US Government: Q4 Assignment
Congress: A Member Profile
You will be assigned a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and must familiarize yourself with the member’s district, electoral strengths and vulnerabilities, personal political beliefs and strength of party loyalty, by answering the following questions.
Related Readings:
1) Representation and Diversity

Reading: Congressional Research Service: Jennifer Manning’s
“Membership of the 114 th Congress: A Profile” https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43869.pdf
2) Types of Committees

Reading: Congressional Research Service: Valerie Heitshusen’s
“Committee Types and Roles” https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-241.pdf

Reading: Contacting the Congress: “Congressional Committees and
Subcommittees” http://www.contactingthecongress.org/cgibin/committee_list.cgi?site=ctc2011
Member Profile Outline
1. Introduction: Briefly lay out your member’s personal background: education, profession, political career path, race, religion, and party affiliation. (I recommend http://www.house.gov/ )
Also include typical demographic make-up of your politician’s party and compare that info with your candidate’s personal background info (see Manning article)
2. District Characteristics: Urban/suburban/rural, socioeconomic characteristics
(ex. Percentage of different ethnic backgrounds, major industries, average annual household income, etc.)

Note significant changes to this information over time. Does your member’s social and ethnic background seem similar to his or her constituents? Was it when he or she was first elected?
(Do a Google search, ie., “Pennsylvania 2 nd congressional district” or view the U.S.
Census Bureau’s congressional district profile) http://www.census.gov/mycd/
3. Elections: Assess the 2014 election results in the district. Does your member have a relatively safe seat? What, in your opinion, are his or her prospects for
2016? Make sure to back up your opinion with EVIDENCE
(See the link below for a breakdown of 2014 election results by congressional district) https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_201
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4. Congressional Committees: Check your member’s webpage to determine what committees he or she serves on (and if they serve in any leadership roles on the committee).
Click on the links to each committee.
(See Related Readings #2)
Be sure to address the following:

What are the duties of the committees?

Why does your member serve on these particular committees?
(Hint: Think about the constituents/people they represent? Why might that member want to be an “expert” or help draft legislation on that particular committee topic?)
5. Analyze your member’s key voting record:

Does the representative tend to vote with his or her own political party
(partisan)? Are they more politico?

What is the percentage of his or her own voting record with the party? https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/report-cards/2015

How do conservative interest groups rate this members voting record? How do liberal interest groups rate this members voting record? What are some of the issues important to these groups and how did your member vote?
Check both conservative and liberal issue ratings at http://votesmart.org/
(Put in your politicians name and click on the “rating” box) **Remember

that a 0% rating means that the member voted against all the organization’s endorsed positions and, on the other end of the spectrum, a
100% rating means the members voting record has consistently supported the organizations endorsed positions.)
6. Campaign Contributions:

Which interest groups have contributed money to the member’s campaign?

Why would they give to that member?

What groups have contributed the most money?

What are the issues (i.e., member ideology, voting history, committee assignments, major district interest’s) that may be a factor in these contributions? (See “OpenSecrets.org’’s 114 th Congress” and click on your member to view his or her top contributors.) https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary_all.php
TYPE ALL OF THE ANSWERS TO THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS. MAKE SURE TO
COMPLETELY ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE DETAIL. THIS WILL
REQUIRE TO WRITE PARAGRAPH(S) FOR EACH CATEGORY.
DO NOT JUST COPY AND PASTE…I WILL KNOW SINCE I HAVE SPENT A TON OF
TIME ON ALL OF THESE WEBSITES.
YOU WILL TURN THIS PAPER INTO A POWERPOINT…INSTRUCTIONS TO COME