Congress:
The Geography of Washington
US Capitol
House Chamber
Senate Chamber
Congress’ Constitutional Role
Media focuses on president at central actor of national government, BUT
Article 1 of U.S. Constitution devoted to legislative branch
Congress makes all laws
President responsible for taking care that the laws are “faithfully executed”
Over time, President has become more involved in legislation, but only through
persuading Congress
Some terminology
“The” Congress
The House and the Senate
“A” Congress
A two-year meeting of Congress between elections
Congresses are Numbered
1789-1790, the first Congress
1791-1792, the second Congress
And so on.
Current Congress
Current Year
2010
Minus year of first Congress
1789
Equals
221
Divide by 2, equals
110.5
Add 1
111.5
We are now in the 111th Congress, second session.
Congress vs. Session
A Congress is a group of elected officials that changes every two years
Each Congress holds annual meetings with a break in between
Each annual (yearly meeting) is a Congressional “Session.”
Formal Reference
Bills, amendments, hearings, etc. are printed and available to the public
Reference is by Congress and Session, as in
110th Congress, First Session (2007)
110th Congress, Second Session (2008)
Bills and Resolutions
Used interchangeably, though resolutions may be non-binding
Bill is any proposed change in the law
Reference:
SR #1079, 111th Congress, first session
Or
HB #1512, 111th Congress, second session
Or
HR OR SB # xxxxx
Bicameral
Means two legislative houses
Usually (though not required)
Upper house is smaller
Upper house members serve longer terms
House – Senate Differences
House
2 year term
435 Members
Elected by sub-state districts
District size @ 700,000
Senate
6 year term
100 Members
Elected by entire states
State size ranges from low of
Wyoming, 500,000
To high of
California, 33,000,000
Constitutional Powers
House
Impeaches President and Judges
All revenue (tax) bills must originate in House
Senate
Tries anyone impeached
Gives “advice and consent” (approval) to major presidential appointments and treaties
Senate only: Advice and Consent to all the president’s judicial nominees, from district
court judge to Supreme Court Justices
The Obama Cabinet: Must go through Senate Advice and Consent Vote
Entire Congress –
House and Senate combined
Each body must approve a bill before it can go to the president
Each must provide a two-thirds vote to override a presidential veto
Apportionment -- Reapportionment
Apportionment – how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives
(Senate representation is simple and never changes –
Every state has two senators regardless of size, and
Each Senator is elected by the entire state at staggered intervals.
Article 1, Section 2:
“Representatives . . . Shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers
. . . . The actual Enumeration shall be made within . . . . Every Term of ten Years, in such
Manner as they shall by Law direct.
Census
Official National Census conducted every 10 years
Official count of citizens living in each state, as well as the various subdivisions of the
state
Counties
Cities & towns
Census blocks within larger cities
Sometimes down to individual city blocks
Reapportionment & Redistricting
As state relative populations change so does their representation in the U.S. House of
Representatives
Even if representation unchanged, some areas of a state grow and other lose population
REDISTRICTING
After every census state legislatures redraw the boundary lines of election districts
U.S. House of Representatives districts
State Legislative districts
Down to city council or school board districts
How to Create a District
Drawing district boundaries is entirely up to each state
Two major motivations
A. Incumbent protection
B. Partisan benefit -- gerrymandering
Texas 2002 and 2004 Redistricting
How should districts be created?
