Mr



Mr. McCormack

American Government

Central Dauphin High School

Chapter Twelve – Congress in Action

I. Congress Organizes

A. The national legislature today demands a massive operation to remain open

1. Thirty thousand employees

a. Half are Congressional staff

b. Half are employed by various Congressional agencies

i. Library of Congress

ii. Congressional Budget Office

iii. Government Printing Office

iv. Government Accountability Office

2. Four billion dollar annual budget

B. Congress Convenes

1. New Congressional terms begin on January 3 of every odd-numbered year, following the general elections of the previous November

2. Opening Day Procedures in the House of Representatives

a. The Clerk of the House from the previous Congress presides over the initial session

b. A roll call is taken of the 435 members-elect (checking attendance)

c. The members-elect vote for a Speaker of the House

i. The Speaker of the House is the regular presiding officer

ii. Always chosen from the members of the majority party, but this is not required

d. The Speaker is the first to take the oath of office

i. The oath of office is administered by the Dean of the House

ii. The Dean of the House is the longest serving member-elect from either party

e. The Speaker then swears in the rest of the members

f. Democrats sit to the right of the center aisle, Republicans on the left

g. The House elects its minor officers

i. Clerk

ii. Sergeant-at-Arms

iii. Chief Administrative Officer

iv. Chaplain

v. The victors of these elections are known in advance, as they were chosen by the majority

vi. These officers are not members of the House

h. The House adopts its rules of procedure for the term

i. These rules have developed over the past 200 years

ii. They are usually readopted without any substantial changes

iii. The House rules are now printed in a book about 400 pages long

i. The House holds a floor vote to appoint the members of 19 permanent committees

j. Significant business other than organization seldom occurs on opening day

3. Opening Day in the Senate

a. The Senate is a continuous body

i. Only one third of its members are ever up for election at one time

ii. It has been continuously organized since 1789

iii. Because of the carryover of members, the Senate does not face the same kinds of organizational problems as the House

b. The Senate’s opening day is usually shorter and more routine than the House’s, even if there has been a change in majority party

i. Newly elected and reelected members are sworn in

ii. Vacancies in the organization and committees must be filled

4. The State of the Union Message

a. Once both chambers have been organized, a joint committee is appointed and instructed to inform the President that they are ready to receive any communication he may wish to make

b. Within a few weeks (by late January or early February) the President will deliver his annual message to Congress

i. This message is required by the Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution

a.“He shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the State of the Union”

b. Not all presidents have delivered the message by speaking in person

c. There is no formal requirement that the message be delivered annually

ii. This message is televised to the nation and is regarded as an opportunity for the President to try to set an agenda for the Congress

c. Both Houses of Congress, the President’s Cabinet, Justices of the Supreme Court, foreign diplomats, other dignitaries, and special guests gather in the House chamber to hear the President’s message

d. When the speech concludes, the join session ends

e. Representatives from the party out of power are also permitted to deliver a televised response to the President’s speech, but not from the floor of the House

5. Presiding Officers

a. Each chamber of Congress has its own presiding officer

b. The Speaker of the House of Representatives

i. The Speaker is the leader of the House, but also the leader of the majority party in the House

ii. Although there is no formal requirement for the Speaker to be an elected member of Congress, he has always been chosen from among the Representatives

1. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, was the first female Speaker of the House (2007-2011)

2. Sam Rayburn, D-TX, was the longest serving Speaker (17 years, 62 days)

iii. The Speaker is the more powerful presiding officer within Congress

1. Some Speakers, such as Joe Cannon, were virtual dictators

2. Today the Speaker shares much of his power with the various committee chairmen

iv. The Speaker’s main responsibilities are to oversee the House and keep order while doing so

1. The Speaker may allow other members to preside temporarily and is required to do so whenever he wishes to speak on an issue

2. While presiding, the Speaker controls debate by recognizing members to speak

3. The Speaker interprets and applies the rules

4. The Speaker puts motions to vote and decides the outcome of voice votes

5. The Speaker rarely votes, but must do so to break a tie

6. The Speaker appoints the members of all select and conference committees

7. The Speaker must sign all bills and resolutions passed by the House

v. The Speaker is second in line of succession to the office of President

c. The President of the Senate

i. The Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate

ii. Senators do not choose their own presiding officer

iii. The President of the Senate does not have much power in the Senate, especially if he is not from the party that holds a majority in the Senate

iv. The President of the Senate may not speak on the floor of the Senate

v. The President of the Senate can only vote to break a tie

vi. The President of the Senate still has the power to recognize speakers, put matters to a vote, etc.

