CONGRESS
Part I – Congressional Leadership
This past January, the 114th Congress seated its new members with the
Republican party controlling both houses of Congress. (The House of Representatives
and the Senate) Each party will have the responsibility of choosing its party leadership
to direct its legislative agenda. Using the websites congressmerge.com (or any other
website) and the textbook to complete the following information related to party
leadership positions in Congress. Identify the role of each leadership position as well as
the individual who serves in the position.
House:
Speaker of the House:
Senate:
President of Senate:
President Pro Tempore:
Majority Leader:
Minority Leader:
Majority Leader:
Minority Leader:
Majority Whip:
Minority Whip:
Majority Whip:
Minority Whip:
Part II – Congressional Legislation
It is time for you to begin tracking the legislative bills that are important to you. Your
task is to complete research on a bill currently pending in the United States Congress.
You should look for bills that interest you. When you find a bill of interest, the next step
is to identify the major parts of the bill and summarize them.
Go to www.govtrack.us to find the current status of bills. You may search bills that
have been introduced by representative members from Oregon or just search bills by
category. Access bills by clicking on the tab listed “bills and resolutions.” After
accessing this site, find some bills that have already been passed. You may find these
under the “new laws” tab.
You should:
1) Find TWO bills. Write down the name of the bill and the bill number. Search
govtrack.us. Click on “Bill and Resolutions” tab. Under “track by keyword”
search, click on the subject area tab. Pick a subject of interest to you. Make
sure your searching current bills in the 114th Congress. (This can be found on
a dropdown menu under “congress.”
2) Summarize the key legislation / points in the bill. A summary should include
major pieces of the legislation, not just a title and background information. (For
example:
This bill is about..... preventing the wiretapping of phones.) You need to
describe what the government needs to obtain before they can wiretap and the
evidence that needs to be provided.
3) Finally, how would you vote on the bill and what are your arguments. Use
may use information from media sources or make a judgement based on your own
principles.
You may use the following websites to identify your bill of interest.
www.govtrack.us