and spend money through
tax laws and appropriations bills.
•
Influencing Congress Identify factors that
often influence members of Congress.
•
Helping Constituents Explain how members
of Congress help voters in their state of district.
How a Bill Becomes a Law
Key Terms
private bill, public bill, simple resolution, rider,
hearing, veto, pocket veto
Find Out
• Why is it easier to defeat legislation than to
pass it?
• What are the positive and negative implications
of the lengthy process through which all bills
must go before becoming laws?
How a Bill Becomes a Law
Understanding Concepts
Political Processes Why does it take so long for
Congress to pass legislation?
Section Objective
Explain how federal legislation is proposed,
reviewed, and enacted.
One important bill was passed in a single day. In
March 1933, on his first day in office, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt drafted a bill closing the
nation’s banks to prevent their collapse. The
Senate and House both debated and passed
the bill, and President Roosevelt signed it into
law that evening.
I. Types of Bills and Resolutions
(pages 181–183)
A. Public bills involve national issues; private
bills deal with individual people or places.
B. Resolutions may be passed by either house
or by both houses jointly.
C. Both houses pass concurrent resolutions,
which do not have the force of law.
D. A rider is a provision attached to a bill on an
unrelated subject.
I. Types of Bills and Resolutions
(pages 181–183)
E. Only a few bills become laws because:
1. the process is long and complex;
2. measures must have broad support;
3. supporters must be willing to compromise;
4. many bills are introduced that have no
chance of passing.
I. Types of Bills and Resolutions
(pages 181–183)
Why might a major public bill require
months to move through Congress?
Many major public bills deal with controversial
issues and may be debated for months.
II. Introducing a Bill (pages 183–186)
A. Introducing a new bill in Congress is the first
step in the lawmaking process.
B. New bills are sent to committees and
sometimes subcommittees.
C. Both houses usually agree with the
committees’ decision on a bill.
D. If a committee decides to act on a bill, it
holds hearings on it.
E. When a committee hearing is complete,
committee members review the bill line
by line and make changes in it by a
majority vote.
II. Introducing a Bill (pages 183–186)
F. The committee kills or
reports the bill to the
House or Senate, sending
with the bill a written
report that describes the
bill, explains the
committee’s actions, lists
the committee’s changes,
and recommends
passage or defeat.
II. Introducing a Bill (pages 183–186)
Why do congressional committees play such
a key role in bills after they are introduced?
Committee members have authority
because they are considered experts on
the bills they receive.
III. Floor Action (pages 186–187)
A. During debate any lawmaker may offer
amendments.
B. The bill, including proposed changes, must
receive a majority vote in both the House
and Senate to pass.
C. Congress may use standing, roll-call, record,
or voice votes.
III. Floor Action (pages 186–187)
How may bills be changed during floor
debates in each house?
Amendments may be added.
IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188)
A. To become a law, a bill must pass in
identical form in both houses; conference
committees work out differences when
necessary, and send a compromise bill to
each house of Congress for final action.
B. The president may then let the bill become
law by signing it or keeping it 10 days
without signing it, or kill it using a veto or
pocket veto.
C. Congress can override a presidential veto by
a two-thirds vote in each house.
IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188)
D. The line-item veto was challenged in the
Supreme Court and declared
unconstitutional.
E. After a bill becomes a law, it is registered with
the National Archives and Records Service.
F. Citizens can track legislation using an online
information resource called THOMAS.
IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188)
IV. Final Steps in Passing Bills (pages 187–188)
Do you believe the president’s line-item veto
is constitutional? Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should demonstrate
understanding of legislative powers.
Checking for Understanding
1. Main Idea Create a flow chart to analyze the
major stages by which a bill becomes a law.
Which stage do you think takes the longest?
Introduced, Committee action, Floor action,
Conference action, Sent to president. Answers
will vary. Students may suggest the committee
step is the longest step because of hearings
that may take place regarding the bill.
Checking for Understanding
Match the term with the correct definition.