vii. When the President of the Senate is absent, control passes to the President Pro Tempore

1. The President Pro Tempore is elected by the Senate

2. Usually the longest serving member from the majority party is the President Pro Tempore

3. The President Pro Tempore is the third in line of succession to the office of President

4. Other Senators besides the President Pro Tempore may preside from time to time

6. Party Officers

a. Congress is organized along partisan lines

i. Republicans and Democrats both form caucuses within each chamber

ii. The occasional “independents” elected to Congress usually join with one caucus or the other

b. Party Caucuses

i. The parties will hold closed meetings just before organizing in January and on other occasions

ii. Recently both parties have begun to refer to these meetings as party conferences

iii. Caucuses or conferences elect floor leaders for the party and settle committee appointments

iv. Although caucuses can attempt to enforce party discipline, their ability to do so is limited

v. All of the party’s caucus leaders are members of the Policy Committee

7. The Floor Leaders

a. Next to the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders in each chamber are the most important leaders in Congress

b. Majority and minority leaders are not mentioned in the Constitution and are chosen only by the members of their own caucuses

c. Floor leaders try to guide legislation through their chambers and serve as party spokesmen

d. Assistants to the majority and minority leaders are called whips

i. Whips serve as liaisons between the party leaders and the party members

ii. Whips are responsible for checking for support before important votes are held

iii. Whips will also arrange for absent members to be paired with absent member of the other party so that the non-votes will cancel each other out

8. Committee Chairmen

a. Most legislative work is accomplished by committees, so committee chairmen wield enormous influence

b. Chairmen are appointed by the majority party caucus, but are usually the most senior members of the committee

c. Chairmen make important decisions for the committees

i. When they will meet

ii. What bills they will consider

iii. Whether they will hold public hearings

iv. What witnesses the committee will call

d. Chairmen will typically manage approved bills to final passage by their respective chamber

9. Seniority Rule

a. The longest serving members will hold the most important posts, both in formal and party organization

b. Rather than a “rule,” this is a custom that dates to the late 1800s

c. This rule is followed most closely in the choice of committee chairmen

d. Advantages of the Seniority Rule

i. Easy to apply

ii. Avoids party in-fighting

iii. Ensures that chairmen will be experienced and knowledgeable about the rules

e. Criticisms of the Seniority Rule

i. This rule ignores ability, intelligence, and other important attributes

ii. The longest serving members tend to come from “safe” districts, which often means they are the most partisan and least moderate

iii. Both parties occasionally make choices by secret ballot so that members who vote against seniority will not be punished

iv. House Republicans instituted a six year limit on chairmanships

II. Committees in Congress

A. Reasons for Committees

1. Congress is too large to effectively debate many proposals

2. The volume of work is too large to be handled by a single group

3. Not all members are equally interested in or educated on every issue

4. Dividing the labor among various committees resolves each of these issues

B. Standing Committees

1. For the first five years in Congress, every bill was assigned to a special committee

2. By 1794 there were more than 300 committees

3. Congress began to establish permanent (“standing”) committees to handle similar bills

4. The number of standing committees has varied over the years

5. The majority party almost always has a majority in each committee

a. The one exception is the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (“Ethics Committee”), which is evenly split between the parties

b. The majority party will usually exaggerate its advantage in committee (for example, a nearly evenly divided House might have committees with a 3:1 advantage for the majority)

6. Committee Assignments

a. House Committees

i. The House has twenty standing committees

ii. Each House committee has between 10 and 75 members

iii.. Each Representative typically belongs to one or two standing committees

b. Senate Committees

i. The Senate has seventeen standing committees

ii. Each Senate committee has between 14 and 28 members

iii. Each Senator typically belongs to three or four standing committees

c. There are four joint committees (having members of both chambers) in Congress

7. Some committees are more important, and membership on them more desirable, than others

a. Leading Committees in the House

i. Rules

1. Often called the “traffic cop” of the House, this committee controls the flow of legislation to the floor of the House

2. Not only do they decide which legislation passed by the other committees will be considered, they decide how to consider it (time for debate, possibility of amendments, etc.)

