Congress

Article I of the Constitution deals with Congress (Despite what Joe Biden says)
By far the longest Article
This suggests that the founders intended Congress to be the most powerful of the three branches of government

Section One: Bicameral legislature
Section Two: Length of terms for House members and qualifications for service
Section Three: Selection of Senators, length of terms
Section Four: Congressional election process
Section Seven: How a bill becomes a law
Section Eight: Powers of the legislative branch

Bicameral = From www.lshm.net

Constitutional Requirements
Senate Must be 30 years old US citizen for 9 years State Resident House Must be 25 years old US citizen for 7 years State Resident

Senate – 26 members from 13 states
House – 65 members
No committees

100 Senators
435 Representatives (capped in 1912)
~670,000 residents per district
Can this Congress accurately represent the will of the people?

1 st Congress – 144 bills considered
Today – 6000-9000 bills per Congress
3-5% passed into law
Allowances
-Representatives- ~$750k per year for staff
-Senators – based on population
Hours in session has gone from 800 to 1600

Congressional membership is largely dominated by:
Educated
White
Protestant
Men

Can a body this different from society as a whole truly be representative of the interests of all groups?
Does diversity matter?

The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population Reapportionment Redistricting

“ Representatives…shall be apportioned among the several states…according to their respective Numbers”
Orders an “actual enumeration” (census) every ten years
Constitution does not specify the size of the House of Representatives

Current size of House membership set in 1912
Districts had about 200,000 people
Today, each Representative represents 670,000 people

The Constitution does not specifically require that all districts be of the same size

The U.S. Supreme Court originally declared issues of apportionment to be a “political thicket” that the courts should stay out of

Baker v. Carr (1961)
“ One person, one vote”

Tennessee’s districts were dated (1901)
Memphis was 10x some other districts
Felt they were underrepresented

Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)
- districts should have roughly equal population
- The Senate faces this same legitimacy problem

Each state has 2 Senators
Rhode Island = California
A bill can be stopped with Senators representing only 19% of the U.S. population

In almost all states, the process of redistricting must be undertaken every ten years to reflect
changes in the state’s overall population relative the the rest of the country
population shifts within the state

Gerrymandering The drawing of legislative districts for partisan advantage

Packing
Lumping opposition voters in one area
-Memphis
Cracking
Splitting up groups of voters so they lack a majority in any district
-Texas’ “Wars”

Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay worked with state legislative leaders to redraw districts every five years, bettering the Republican’s chances in upcoming elections

Affirmative Racial Gerrymandering Drawing district boundary lines to maximize minority representation

Iowa uses a complex computer system administered by a non-partisan commission to draw geographically compact and equal districts

From www.legis.state.ia.us

Only Constitutional requirements deal with age, length of citizenship, and residency

Informal Requirements
From www.wpclipart.com , rifuture.org, www.flashreport.org , projectlogic.blogspot.com

From www.flagandbanner.com Political parties matter in multiple ways: - Only candidates from the two major parties can win most elections - If one party is dominant in a district, it is difficult to win from even the other major party

The recent Congressional elections show the importance of timing. Some incumbents lost reelection in relatively safe districts because of popular dissatisfaction.

From www.tull.no Running against a well-know and powerful opponent often generates an unfair fight.

Incumbency Advantage
Name Recognition
Franking Privilege
Administrative Staff
Constituent service
PACs, Interest Groups and Lobbyists
Media Access

Average House term reached 3 years in 1900
National government once weak
Pay was bad
D.C. was a swamp
Many quit on the job
In short, ambitious folks found happiness elsewhere

US Congress viewed as World’s most “professional legislature”
Prestige, pay, benefits are much better
High chance for re-election

Congress respected, yet hated
Twain: “There is no distinctively American criminal class except Congress”
“ The opposite of progress is Congress”

RealClearPolitics (October 2008):
17% approve of Congress
26% approve of Bush
On par with used car salesmen in perceived ethics
But people overwhelmingly support their own representatives

Congressional members criticize the institution, claim they are different

Franking Privilege
Members can mail newsletters, updates, surveys, other self-promotions on Congress’ budget
Pork Barrel
Constituent Service

Franking Privilege
Members can mail newsletters, updates, surveys, other self-promotions on Congress’ budget
Pork Barrel
“ bringing home the bacon”
Get federal funds for a local project
Constituent Service

Franking Privilege
Pork Barrel
“ bringing home the bacon”
Get federal funds for a local project
Constituent Service
Have the staff to respond to constituent’s needs

