Congress
Chapter 10
Section 1
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The National Legislature
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Why is power divided between two houses?
What is a term of Congress?
How have sessions of Congress changed over
time?
What exactly is Congress?
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Senate
House of Representatives
Elected officials from each state who
represent us and work for us
http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/
What does Congress do?
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Make laws (Article 1 from Constitution)
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Write, debate, and pass bills onto the
President
Additional Agencies to support Congress
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Coin money, maintain a military, declare war,
regulate foreign and interstate commerce
(trade)
Controls taxing and spending policies
Oversee Departments, hold hearings
The meetings of Congress
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In January every two years following congressional
elections (voters choose all representatives and a third of
the senators)
House membership (ALL) face re-election every two years
Senate - continuing body because there is never an
entirely new Senate.
Since the First Congress (1789 to 1791) all Congresses
have been numbered in order.
Currently in the 112th Congress
Meets once every year
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Usually the session lasts from January 3rd to July 31st, but it
can last much longer.
112th Congress
Jan 3, 2011 – Jan 3, 2013
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Republicans have majority of the House
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242 Republicans – largest since 80th Congress
(1947-1949)
Democrats kept the majority in the Senate,
but not as much as previous
United States Senate
51 Democrats
2 Independents
47 Republicans
U.S. House of Representatives
193 Democrats
242 Republicans
112th Congress
Major Events
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Jan 6 – House of Representatives read a
modified version of the Constitution
(historic first)
Jan 8 – Tuscon shooting
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(D) Representative Gabrielle Giffords (and 19
other people)
U.S. District Judge John Roll died in the
shooting
Jan 25 – State of the Union address
April 9 -Potential Government Shutdown
Why is power divided between
two houses? (bicameral)
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History repeats itself – Parliament has
had two houses since 1300’s
Practicality – Compromise between
Virginia and New Jersey Plans – settled
representation issues
Theory – Checks and balances to keep
Federal government from becoming too
powerful
What is a term?
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The length of time officials will serve
after an election
20th Amendment (1933) sets the date
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“noon on the 3rd day of January” of every
odd numbered year
What is a session?
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The regular period of time during which
Congress conducts business
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Will adjourn (suspend until next session,
each regular session as it sees fit)
President can prorogue (adjourn) only when
2 houses cannot agree on date for
adjournment
President can call special session to deal with
emergency
Powers of Congress Mosaic
30pts
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Pretend you are an artist who has been
paid to create a mosaic/quilt on the Powers
of Congress
Congress has 18 powers listed in the
Constitution – you are to choose 9 of these
powers to make your assignment
Tiles are to be rectangles with
symbols/pictures that represent the power
listed (like a $100 bill for “coin money”)
Each tile should also contain a title/key
words to describe it
If done in video or quilt form = extra credit
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I. House of Representatives
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A. Characteristics
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1. gerrymandering
2. re-apportion
A. Characteristics
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1. age requirement =
2. length of citizenship =
3. residency =
C. Vocabulary Terms
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I. Senate
1. size =
2. term =
3. dates of election =
B. Qualifications
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B. Qualifications
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1. size =
2. term =
3. dates of election =
1. age requirement =
2. length of citizenship =
3. residency =
C. Vocabulary Terms
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1. continuous body
2. constituents
House of Representatives
Section 2
House of Representatives
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What are the size and terms of the
House of Representatives?
How are House seats reapportioned
among the States after each census?
How can we describe a typical
congressional election and congressional
district?
What are the formal and informal
qualifications for serving in the House?
US House of Representatives
Rep. Frank D.