ii. Ways and Means

iii. Appropriations

iv. Armed Services

v. Judiciary

vi. International Relations

vii. Agriculture

b. Leading Committees in the Senate

i. Foreign Relations

ii. Appropriations

iii. Finance

iv. Judiciary

v. Armed Services

vi. Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

8. Most standing committees are further divided into subcommittees

a. There are 80 subcommittees in the House

b. There are almost 70 subcommittees in the Senate

C. Select Committees

1. Sometimes called “special committees”

2. These are panels created for important but temporary purposes

3. Members are appointed by the Presiding Officers, with advice from the majority and minority leaders

4. Most select committees are set up to conduct investigations (ex. Watergate, Iran-Contra, etc)

D. Joint and Conference Committees

1. These committees have members from both chambers

2. They are usually set up for temporary purposes

3. Standing joint committees oversee routine business of Congress (i.e. the Library of Congress)

4. Conference committees are called to forge compromises between the House and Senate versions of a bill before the President can consider it

III. Legislative Terminology: Bills and Resolutions

A. A bill is a proposed law presented to one chamber of Congress

1. More than 10,000 bills may be introduced during a term of Congress

2. Fewer than 10% of all bills ever become laws

B. Relatively few bills are designed by Congressmen

1. Executive agencies (departments in the federal government) draft and then submit bills to members of Congress for their consideration

2. Interest groups, private citizens, and Congressional committees draft many of the bills

C. Any bill to raise revenue must, under the Constitution, originate in the House (“the power of the purse”)

D. Types of Bills and Resolutions

1. Public Bills

a. These measures would apply to the nation as a whole

b. Examples include tax laws, immigration laws, etc.

2. Private Bills

a. These measures apply only to certain people or places

b. Examples include private laws granting citizenship, providing restitution for losses caused by the government, etc.

3. Joint Resolutions

a. These most often deal with unusual or temporary matters

b. Examples include annexing territory, correcting errors in previously passed bills, and proposing amendments to the Constitution

c. Joint Resolutions have the same force in law as bills when passed

4. Concurrent Resolutions

a. These deal with matters on which both chambers must act together

b. These are generally position statements

c. Concurrent Resolutions do not have the force of law and do not require the President’s signature

5. Resolutions

a. These deal with matters that only affect one chamber

b. They are used to adopt new procedures or amend existing rules

6. Riders

a. Bills or Resolutions may deal with a single subject, or unrelated subjects may be added on

b. Riders may be unlikely to pass on their own merits, or may be added in an attempt to “poison” a popular bill

c. Opponents of the riders are less likely to vote against or veto otherwise popular bills

III. How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House

A. To introduce a bill, the sponsor must put a written copy of it in the “hopper” (collection basket) on the floor of the House

B. The Clerk of the House numbers each bill as it is introduced (ex. H.R. 1977)

C. The Clerk also gives each bill a short title

D. Each bill is entered into the House Journal and in the Congressional Record for the day

1. The House Journal is the official record of daily proceedings in the House

2. The Congressional Record is a larger account (including transcripts of speeches, etc.) of the day’s business

a. The Congressional Record is not exactly accurate since members have five days to make “corrections”

b. Speeches never delivered are inserted, and others are removed

3. This constitutes the first “reading” of the bill

E. Each bill is immediately copied and distributed to all of the members

F. The Speaker assigns the bill to a committee

1. The committee (and subcommittee) may consider the bill

a. Committee chairmen control the schedule of the committees, and decides which bills will be debated

b. Very controversial bills will usually require public hearings

c. Witnesses may be compelled to testify before the committees

i. Defying a congressional subpoena can result in a citation for contempt of Congress

ii. Contempt is a federal crime and punishments may include a fine or imprisonment

d. Many accuse congressmen of scheduling these hearings for political grandstanding

e. Committees may occasionally take “junkets” (fact-finding missions)

f. Many accuse congressmen of scheduling these junkets as paid vacations

2. Committees will vote on a bill and decide how or whether to report it to the full House

a. Bills that win a majority of the committee will receive a favorable endorsement

b. Bills that fail in committee will receive a negative endorsement

c. Bills may also be reported with amendments, or entirely new substitutes may be reported in the original’s place

d. Bills may be reported without a positive or negative endorsement

e. Bills that spectacularly fail may not even be reported to the full house, but rather pigeonholed or buried

