Chapter 10:
Congress
Congress—The Legislative Branch
makes laws
“All legislative Powers herein granted
shall be vested in a Congress of the
United States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representatives.”
-Article I, Section I
bicameral
• 2 houses
– The Senate
– The House of Representatives
• Why?
– historical reason
– practical reason
– theoretical reason
“There are two periods when Congress
does no business: one is before the
holidays, and the other is after.”
-George D. Prentice
• Terms of Congress
– 2 years; each term numbered consecutively
• 112th Congress began in 2011
– start of the term is “noon of the 3rd day of January” (in
odd-numbered years)
• Sessions of Congress
– period of time during which Congress conducts business
– President can call Congress into special session
House of Representatives
• 435 members
• apportioned (distributed) among the States based
on population
• each state is guaranteed at least one representative
• non-voting delegates from:
–
–
–
–
–
–
District of Columbia
Guam
American Samoa
Virgin Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
Puerto Rico
Terms for Representatives
• 2-year terms
– keeps them paying attention to “the folks back home”
• no Constitutional limit on number of terms served
Qualifications for the House
1. must be at least 25 years of age
2. must have been a citizen of the United States
for at least 7 years
3. must be an inhabitant of the state from
which he or she is elected
• Congressional Elections
– First Tuesday, after the first Monday in November,
of each even-numbered year (since 1872)
• Off-year Elections:
– congressional elections in nonpresidential years
• 2006, 2010, 2014
– typically, the party of the President loses seats in
these elections
reapportionment
• reapportion = redistribute
• done every 10 years (after a census)
• first House had 65 seats
• seats in the House are filled from singlemember districts
• State legislatures are responsible for drawing
congressional districts in a state
– districts must be made up of “contiguous territory”
– districts have “as nearly as practicable an equal
number of inhabitants”
– districts should be of “compact territory”
gerrymandering
• gerrymandering-drawing districts to the
advantage of the political party that controls
the State’s legislature
• lines are drawn to
1. concentrate the opposition’s voters in one or a
few districts (leaving other districts safe for the
dominant party)
2. spread the opposition as thinly as possible
(limiting their ability to win)
Which college is more
prestigious—a large college that
is fairly easy to get into or a
small college with higher
entrance standards?
Organization of the Senate
• Constitution says each state has 2 senators
• “more enlightened and responsible body”
• Senators represent the entire state
– larger, more diverse population, broader range of
interests
Election of Senators
• originally chosen by state legislatures
• 1913—17th Amendment provided for the
direct election of senators
– only one elected at a time
Term of a Senator
• 6 years—no term limits
• staggered terms
– 33 or 34 seats expire every 2 years (continuous
body)
• longer term means less susceptibly to
pressures of special interests
• bigger constituency means focused on the
“big picture”
• tends to be a bigger public figure
Qualifications of a Senator
• at least 30 years
• citizen for at least 9 years
• inhabitant of state from which he or she is
elected (no time requirement)
Senators vs. Representatives
• Choose 5 differences between a senator and a
representative.
• Create a T-Chart that shows these differences.
• Under each difference, write a pro for each
side.
Senate
House
Term Length
6 years
2 years
Pro for Each
?
?
Major differences between
the House and the Senate
HOUSE
SENATE
larger body (435 members)
smaller body (100 members)
shorter term (2 years)
longer term (6 years)
smaller constituencies
(elected from districts within a state)
larger constituencies
(elected from the entire state)
younger membership
older membership
less prestige
more prestige
lower visibility in the news media
higher visibility in the news media
strict rules, limited debate
flexible rules, nearly unlimited debate
most work is done in committees, not on
the floor
work is split more evenly between
committees and the floor
no power over treaties and presidential
appointments
approves or rejects treaties and
presidential appointments
Profile of the 113th Congress
Members of Congress Play 5 Roles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
legislators
representatives of constituents
committee members
servants of constituents
politicians
Salary of Congress
• as of 2011
– Senators and Representatives $174,000
– Speaker of the House $223,000
– Vice President 230,700
– Senate’s pro tem and majority and minority
leaders $193,000
– + fringe benefits
strict vs. liberal construction
“that government is best
which governs least”
~Jefferson
Who seems to have won
this debate?
Powers of Congress
•
•
•
•
•
•
commerce
currency
bankruptcy
foreign relations
war
other
“The Power of the Purse”
the power to tax
• tax-charge levied by government on persons or
property to raise money to meet public needs
• The power to levy taxes and provide for the general
welfare of the U.S. is among the most important
powers of Congress.
• No government agency can spend money without it
being authorized by Congress.
• Congress uses taxes for many purposes.
Taxing Power
• Congress uses its taxing power to expand its
regulatory powers.
• When Congress gives money to state or local
governments, it often requires specific
regulations to be followed.
• Congress can levy heavy taxes on undesirable
products to discourage its use. (Tobacco)
using taxes to regulate the economy
• Congress can cut individual taxes to stimulate
the economy.
• Congress can increase taxes to try and slow
economic growth.
What happens when the
federal government
doesn’t raise enough
money from taxes?
Power to Borrow Money
• Securities, bonds, or notes
• Borrowing from other countries
• Borrowing Money = NATIONAL DEBT
National Debt
• Debt occurs when government must borrow
money to meet its operating expenses
Current National Debt
How our money is spent
Discussion Questions
• How do you feel about our National Debt situation?
• Should the government do something about the
debt situation? What?
• What are possible solutions to paying off the debt?
– 2 solutions to end debt:
• 1. Increase taxes or
• 2. Decrease spending
– What are the arguments for each of these solutions? What
kind of opposition would each solution face in Congress?
– OR, How would you go about paying off the debt?
Quotes
• “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death
and taxes.”
– Benjamin Franklin
• “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
• “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized
robbery.”
– Calvin Coolidge
ONE MORE POWER OF
CONGRESS
IMPEACHMENT
The President, Vice-President and
all civil officers of the United States
may “Be removed from Office on
Impeachment for and Conviction
of, Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors”
Article II, Section 4
• impeach-to accuse or bring charges
• The House has the power to impeach.
– requires a majority vote
• The Senate has the power to try (to judge) the
accused.
– requires a 2/3 majority
Organization of Congress
• House
– chooses the “Speaker of the House” from the
majority party
• more important than the President of the Senate
– Democrats sit to the right of the center aisle,
Republicans to the left
Organization of Congress
• Senate
– the Vice-President is the president of the Senate
– the president pro tempore serves in the VicePresident’s absence
• a leading member of the majority party
Speaker of the House follows the Vice-President
in the line of presidential succession. The
president pro tem is next.
The Legislative Branch in Ohio
Ohio’s General Assembly
129th General Assembly
• Ohio House of Representatives
– 2-year term (limit of 4 consecutive terms)
– 99 members
• Ohio Senate
– 4-year term (limit of 2 consecutive terms)
– 33 members
Our Representatives
Andrew Brenner (R)
District 2
http://www.ohiohouse.gov/andrew-brenner
Kris Jordan (R)
District 19
http://www.ohiosenate.gov/map.html
To vote in Ohio
• Citizen of the United States
• At least 18 years old on or before the day of
the general election
• A resident of Ohio for at least 30 days before
the election
• Register to vote at least 30 days before the
election