Lucas
of Cheyenne
(3d District)
Republican—10
terms
Rep. John
Sullivan
of Tulsa (1st
District)
Republican—6
terms
Rep. Dan Boren
of Paden (2d
District)
Democrat—4
terms
Rep. Tom Cole
of Moore (4th
District)
Republican—5
terms
Rep. James
Lankford
of Edmond
(5th District)
Republican
—1 term
Representative Qualifications
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FORMAL
 At least 25 years
old
 Must have been a
citizen of US at
least 7 years
 Must be inhabitant
(live) in the state
elected in
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INFORMAL
 Party identification
 Name familiarity
 Gender
 Ethnic
characteristics
 Political
experience
Speaker of the House
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Roles:
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Calls the House to order
Administers the oath of office to House Members
Presides over debates, recognizes Members to speak
on the floor, preserves order, delegates the power to
another member of Congress
Sets the legislative agenda
Leads the appointment process for chairs (those in
charge) of committees/subcommittees and conference
committees
Second in line of Succession to Presidency
Speaker of the House
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Elected by fellow Members
Nancy Pelosi (2007 to 2010)
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“Firsts” as Speaker of the House
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Woman
Italian-American
Californian
John Boehner (R-Ohio) is the new SoH after
Nov. 2 elections
Size and Terms
TERMS
SIZE
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435 members
Seats in the House
will be apportioned
distributed among
the states based on
population
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Members serve twoyear terms
Currently, no limit on
how many terms a
House of
Representative
member can serve
Reapportionment
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U.S. population grows = number of
representatives in the House also grows
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Reapportionment Act of 1929
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set the “permanent” size of the House at 435 members
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provided for “automatic reapportionment.”
Congressional Elections
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Held on the Tuesday following the first Monday
in November of each even-numbered year.
Off-year elections are held between presidential
elections
Districts and Gerrymandering
Districts
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Under the singlemember district
arrangement, the voter’s
in each district elect one
of the State’s
representatives.
The general-ticket
system, no longer in use,
provided that all of a
State’s seats were filled
at-large.
Gerrymandering
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Districts that have
unusual shapes or even
defy description have
sometimes been
gerrymandered.
Gerrymandering refers to
the act of drawing
congressional districts to
the advantage of the
political party that
controls the State
legislature.
Senate
Section 3
Senate
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How does the size of the Senate differ
from the size of the House?
How have States elected senators in the
past and present?
How and why does a senator’s term
differ from a representative’s term?
What are the qualifications for serving in
the Senate?
Oklahoma Senators
Sen. James M. Inhofe
of Tulsa
Republican—Nov. 17, 1994
Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D.
of Muskogee
Republican—Jan. 4, 2005
Senator Qualifications
(Higher than those of a Representative)
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FORMAL
 At least 30 years old
 Must have been a citizen of US at least
9 years
 Must be inhabitant (live) in the state
elected in
Size and Terms
TERMS
SIZE
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100 members
Seats in the Senate
are guaranteed in the
Constitution
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Each state has 2
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Members serve sixyear terms
Continuous body –
meaning not all
Senate seats up for
election at once
Members of Congress
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What are the personal and political backgrounds
of the current members of Congress?
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What are the duties of the job of serving in
Congress?
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How are members of Congress compensated,
and what privileges do they have?
US House of Representatives
Demographics
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Republicans 242 (55.63%)
Men – 363 (83.45%)
Race –
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Caucasians – 362 (83.22%)
African Americans – 42 (9.66%)
Hispanics – 24 (5.52%)
Asians – 6 (1.38%)
Native Americans – 1 (0.23%)
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Religion –
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Christians – 399
Jews – 27
Buddhists – 3
Muslims – 2
Agnostics/Atheists – 1
Instated/Ambiguous - 3
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Democrats – 193 (44.37)
Women – 72 (16.55%)
Sexual Orientation Straight/Heterosexual -431
Gay/Homosexual - 4
Veterans - 84
The Job
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Representative of the People 
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Committee Members 
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Trustees – vote based on merit
Delegate – vote the way they think the people back
home would vote
Partisans – vote the way their political party would
vote
Politicos – vote based on combining all of the above
Oversight function – a form of checks an balances
Servants –
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“it helps to know people”
The Benefits
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Salary – $174,000
(1789-1855 = $6.00 while in
session)
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Speaker of the House - $223,500
Franking privilege - free postage
As well as –
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free printing, low cost advertisements,
recreational activities, free parking, at Capitol
and D.C. airports, restaurants
Special tax deductions, 2 homes, travel
allowances, low cost health insurance, big
retirement plan, many offices