Heterogeneously
Balanced between Republicans and Democrats
Most elections will be competitive
Losers unhappy
Homogeneously
Mostly members of one party
Most elections non-competitive BUT
Not many unhappy losers
The Iowa Model of Districting
Iowa uses a complex computer system administered by a non-partisan commission to
draw geographically compact and equal districts
In 2004, three out of five of Iowa’s U.S. House races were considered competitive,
compared to one out of ten in the rest of the nation
The Jobs of Congress
Legislating
Laws and budgets
Creating and Monitoring Government
Agency creation, funding, oversight, checks and balances
Representation
Constituency service, legislative role, house differences
To accomplish these tasks each house of Congress is organized
1. Politically
2. Functionally
The Legislative Job
Any member of Congress may introduce a bill into his / her chamber
About 10,000 bills introduced each Congress
Only about 250 eventually pass
Congress must review and decide which ones will pass
How a Bill Becomes a Law
Congress operates as a set of screens
Needs to eliminate frivolous and duplicate bills
And comprehensively examine the remaining viable bills
Congressional Leaders
Article 1, section 2:
The House of Representatives shall chuse their speaker and other Officers
Article 1, section 3:
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have
no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Congressional Parties:
The House
Party Caucus
All Democratic members of the House or Senate.
Elects party leaders, selects committee members and leaders, debate party positions
on issues.
Party Conference
What Republicans call their party caucus.
The Congressional Parties:
The House
Speaker of the House
The presiding office of the House of Representatives leader of the majority party.
Majority Leader
Speaker’s chief lieutenant in the House
BUT most important officer in the Senate.
Minority Leader
leader of the minority party who speaks for the party in dealing with the majority
Whips
members of Congress who serve as informational channels between the leadership
and the rank and file, conveying the leadership’s views and intentions to the members
and vice versa
The Senate
The Constitution specifies the vice president as the presiding officer of the Senate.
S/he votes only in case of a tie.
Official chair of the Senate is the president pro tempore (pro tem).
Primarily honorific
Generally goes to the most senior senator of the majority party
Actual presiding duties rotate among junior members of the chamber
True leader is the majority leader, but not as powerful as Speaker is in the House
How Congress is Organized to Make Policy:
Congress at Work is Congress in Committee
Votes on the floor of the House and Senate are very rarely important
The work of Congress is done in each house’s committees
The Committee System
Roughly ten thousand bills are introduced in each two-year session in the House.
Screening process: division into committees.
Committees review and work on bills before a final floor vote.
Standing committees:
committee with fixed membership and jurisdiction, continuing from Congress to
Congress
Select committees:
temporary committees appointed to deal with a short-term issue or problem
Committees:
The Workhorses of Congress
Each committee is a microcosm of the full chamber
Balanced by Party, with majority party having more seats
Members usually serve on the same committee term after term
Members serve on 2-3 different committees
What Do Committees Do?
1946: Legislative Preauthorization Act
Every piece of legislation introduced for consideration must first be referred to a
committee
What Do Committees Do?
Ninety percent of all measures get tabled
in committee.
Duplicates, for show, etc.
Measures not tabled are given a hearing, occasionally with celebrity witnesses.
What Do Committees Do?
In this stage, the actual language of the bill is forged.
Modifications or amendments before it goes to the floor
“The Floor” = entire chamber that casts the final vote
What Do Committees Do?
Report: summarizes bill’s provisions and the rationale behind it.
Rules Report stipulates whether a bill is:
open, closed, modified, or subject to the time-structured rule.
Committee Chairs
These individuals have tremendous power and prestige.
Authorized to select all subcommittee chairs
Call meetings
Recommend majority members to sit on conference committees
Can kill a bill by not scheduling hearings on it
Have staff at their disposal
Seniority still important in the Senate
Committee chairs are ALWAYS members of the majority party
Ranking Member
Refers to committee members only
The most senior member of the MINORITY party on the committee
The person likely to take over as chair if their party wins a majority of seats
After the Committee:
House of Representatives
Bill goes to Rules Committee for a Rule
Date for vote – put on calendar
Number of pro and con speeches and length of each
Amendments allowed from floor?
As a large body – 435 members – needs strict rules to move legislation along
After the Committee:
Senate
Agreement by Majority and Minority Leaders on calendar (date for debate and vote)
No official rules
Senators have the power of unlimited debate
But Majority and Minority Leaders voluntarily set expected limits
try to keep each other informed if members want amendments or more debate
Filibuster: The 60 Vote Rule
60 Votes for Cloture
Cloture: A motion to end all debate
Filibuster threat as important as reality
A minority of 41 Senators can kill any bill or presidential appointment
Threaten a filibuster and have enough votes to block a cloture motion.