3. If a bill remains pigeonholed in a committee, a “discharge petition” may rescue it

a. A Representative may start a discharge petition once a bill has been in a committee for 30 days or in the Rules Committee for 7 days

b. If a majority of representatives sign the petition, the committee must report the bill within 7 days

c. If the committee still refuses, any of the petition signers may move on either the second or fourth Monday of the month to bring the bill to the floor of the House for consideration

d. If that motion passes with a majority vote, the bill must be considered immediately by the House

e. This procedure is rarely tried, and even less often succeeds

G. Once that committee finishes, the Rules Committee will decide whether or not to place it on the calendar for a vote

1. There are five calendars in the House

a. The Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union (“Union Calendar”), for all bills having to do with revenues, appropriations, or government properties

b. The House Calendar, for all other public bills

c. The Private Calendar, for all private bills

d. The Corrections Calendar, for all bills taken out of order by unanimous consent of the House

e. The Discharge Calendar, for petitions to discharge bills from committee

2. Bills are taken from each of the calendars on a regular basis

a. Bills from the Correction Calendar = Second and Fourth Tuesdays

b. Bills for the District of Columbia = Second and Fourth Mondays

c. Private Bills = First and Third Tuesdays

d. Calendar Wednesdays = each chairman may call up one bill from the House or Union calendar from their committee

3. The Rules Committee may issue a “special rule” that limits ways the bills can be considered

H. Privileged bills (i.e. appropriations) may be called out of order, ahead of other bills

I. The House may suspend its rules by a 2/3 vote to completely depart from the foregoing procedures, particularly to expedite important bills

J. The Bill on the Floor

1. The Clerk will read the bill for its “second reading”

2. After it wins approval in its second reading, the bill will be “engrossed” (printed in its final form)

3. The House may elect to consider it as the Committee of the Whole

a. The Committee of the Whole includes all members, but the Speaker is just a member, not the Chair

b. It has looser rules, making consideration easier

c. Only 100 members need to be present to constitute a quorum

d. Members have just five minutes to speak on each separate section

e. The Committee passes each section separately

4. The Committee must dissolve itself and return to the full House for final passage of the bill

5. Debate on the Floor of the House

a. The size of the House requires debate to be limited

b. A rule adopted in 1841 limits each member to no more than one hour unless unanimous consent grants him more time

c. A rule adopted in 1880 allows the Speaker to silence a member whose speech strays from the topic at hand

d. Majority and minority leaders typically decide in advance how to split the debate time

e. Various amendments, motions to table, and other parliamentary procedures may be used to delay the final passage

f. Any member recognized by the Chair may move the previous question to an immediate vote

g. If that motion passes, the debate ends, and the House must vote on final passage

6. The bill must be read for its “third reading” just before the final vote takes place

a. The “three readings” are now purely formal, and may include just the bill number and title

b. The readings are vestiges of a time when not all members could be expected to read

7. Voting

a. Many members will stay away during floor debate, showing up just in time to vote

b. The House uses four different methods to conduct votes

i. Voice votes

1. These are used most commonly

2. The presiding officer determines which side carries the vote

ii. Standing votes

1. May be called when a member questions the Speaker’s judgment of the voice vote

2. Every member must stand to be counted by the clerk

iii. Teller votes

1. May be called by one fifth of a quorum

2. Every member must pass between two “tellers” (one member from each party picked by the Speaker) and announce his vote

iv. Roll-call votes

1. May be demanded by one fifth of the members present

2. The Clerk will read each member’s name so they may announce their votes

3. Also known as a record vote

4. Record votes are only kept in the House, not in the Committee of the Whole

5. Record votes are required by the Constitution for veto overrides

c. Today, the House utilizes a computerized voting system for quorum calls and roll-call votes

i. Members may vote “yea,” “nay,” or “present”

ii. Members may not vote “present” for certain bills, such as overriding a veto

iii. Voting present has no bearing on the final passage, and counts as an abstention

iv. A panel above the Speaker’s well shows how each member votes

v. Voting ends when the Speaker pushes a button to lock the votes

vi. Voting now typically takes 6 or 7 minutes, instead of the 45 minute roll-calls of the past

vii. Controversially, the Speaker sometimes allows the voting to continue for hours as leaders lobby for votes