___
F private bill
___
E public bill
___
B simple resolution
___
C rider
___
A pocket veto
___
D veto
A. when a president kills a bill passed
during the last 10 days Congress is
in session by simply refusing to act
on it
B. a statement adopted to cover
matters affecting only one house of
Congress
C. a provision included in a bill on a
subject other than the one covered
in the bill
D. rejection of a bill
E. a bill dealing with general matters
and applying to the entire nation
F. a bill dealing with individual people
or places
Checking for Understanding
3. Identify voice vote, standing vote, roll-call vote.
A voice vote occurs when a bill is voted upon
and members together call out “Aye” or “No.”
A standing vote, or division vote, occurs when
those in favor of the bill stand and are counted
and then those opposed stand and are counted.
A roll-call vote is a voting method in which
everyone responds “Aye” or “No” as their names
are called in alphabetical order.
Checking for Understanding
4. Why do so few bills actually become laws?
The process provides opportunities to kill a bill.
Many bills are introduced that have little chance
of becoming law.
Critical Thinking
5. Drawing Conclusions Is it possible for all
members of Congress to keep abreast of all
bills under consideration? Support your answer.
Possible answer: Because the task is
impossible single-handedly, Congress has the
subcommittee system, aides, party leaders,
and so on.
Political Processes Imagine that you
are asked to help younger children learn
how laws are made in the United States.
Create a poster, using cartoonlike
illustrations, to show how a bill becomes
a law.
Taxing and Spending Bills
Key Terms
tax, closed rule, appropriation, authorization bill,
entitlement
Find Out
• What authority does Congress have over how the
national government will raise and spend money?
• What is the procedure whereby Congress
provides money to the executive agencies and
departments?
Taxing and Spending Bills
Understanding Concepts
Public Policy When Congress votes to begin a
government program, what process is followed to
fund that program?
Section Objective
Analyze the ways in which Congress raises and
spends money.
Members of Congress often promote
spending bills that benefit their district or
state. For example, in 1997 Senator Richard
Shelby of Alabama added a measure to the
House appropriations bill to spend $3 million
for fertilizer research in Alabama. Senator Kay
Bailey Hutchison of Texas added a bill to build
a new commuter lane on a bridge in El Paso.
Both senators were important members of the
Senate Appropriations Committee, and their
efforts were successful.
I. Making Decisions About Taxes (pages 189–190)
A. The House of Representatives has exclusive
power to start all revenue bills, and all
important work on tax laws occurs in the
House Ways and Means Committee.
B. Until the 1970s the closed rule forbade
members of Congress from amending tax
bills from the floor of the House; members
felt tax bills were too complicated and in too
much danger of being amended under
pressure from special-interest groups to
allow such changes.
I. Making Decisions About Taxes (pages 189–190)
C. In 1973 the House revolted
against the powerful Ways and
Means Committee and its
chairperson to do away with the
closed rule; critics charge that
doing away with this rule has
allowed tax bills to become a
collection of amendments
favoring special interests.
D. The Senate may propose
changes in tax bills, and the
Senate Committee on
Finance has primary
responsibility for tax matters.
I. Making Decisions About Taxes (pages 189–190)
Compare the role of the House Ways and
Means Committee in tax legislation before the
1970s with the role it plays today.
See discussion of changes in closed-rule
procedure on text page 190.
II. Appropriating Money (pages 191–192)
A. Congress has the power of appropriation,
or approval of government spending.
B. Congress uses a two-step procedure in
appropriating money:
1. an authorization bill, setting up a federal
program and specifying how much money
may be spent on it;
2. an appropriations bill, providing the
money needed to carry out the program
or law.
C. In each house of Congress, an appropriations
committee and its subcommittees handle
appropriations bills.
II. Appropriating Money (pages 191–192)
D. Appropriations subcommittees may develop
close relationships with certain agencies and
projects for which they appropriate funds.
E. Powerful interest groups try to influence
appropriations subcommittees to give the
agencies all the money they request.
F. Most of the money the federal government
spends each year is for uncontrollable
expenditures.
II. Appropriating Money (pages 191–192)
Why are certain expenditures such as social
security given long-term spending authority?
Government entitlement programs must be
honored from year to year.
Checking for Understanding
1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the
one below, show the two-step procedure that
Congress follows when appropriating money.
1. authorization bill
2. appropriations bill
Checking for Understanding
Match the term with the correct definition.