Lobby dollars provide incumbents with massive resources
Lobbyists will not “waste” money on challengers

Free advertising for incumbents
Laws have attempted to force equal coverage
Familiarity is a major boost in elections
Actors, athletes have faired well

Early on there were no true “leaders” in Congress
During this period all members were more or less equal

House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Minority Leader
Minority Whip
Senate
President of the Senate
President Pro Tempore
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Minority Leader
Minority Whip

First to speak on legislation
Gives permission to speak
Time limits on speaking
Assigns the Rules Committee
Assigns bills and time limits to committees
Often considered the second strongest man in Washington

House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Minority Leader
Minority Whip
Senate
President of the Senate
President Pro Tempore
Majority Leader
Majority Whip
Minority Leader
Minority Whip

Members can become policy experts
More issues can be considered
Legislators can be on committees relevant to constituents

Members of Congress are assigned to one or more permanent committees
These committees – known as standing committees – are where the bulk of Congressional work takes place

1946: Legislative Preauthorization Act
Every piece of legislation introduced for consideration must first be referred to a committee
1970s: House adopted process of multiple referrals
Referral and Jurisdiction

Standing Committees

Standing Committees Subcommittees

Ninety percent of all measures get tabled in committee
Measures not tabled are given a hearing, occasionally with witnesses/experts
Hearings

In this stage, the actual language of the bill is forged
Prime sponsor: member responsible for crafting the language
Markup

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
Reports and Rules Report

Standing Committees Subcommittees Select Committees

Select committees may conduct investigations or hold hearings, such as the investigations relating to the firing of several U.S. Attorneys, Iran-Contra, Watergate, etc.
Bureaucratic Oversight and Investigations

Standing Committees Subcommittees Select Committees Rules Committees

Standing Committees Subcommittees Select Committees Rules Committees Joint Committees

Standing Committees Subcommittees Select Committees Rules Committees Joint Committees Conference Committees

How a Bill becomes a Law

The Process:
Bill Introduction

Any member of Congress can introduce a bill.
Individuals and groups outside of Congress also influence this process.
From www.aramnaharaim.org , www.hposoft.com , www.dcgiftshop.com

The lawmaker that introduces a bill
Not necessarily the person that wrote it
Can include co-sponsors

Tax bills MUST begin in the House
House – bill dropped in the hopper
Senate – the Sponsor is recognized by the presiding officer and announces the bill

The Process:
Bill Introduction
Committee Process
Bill is referred to the appropriate committee
Up to 90% of bills die here
If approved, is sent to a subcommittee

Hearings are scheduled
“ Witnesses” generally supportive of the Subcommittee chair
Markup
Report to the full committee

The Process:
Bill Introduction
Committee Process
Floor Action

Filibuster
A tactic by whereby a minority of Senators prevent a bill from coming to a vote by holding floor, talking until other senators give in and bill is withdrawn from consideration
Cloture
A 3/5 vote that limits debate on a bill to 30 hours

Change the Senate Rules
Can be changed with a simple majority

Speaker decides what to hear
Suspension of the Rules
-requires 2/3 vote
Controversial bills go to the Rules Committee first

The Process:
Bill Introduction
Committee Process
Floor Action
Conference Committee

Members of each party from the House and Senate meet to iron out differences between the two versions of a bill

The Process:
Bill Introduction
Committee Process
Floor Action
Conference Committee
Presidential Decision

Sign the bill into law
Veto

President Bush used the veto power very little compared with other modern presidents. Presidential Decision

Bush – 12 (none in first term)
Clinton - 37
George H.W. Bush - 44
Ronald Reagan – 78
Clinton also utilized the line item veto

Sign the bill into law
Veto
Take no Action
-bill comes into law after 10 days
Pocket Veto
-if Congress adjourns before this 10 days ends, the bill is dead; process restarts

Enumerated Powers
Congressional power specifically granted in Article I of the Constitution
Implied Powers Powers not specified by the Constitution. Implied as an extension of enumerated powers

Examples of enumerated powers:
Lay and collect taxes
Borrow money
Coin money
Regulate interstate commerce
Declare war
Raise an army and navy
Create inferior courts

The Congress shall have power …To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. Necessary and Proper Clause Article I, Section 8

The necessary and proper clause is also called the elastic clause

United Government
One political party controls the presidency and Congress
Divided Government One political party controls the presidency and the other controls at least one house of Congress

Congress

by jonathanmpowell

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