Floor Debates and Votes
Floor debates rarely important
Only in the case of a bill that is both very controversial and likely to have a close vote
Substantial deference to committees and party leaders
Most of the time very few members on the floor
Quorum call when a time for a vote
Consent Calendar
The Conference Committee
An IDENTICAL bill must be passed by both houses before it can be sent to the President
The different houses have different interests
Elected by different constituencies
Senate seats are more competitive – less safe
So bills passed by each are likely to differ in details
Conference Committee
Equal members (@3-5) from each house
Members usually selected by chairs of original committees reviewing a bill
Try to iron out differences, reach a compromise
Conference Committee report goes to both bodies for usually vote without debate
The Job of Congress:
Creating and Monitoring Government
The Constitution creates NO government agencies
Only Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court
All other government agencies and offices are created by acts of Congress
All government departments and agencies
All courts below the Supreme Court
Every agency program is created by Congress
And every year Congress sets that agency’s budget
President selects agency leaders, many with Senate approval, and requests funding and
program changes
Congressional Oversight
Congress monitors agency activities to ensure they are carrying out the intent of Congress
Hold hearings on problems and what government agencies are doing about them
Conducted by the committees responsible for legislation affecting the agency or policy
area
The Job of Congress:
Representation
Who are the members?
What is their job?
How do they see their role?
How do they serve their constituencies?
What do they need to do to accomplish these tasks?
Women
U.S. ranks near the bottom among world democracies in the proportion of women in the
lower chamber of the national legislature.
Reasons?
legacy of gender discrimination; not a major reason
Societal prejudice against women serving in public office is low and has been
diminishing, but there is still gender discrimination.
electoral system contributes to the slow rate of progress
Women do better in proportional electoral systems.
The Representatives and Senators
The Job
Salary of $168,500 with retirement benefits
Requires long hours, a lot of time away from family, and pressure from others to
support their policies
Maintain two homes
Full time in DC
But also home state / district
Member Resources
Each member has:
a Washington office and one or more district offices.
typical House member employs 18 personal staff assistants (more than 40 percent in
district).
This has risen significantly over time.
travel subsidies
use of the frank (free use of the U.S. mail)
Web Sites: Finding your
Representative or Senator
House of Representatives
www.house.gov
Senate
www.senate.gov
Each allows you to find your representative or senator by their name or your state or zip
code
Theories of Representation
Trustee
Role played by elected representatives who listen to constituent’s opinions and then
use their best judgment to make final decisions
Delegate
Role played by elected representatives who vote the way their constituents would
want them to, regardless of their own opinions
Partisan
Role played by elected representatives who vote with their party
Members of Congress do much more than make laws.
Representatives engage in constituency service:
district service: effort by members of Congress to secure federal funding for their
districts
casework: to help constituents when they have difficulties with federal agencies
Pork or Pork Barrel Spending
or Earmarks
Most budget items are recommended by the President or the agency running a program
Congress reviews and decides whether to approve and how much
Pork or earmarks are items added by individual members of Congress to benefit their
home states or constituencies
“earmarked” for home district
Casework
Casework: members of Congress handling constituent requests for individual service
E.g., Late or missing Social Security Check
Help getting in touch with family member serving in the military
Congress:
The Balancer of Interests
In contemporary times, Congress serves as a balancer of interests
Competing demands upon government
Members of Congress represent many of those demands
Members seek compromises that will satisfy as many voters as possible
The Legislature vs. the Executive
President and Congress have different needs and serve different constituencies
Even if both controlled by the same party
Congress’s ultimate power is the power of the purse
Presidents have no money to spend unless it is first authorized by Congress
Most important battles are battles over funding