___
D tax
___
A closed rule
___
E appropriation
___
C authorization bill
___
B entitlement
A. forbids members of Congress
to offer amendments to a bill
from the floor
B. a required government
expenditure that continues
from one year to the next
C. sets up a federal program and
specifies how much money
may be appropriated for the
program
D. money that people and
businesses pay to support the
activities of the government
E. approval of government
spending
Checking for Understanding
3. Identify Ways and Means Committee, HUD.
The Ways and Means Committee is a House
committee where almost all important work on
tax laws occurs. They decide whether to go
along with presidential requests for tax cuts
or increases.
The Department of Housing and Urban
Development, or HUD, is a federal government
agency whose mission is to increase
homeownership, support community
development and increase access to affordable
housing free from discrimination.
Checking for Understanding
4. What control does the House Ways and Means
Committee exert over presidential requests for
changes in tax laws?
It decides whether to go along with presidential
requests for tax cuts or increases.
Critical Thinking
5. Synthesizing Information Do you think
Congress should have the power both to raise
and to spend money? Support your answer.
Answers will vary. Students who agree may
suggest that the checks and balances provided
are sufficient to prevent abuse of the power, and
that Congress, as the branch of government
closest to the people, is perhaps the most
appropriate body to make those decisions.
Public Policy Using the library or the
Internet, research the major categories
of revenue and expenditure in the
current federal budget. Find out what
amounts of money the government
plans to raise and spend in each
category. Create an illustrated report or
series of graphs and charts.
Influencing Congress
Key Terms
lobbyist, lobbying
Find Out
• How closely should the votes of members
of Congress reflect the opinions of their
constituents?
• What factors must a member of Congress weigh
when deciding whether to support the views of an
interest group or of the president?
Influencing Congress
Understanding Concepts
Political Processes What specific groups and
individuals influence the legislators’ decisions?
Section Objective
Identify factors that often influence members
of Congress.
Lobbyists representing interest groups may
have gotten their name from favor-seekers
operating in the New York state legislature. As
early as the 1820s, those favor-seekers sought
out New York lawmakers in the “lobby”—the
corridor or other parts of the state capital
building at Albany—seeking to influence
legislators’ votes. Since that time, lobbyists
have become one of the most powerful
influences on governments.
I. Influences on Lawmakers (page 194)
A. Lawmakers’ views on decisions are seldom
based on individual conscience.
B. Voters back home, lawmakers’ staff
members, lawmakers’ own political parties,
the president, and special-interest groups all
influence lawmakers’ views.
I. Influences on Lawmakers (page 194)
Why do members of Congress
consider other factors and not just
cast their votes according to their own
views on proposed bills?
Lawmakers want to serve their constituents, be
reelected, and support their party or president.
II. The Influence of Voters (pages 195–196)
A. Lawmakers are heavily influenced by the
needs and opinions of their constituents.
B. Lawmakers stay informed of voters’ attitudes
and needs by making frequent trips back
home, by reading messages from home, by
questionnaires, and by reports from their
staff in their home district.
II. The Influence of Voters (pages 195–196)
What influence do voters back home have on
lawmakers’ decisions on legislation?
On issues that affect their constituents’ daily
lives, lawmakers generally listen to voters’
preferences.
III. The Influence of Parties (pages 196–197)
A. Nearly all members of Congress belong to
one of the two major political parties and
generally support their own party’s stands
on legislation.
B. House members support their parties more
strongly than do Senate members, but the
issues themselves also determine whether
members follow their party leaders’ agenda.
C. Members of Congress usually support their
party because party members usually share
the same general political beliefs.
III. The Influence of Parties (pages 196–197)
What might happen when lawmakers do not
vote with their own political party on an
important bill?
Answers will vary. Students should consider the
value of party membership to a lawmaker.
IV. Other Influences on Congress
(pages 197–198)
A. Presidents work hard to persuade
lawmakers to support laws they want passed
and give or withhold political favors to
secure lawmakers’ support.
B. Interest groups and their lobbyists represent
various interests, including labor and business
groups, education and environmental
organizations, and minority groups.
C. Political action committees (PACs) are
political fund-raising organizations that give
their funds to support lawmakers who favor
the PAC’s position.
