“Can any of you seriously say the Bill of Rights could get
through Congress today It wouldn’t even get out of
committee.”- F. Lee Bailey
“You see, in Washington they have these bodies, Senate
and the House of Representatives. That is for the
convenience of the visitors. If there is nothing funny
happening in one, there is sure to be in the other, and
in case one body passes a good bill, why, the other can
see it in time and kill it.”- Will Rogers
“They say women talk too much. If you have worked in
Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by
men.”- Clare Boothe Luce
 What are the qualifications to become a Senator? A
Congressman/woman?
 How many Senators are there?
 How many Representatives are there?
 What compromise gave us the bicameral legislature?
 Congress is the legislative body, so they make the laws-
Article I gives Congress its powers
But Congress does other things………
 Congress is the citizens’ link to the creation of public
policy
 They represent the interests of constituents
 They oversee other governmental agencies (the federal
bureaucracy)
 Powers found in Article 1 of the Constitution
 Bicameral- 2 house legislature
 Created partly out of history (England had one) and
partly as a method of checks and balances (one house
can effectively check the other)
 Term = 2 years
 20th amendment changed start of term to be Jan. 3 of
every odd numbered year
 Sessions = 2 sessions/ term; so 1 per year
 President can call special sessions any time
 435 members (set by law in 1911 and officially capped
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in 1929)
** There are actually 441 reps. Because non-voting reps
from D.C., Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American
Somoa
Representation determined by population
(apportionment)
Elected directly by the public
Serve two-year terms with no term limit
 Power to begin all revenue bills
 Power to select the president if there is no electoral
college majority
 Power to initiate impeachment proceedings
 Re-assignment of how many reps. Each state gets
 Done every 10 years after the census
 Census Bureau actually decides how many seats each
state gets
 President has to send plan to Congress, who must
approve it
 1872 Law
 Elections held on Tuesday following the first Monday in
November
 1899 Voting machines used
 Off-year elections are elections that take place in a year
without a presidential election
 Typically the party in power loses seats in off-year
elections
 435 members chosen by 435 districts
 States draw the boundaries for districts
 Most districts have one representative= single-member
districts
 Districts drawn for the advantage of one party
 2 methods:
 Concentrate opposition voters
 Spread opposition very thin
 Goal of gerrymandering is to create safe districts
 1964- Wesbury v Sanders
 Supreme Court ruled that districts were too wide and
unconstitutional
 “one person, one vote”
 Gomillion v Lightfoot- 1960
 No race-based districts
 Race can be used to determine districts but cannot be a
controlling factor
 25
 Citizen for at least 7 years
 Inhabitant of the state
 Framers wanted the Senate to be smaller and more
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enlightened, a kind of safe-guard against the popular
will of the House
Because they represent whole state, they have broader
interests
100 Senators (2 from each state)
Elected by public (17th amendment)
Serve 6 year terms
 Power to approve presidential appointments
 Power to approve treaties
 Power to try impeachment proceedings
 Small enough not to need to give a group more authority
 No time limits on speaking, so more debate happens
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there
Since they were not directly elected until 20th century,
they were nominated by state legislatures and thus
looking for ways to give back to leaders in the states
Millionaire’s club by end of 19th century led to reform
Filibuster common by end of 19th century
Try to limit it by rule 22- which allows 60 senators to cut
a debate off (cloture the debate) but unlimited debate is
often used in senate
 30 years old
 Citizen for at least 9 years
 Must live in the state he/she represents