Congress:
House of Representatives
House of the Senate

Two Houses –
Different Formal Requirements
House of Representatives
• must be at least 25 years old
• must have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least 7 years
• must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected
House of the Senate
• must be at least 30 years old
• must have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least 9 years
• must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected
***Long standing custom, not constitutional regulations, requires that a representative live in the district he/she represents.***

House of Representatives
• 2 year terms
• 435 members (proportional representation)
• has authority over money
(appropriation) bills
• initiates impeachment proceedings
Senate
• 6 year terms – one continuous body – 1/3 of
Senators are up for election every 2 years
• 100 members (equal representation)
• purpose is to advise and consent on treaties and presidential appointments
• tries impeached officials

What is a term?
What is a session?
• A term of Congress is a two year period during which both houses of Congress meet.
• A new term of Congress will begin this week.
• It will be the 112 th Congress.
• A session of Congress is the period of time during a year when Congress meets and conducts business. There are 2 sessions in every term.
• The 112 th Congress’ first session will be during the year 2011 and the second session will be during the year 2012.

House of Representatives
• More centralized
• Strong leadership and impersonal rule
• Rules committee determines time for debate
• Members specialize/Committee decisions more influential/Floor debate less important
Senate
• Less centralized
• Collegiality and personal interaction
• Debate by unanimous consent or Cloture Vote (60 votes needed!) – Filibuster
• Members more generalists/committees less important/Floor debate more important

Organization –
Congressional Leadership Positions
House of Representatives
• Speaker of the House
• Majority Leader
• Minority Leader
• Majority & Minority Whips
Senate
• President of the Senate
• President Pro Tempore
• Majority Leader
• Minority Leader
• Majority & Minority Whips

Speaker of the House of
Representatives
• Presiding officer of the House and acknowledged leader of the majority party
• Duties: to preside & to keep order
• 3 rd in the line for presidential succession because he/she is the most high-ranking elected official
• Current Speaker: John Boehner,
Republican, Ohio

House of Representatives – Majority
Leader
• Not elected, but appointed by their political party
• Duties: to try to get their parties’ legislation passed & to be chief spokesperson for his/her party
• Controls order of business
• Current Majority Leader: Eric Cantor
Republican, Virginia

• Same description as Majority Leader except that he/she has less power because his/her political party is not currently in power
• Current House Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi
Democrat, California
**was the first woman
Speaker of the House in the prior Congress**

• Assistant floor leaders
• Chosen by their party
• Work for and deliver votes
• Current Majority Whip: Kevin McCarthy,
Republican, California

• Same description as the Majority except that his/her party is not in power
• Current Minority Whip: Steny Hoyer,
Democrat, Maryland

• U.S. Vice-President
• Presiding member of the Senate
• Is not a member of the chamber
• Does not vote unless there is a tie
• Current President of the Senate:
V.P. Joe Biden

President Pro Tempore of the Senate
• Serves as presiding officer in the absence of the VP
• Elected by the Senate itself (usually the senior member of the majority party)
• 4 th in the line of succession to the presidency
• Current President Pro Tempore of the Senate:
Patrick Leahy, Democrat, Vermont

• Same duties as their counterparts in the
House of Representative
• Majority Leader: Minority Leader:
• Harry Reid, D., Nevada Mitch McConnell, R, Ky.

• Same Duties as their House counterparts
• Majority Whip: Minority Whip:
Richard Durbin John Kyl
D., Illinois R., Arizona

112 th Congressional Representatives from Georgia
• Jack Kingston, R.
• Sanford Bishop, D.
• Lynn Westmoreland, R.
• Henry Johnson, D.
• John Lewis, D.
• Tom Price, R.
• Rob Woodall, R.
• Austin Scott, R.
• Tom Graves, R.
• Paul Broun, R.
• Phil Gingrey, R.
• John Barrow, D.
• David Scott, D.

Saxby Chambliss, R
.
Johnny Isakson, R.

Congressional Mid-Term Elections,
2010
(off year elections)