IV. Other Influences on Congress
(pages 197–198)
Do you think lobbyists are beneficial or
detrimental to the lawmaking process in
Congress? Explain.
Answers will vary. See lobbyists’ influence on
text page 198.
Checking for Understanding
1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the
one below, identify four ways lawmakers can
keep in touch with voters’ opinions.
Answers might include:
1. trips home;
2. screening mail;
3. questionnaires;
4. opinion surveys
Checking for Understanding
Fill in the blank with the correct term.
1.
lobbyist is an interest group
A(n) ________
representative.
2.
Lobbying is direct contact made by a
________
lobbyist in order to persuade government
officials to support the policies their interest
group favors.
Checking for Understanding
3. Identify PAC.
A PAC, or Political Action Committee, is a
political fund-raising organization established
by a corporation, labor union, or other
special-interest groups who use their funds to
support lawmakers who favor the PAC’s
position on issues.
Checking for Understanding
4. On which type of issues do lawmakers tend to
pay less attention to voter opinion?
Lawmakers tend to pay less attention to issues
in which voters have less information or interest.
Checking for Understanding
5. What influence does the president have
on Congress?
Presidents can use the media to rally public
opinion for or against a policy. They can also
grant or withhold support for projects important
to a lawmaker’s constituents.
Critical Thinking
6. Making Inferences Why do some people
think that PACs now have more influence
over members of Congress and the process
of congressional legislation than do
individual lobbyists?
PACs often are better organized and better
funded than individual lobbyists.
Political Processes Contact a
special-interest group to request
literature on the group’s purpose and
activities. Summarize how the group
attempts to influence legislators. Post
the literature and summary on a
bulletin-board display.
Helping Constituents
Key Terms
casework, pork-barrel legislation, logrolling
Find Out
• Why do legislators spend much of their time
helping their constituents?
• How do the organization and methods of
Congress contribute to pork-barrel legislation?
Helping Constituents
Understanding Concepts
Federalism How does the need to weigh the
interests of their constituents affect national policy
decisions by members of Congress?
Section Objective
Explain how members of Congress help voters in
their state or district.
Critics say that the “pork” in “pork-barrel
legislation” is used to “grease” the wheels of
government. By that, they mean that when
Congress appropriates millions of dollars for
local projects, such as hydroelectric dams,
environmental cleanup programs, and mass
transit projects, it does so for two reasons: to
help districts and states provide services and,
just as important, to improve their own
chances of being reelected.
I. Handling Problems (pages 200–201)
A. Lawmakers in both houses must deal with
their constituents’ problems and needs
involving government.
B. Caseworkers on lawmakers’ staffs help
them deal with voters’ requests for help.
C. Lawmakers spend a great deal of time on
casework because responding to voters
helps them get reelected, casework brings
problems with federal programs to
lawmakers’ attention, and caseworkers
help citizens cope with the huge national
government.
I. Handling Problems (pages 200–201)
How much of their time should members
of Congress spend handling the problems
of their constituents? Explain.
Answers will vary. See discussion of
casework on text page 201.
II. Helping the District or State (pages 201–203)
A. Lawmakers bring federal projects and
money to their districts and states through
pork-barrel legislation, federal grants and
contracts, and keeping federal projects.
B. Congress appropriates billions of dollars for
local projects that can bring funds and jobs
to districts and states; these appropriations
for local projects are sometimes called
“pork-barrel legislation.”
II. Helping the District or State (pages 201–203)
C. Lawmakers also try hard to obtain federal
grants and contracts for their districts and
states, working closely with executive
department agencies that award those
grants and contracts.
D. Although lawmakers do not have direct
control over funds for grants and contracts,
they may try to influence how these are
awarded. They may pressure agency
officials to grant their state favorable
hearings, urge constituents to contact
agency officials, and assign staff members
to help constituents apply for grants and
solve any special problems.
II. Helping the District or State (pages 201–203)
Do you think members of Congress should
spend much time obtaining federal projects
and federal grants and contracts for their
districts and states? Explain.
Answers will vary, but should demonstrate an
understanding of the pressure to win projects,
grants, and contracts for their home districts.
Checking for Understanding
1. Main Idea Using a graphic organizer like the
one below, explain how allocation of grants and
contracts is different from pork-barrel legislation.