7. Once the bill is passed, it is signed by the Speaker and delivered to the Senate by a page

IV. The Bill in the Senate

A. The Senate procedures are similar in most respects to the House procedures, but differences exist

B. Introducing the Bill

1. Senators must be recognized on the floor to introduce a bill

2. The bill is assigned a number and title, read twice, and referred to a committee

3. Senate rules are much less strict than in the House

4. The Senate only has one calendar for all bills

a. The Senate does have a second calendar, the Executive Calendar

b. Only non-legislative items, like treaties and executive appointments, are on that calendar

5. The Majority Leader, not a Rules Committee, has discretion to call bills to the floor

C. Rules for Debate

1. Senate debate rules are drastically different from House rules

a. House debates are strictly limited

b. Senate debates are almost unlimited, inspiring some to call it the “greatest deliberative body in the world”

i. Senators may speak as long as they like

ii. Senators may speak about any topic, whether or not it is related to the matter at hand

iii. Senators do not have the privilege of moving the previous question

iv. Senators are limited by the “two speech rule”

1. They may not speak on the same question more than twice in the same legislative day

2. By recessing rather than adjourning, legislative days may extend into many calendar days

c. Consideration of most bills is closed by unanimous consent, usually arranged by the majority and minority leaders

2. Filibuster

a. A filibuster is an attempt to talk a bill to death

b. The minority in opposition to a bill keeps extending debate to the point that the majority is forced to compromise or abandon the bill

c. Throughout history, more than 200 measures have been killed by filibuster

d. The threat of a filibuster is often sufficient to kill a measure

e. During a filibuster, little-known rules are often used to try and kill the effort

i. Speakers must “stand” – no leaning, sitting, or walking allowed

ii. Speakers must not use “unparliamentary language”

f. Outstanding Historical Filibusters

i. The most famous filibuster was fictional, portrayed in the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

ii. Huey Long, D-LA, spoke for more than 15 hours in 1935 by sharing recipes and reading numbers from a telephone directory

iii. Glen Taylor, D-ID, spoke for more than 8 hours about his children and fishing

iv. Strom Thurmond, D-SC, set a record of 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposing the 1957 Civil Rights Bill

3. The Cloture Rule

a. The Cloture Rule (“Rule 22”) was adopted in 1917 to limit filibusters

i. A three week filibuster conducted by twelve senators killed President Wilson’s requested authorization to arm American merchant vessels during WWI

ii. When a new Congress convened in March, the Senate passed the Cloture Rule

b. A vote to invoke cloture must be taken two days after a petition calling for that action has been submitted by at least 16 Senators

c. Three-fifths of the full Senate must vote to support that motion to limit debate

d. After the motion passes, no more than 30 hours can be spent debating the bill on the floor

e. More than 400 attempts have been made to invoke cloture, but only about 1/3 have succeeded

f. Senators hesitate to support the rule for two reasons

i. Dedication to the tradition of unlimited debate

ii. Fear that they may someday wish to mount a filibuster

V. Conference Committee

A. Any bill must be passed by both chambers of Congress in identical form before it is sent to the President

B. A bill passed by one chamber may be amended by the other, necessitating a revision by the originator

C. If the original chamber refuses to accept the offered amendments, the two chambers will be in deadlock

D. To smooth final passage, negotiators from both chambers are appointed to forge a compromise that would be acceptable to both

E. To keep the conference committee from making too many changes, rules restrict it to discussing only those points on which there is disagreement

F. Members of the conference committee are named by the presiding officer of their chamber

1. These managers usually represent both parties

2. Members of the standing committees that passed the bills are usually chosen as managers

G. Conference reports (bills) can not be amended further by either chamber, so they must be passed or rejected

H. Some have called conference committees the “third house of Congress” because of their importance in the legislative process

VI. Presidential Action

A. Article I, Section 7.2 - 7.3 of the Constitution requires every act of Congress for which agreement by both chambers shall be necessary (except adjournment) to be submitted to the President

B. The President has four options

1. The President may sign the bill into law

2. The President may veto the bill

a. Technically, the President simply refuses to sign it

b. The bill and the President’s objections are returned to Congress

c. The veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress

3. The President may allow the bill to become a law without signing it or vetoing it within 10 days (excluding Sundays) of receiving it

4. The President may exercise the “pocket veto”

a. Congress may adjourn within 10 days of submitting the bill to the President

b. If the President does not take any action, the bill dies

C. Some advocate giving the President a fifth option – the Line Item Veto – but the Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional

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