Grants/contracts: lawmakers appeal to
agencies of the executive branch.
Pork barrel: Congress appropriates money.
Checking for Understanding
Match the term with the correct definition.
___
C casework
___
B pork-barrel
legislation
___
A logrolling
A. an agreement by two or
more lawmakers to support
each other’s bills
B. laws passed by Congress
that appropriate money for
local federal projects
C. work that a lawmaker does
to help constituents with
problems
Checking for Understanding
3. Identify caseworker, public works bill.
A caseworker is a member of a lawmaker’s
personal staff who handles requests for help
from constituents.
A public works bill is a bill in which Congress
appropriates money for local projects.
Checking for Understanding
4. Why do lawmakers get involved in casework?
Casework helps lawmakers get reelected, allows
Congress to oversee the executive branch, and
provides a way for the average citizen to cope
with the huge national government.
Checking for Understanding
5. List three ways lawmakers bring federal projects
to their states.
Lawmakers bring federal projects to their states
through pork-barrel legislation, federal grants
and contracts, and keeping federal projects.
Checking for Understanding
6. Which branch of government awards federal
grants and contracts?
The executive branch awards federal grants
and contracts.
Critical Thinking
7. Drawing Conclusions Why do you think the
size of the lawmakers’ staff has increased in
recent years?
Answers include keeping up with growing
federal agencies and a complicated
bureaucracy.
Federalism Look through several
editions of your local paper to find
examples of federal money spent in your
state or community. Present your
findings in the form of a radio news
broadcast. Your broadcast should
explain how the pork-barrel legislation
benefited your state or local community.
Reviewing Key Terms
Fill in the blank with the correct term or concept listed below.
tax
rider
hearing
pocket veto
lobbyist
closed rule
authorization bills
entitlements
casework
pork-barrel legislation
1. A(n) ___________________
tax
is money that
citizens and businesses pay to support the
government.
Casework
2. ___________________
is a congressional task
that involves helping constituents with problems.
rider
3. A(n) ___________________
is an often
controversial provision tacked on to a bill
pertaining to a different subject.
Reviewing Key Terms
Fill in the blank with the correct term or concept listed below.
tax
rider
hearing
pocket veto
lobbyist
closed rule
authorization bills
entitlements
casework
pork-barrel legislation
4. Interest on the national debt and Social Security
payments are examples of
___________________.
entitlements
5. A person who represents a special-interest group
to Congress and other government officials is
known as a(n) ___________________.
lobbyist
6. Witnesses usually offer testimony in a committee
hearing
___________________
regarding a specific bill.
Reviewing Key Terms
Fill in the blank with the correct term or concept listed below.
tax
rider
hearing
pocket veto
lobbyist
closed rule
authorization bills
entitlements
casework
pork-barrel legislation
7. Under a(n) ___________________,
closed rule
House
members were forbidden to offer amendments to
tax bills from the floor.
Pork-barrel legislation is when Congress passes
8. ___________________
laws to appropriate money for local federal
projects.
pocket veto
9. The president gives a(n) ___________________
by not signing a bill during the last 10 days
Congress is in session.
Reviewing Key Terms
Fill in the blank with the correct term or concept listed below.
tax
rider
hearing
pocket veto
lobbyist
closed rule
authorization bills
entitlements
casework
pork-barrel legislation
10. ___________________
Authorization bills
set up federal programs
and specify how much money may be
appropriated for those programs.
Recalling Facts
1. Describe the two types of bills that may be
introduced and three types of resolutions that
may be passed in Congress.
Private bills deal with individual persons or
places. Public bills concern general matters
that apply to the whole nation. A resolution
deals with matters regarding only one house
of Congress. Joint resolutions concern
unusual or temporary matters. Concurrent
resolutions address matters requiring the
action of both houses.
Recalling Facts
2. What are four actions a president may take on
a bill?
A president may sign the bill into law, veto the
bill, pocket veto the bill, or leave the bill
unsigned and allow it to become law after 10
days if Congress is still in session.
3. What role does the House Ways and Means
Committee play in tax legislation?
It initiates and reviews all the tax laws.
Recalling Facts
4. What factors influence lawmakers when they
consider legislation?
Possible answers include the nature of the issue,
voters at home, other lawmakers, staff members,
political parties, the president, special-interest
groups, and the lawmaker’s own beliefs.
5. What key tool do lawmakers use to secure the
passage of public works legislation?
Lawmakers use logrolling to secure the
passage of public works legislation.
Understanding Concepts
1. Public Policy What procedure is Congress
supposed to use to fund its programs and
control its expenses?
Congress funds its programs with tax money
and uses appropriations to control how much
can be spent on each program.
Understanding Concepts
2. Political Processes Would lawmakers’
activities be different if there were no specialinterest groups?
Possible answers: Without special-interest
groups, lawmakers would not be pressured to
vote according to the demands of the specialinterest groups but would vote in the best
interest of their constituents; there are enough
other influences to continue to have an impact
on lawmakers’ activities.
Critical Thinking
1. Making Inferences Use the graphic organizer
below to show three characteristics that help a
bill make its way through the lawmaking process.
Characteristics might include: clearly written;
obvious goals; wide public support.
Critical Thinking
2. Drawing Conclusions Why is Congress
reluctant to appropriate the full amount of
money an agency requests?
Possible answer: Congress may want an
agency to avoid wasteful spending or force an
agency to concentrate its allotted spending on
the most effective measures.
Interpreting Political Cartoons Activity
1. What is the “Political Inaction Committee”
referred to in the cartoon?
It is a PAC, or a political action committee.
Interpreting Political Cartoons Activity
2. How is the “Political Inaction Committee”
different from other interest groups?
It represents apathetic voters—those who do not
care about issues being debated in the Capitol.
Other PACs represent voters who are interested
in influencing lawmakers.
Interpreting Political Cartoons Activity
3. Why is this situation unrealistic?
Members of interest groups are not indifferent
voters. They care enough about an issue to
lobby lawmakers.
What are caucuses, and what role do they
play in the work of Congress?
Caucuses are groups that consist of
members of Congress with a common
interest—for example, the Congressional
Black Caucus—who meet privately to
discuss and plan legislation relating to
causes that they want to support.
1) balanced budget
2) Possible answers: to emphasize an issue’s
importance, disagreement with previous
resolutions, or to gain personal publicity
3) 24 commendations of veterans and veterans’
groups, 16 for continuing appropriations,
and 11 declarations of war
1) a continued increase
2) Outlays have remained about
the same percent as GDP
3) GDP must have shown a
continued increase
1) Answers will vary.
2) Answers will vary.
3) Answers will vary.
1) CA, NY, TX, FL, PA
2) CA, TX, FL, PA, NY
3) PA ranks highest;
FL ranks third.
Law in the News During the course of Chapter 7,
collect newspaper or magazine articles that relate to
the legislative process. Examples may include
hearings on a current bill, introduction of new bills, or
an interview with the president regarding the veto of
recently proposed legislation. Alternately, you may
tape such stories from radio or television news
broadcasts. Select one news item and summarize it,
indicating how it relates to the chapter.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The general use of riders is
to get an unpopular proposal enacted by attaching it
to a bill likely to pass. A bill’s opponents, if they
cannot muster the votes to defeat it, may attach a
rider to make the bill undesirable to some of its
supporters. In 1964 Senate opponents of the Civil
Rights Act tried to kill it by adding a rider to prohibit
gender discrimination in the workplace. To their
surprise both bill and rider passed, giving the nation a
law against both racial and gender discrimination.
Remembering the Folks Back Home Being sensitive
to constituents’ tastes is not a new trend. More than a
century ago, Representative J. Proctor Knott of
Kentucky was asked in Washington one day whether
he thought that Hamlet or Macbeth was the better
Shakespearean play. Knott replied, “Friend, don’t ask
me that question. I am a politician, and a candidate for
reelection to Congress. My district is about equally
divided. Hamlet has his friends down there, and
Macbeth his, and I am unwilling to take any part
between them!”
If a lawmaker must be absent during a vote, he or she
sometimes will try to “pair off” with an opposition
colleague who also will be absent. The “paired” votes
(which are listed in the Congressional Record) thus
cancel out each other and do not affect the result. (If
one of the lawmakers is in attendance for the vote, the
colleagues are called a “live pair.”)
More About Initiating Legislation Before writing a
description of a bill, evaluate your ideas carefully,
perhaps starting with questions such as the following:
• How do I know that current laws are ineffective in
dealing with this injustice?
• What do other people think of my idea?
• What objections might people have to my idea?
• If my idea became law, how easy would it be
to enforce?
Pigeonholing The origin of pigeonholing is related
to early American furniture. Old-fashioned desks
had small compartments, or “pigeonholes,” into
which minor papers could be stuffed, often to be
lost or forgotten.
Politeness Counts
Members of Congress address each other by terms
such as “my esteemed colleague” and “the
distinguished gentlewoman from the great state of
Texas.” They’ve been doing that since the eighteenth
century. Thomas Jefferson advised members of
Congress to avoid using names so that debates would
be kept impersonal and non-confrontational. By not
using peoples’ names, debaters are reminded that they
represent a constituency, not just themselves. In the
House, members are not allowed to address each
other in the second person (i.e., “you”) so debates
don’t become personal.
Space Station: What Should Congress Do? Research the first human
supported flights in space (the Mercury program, for example). In
particular, focus on the arguments offered at the time both for and against
the expense of such an endeavor. In a formal debate each side has a
specified time to present arguments in favor of its position, to speak
against arguments presented by the opposing side, and to sum up the
presentation. One side begins the process; then the other presents its
arguments.
Concluding the Debate After the debate and audience vote, discuss
these questions with the debaters: Which part of the debate did you (or
your side) find the most challenging, and why? What did you learn from the
other side’s presentation? Which arguments (from your side or the other)
did you find most convincing? Explain. How would you describe your
contribution to the debate? What would you do differently if you could?
Discuss these questions with the audience: Why did you vote the way you
did? Which arguments did you think were most effective, and why?
The Value of Subcommittees Read the following
quotation from Tad Szulc: “The subcommittee system
. . . has smothered or splintered legislation more
often than it has expedited it. The 96th Congress has
inherited 29 standing committees and 151
subcommittees in the House, 21 committees and 112
subcommittees in the Senate. . . . The average
representative sits on three subcommittees, the
average senator, five. . . .” Debate the value
of subcommittees.
Types of Testimony People who testify during the
hearings on a bill may come from universities,
businesses, Hollywood—just about anywhere. Follow
the hearings on a specific bill and note who gives
testimony. As a class, discuss these questions: Who
can speak with authority about the facts under
consideration? Why might the publicity that comes
from celebrity testimony be valuable?
Conducting a Poll Polling is one way for a
legislator to learn what constituents want. Poll five
people about the influences upon their
representatives—constituents, interest groups, the
president, other legislators, the lawmaker’s party—
asking each respondent to rank these influences
from most influential to least influential (in the
respondent’s opinion). Put your findings into a
graph for classroom display and discussion.
Law The bill that eventually led to the Federal Criminal
Code Reform Act was very complex—more than 600
pages long!
Arlys Endres
The statue for which Endres campaigned had been
commissioned to celebrate the passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment and had been created by sculptor Adelaide
Johnson. Before Congress passed the relocation resolution,
Representative Constance Morella (R-Maryland) said,
“When schoolchildren from around the Nation come to visit
Washington, . . . they will see in the rotunda a statue that not
only honors the women who marched for the vote but a
statue that also underscores the importance of the right to
vote in our American democracy, a right that today so many
of us take for granted.”
Activity: Suggest ways in which you might work in your
community to raise funds for a national project or cause.
Dennis Chávez (1888–1962)
Dennis Chávez was the first Hispanic member elected
to the Senate. Chávez (D-New Mexico) used his
position as chairman of the Senate Committee on
Public Works to help get federal funding for landimprovement and flood-control projects in his home
state. Chávez served in the Senate from 1936 until his
death in 1962. He helped establish the Fair
Employment Practices Committee and, during the
McCarthy era, he publicly opposed the senator’s
“witch-hunt” tactics. In 1988, President Ronald
Reagan proclaimed Dennis Chávez Day, saying
Chávez “truly exemplified the dedication of the public
servant and won distinction in the service of New
Mexico and of his nation.”
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