Slide 1

Slide 2

The Do-Nothing Congress Congress returned to session in mid September after 5 weeks away from Washington Lawmakers only have a limited amount of time to debate and vote on legislation before dealing with their next big challenge WHAT EVENT IS HAPPENING IN NOVEMBER THAT COULD AFFECT CONGRESS?

Slide 3

Upcoming Election Stakes are high: Who currently controls the House? Who currently controls the Senate? According to a CNN poll 83% of Americans don't approve of the way Congress is working A stunning 65% believe it to be the worst Congress of "their lifetime"

Slide 4

Who is on the PA Ballot? Governor and Lt Governor Incumbent: Tom Corbett (Rep.) and Jim Cawley Running: Tom Wolf (Dem.) and Mike Stack House of Reps Republican party currently holds 13/18 seats

Slide 5

What Congressional District do you live in?

Slide 6

District 6 Current: Jim Gerlach (Rep.) Has been in office since 2003 Retiring in 2014 Candidates: Ryan Costello (R) ~ Chester County Commissioner, Attorney, Ex-Chester County Recorder of Deeds Ryan Costello (R) Manan Trivedi (D) ~ Primary Care Physician, Iraq War Veteran, 2010/2012 Nominee Manan Trivedi (D)

Slide 7

What can Congress do in a month? House Speaker Boehner (R-Ohio) advised GOP lawmakers expect a brief, but busy session with the key agenda item being the must-pass short- term funding bill to keep the government running until early December Current funding runs out Sept. 30 Congress is on track to extend it until a post- election session where control of the U.S. Senate will determine what happens next

Slide 8

What can Congress do in a month? Entitlement reform Critical if Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are to remain secure Mandatory testing in schools impacted by NCLB Raising minimum wage Immigration Balance between border security and being a nation that helps those seeking a better life

Slide 9

Read through section 1 of your textbook (pg. 136-139) Answer the questions on your worksheet (skip over How did we get here) On the back of your paper, answer the following questions as well: Which 5 states have the most members in the House of Reps? (pg. 137) Which 5 states have the fewest members in the House of Reps? What might have happened if the House of Reps had never been formed and we only had a Senate?

Slide 10

Bicameral Legislature Lawmaking body consisting of two houses: House of Representatives and Senate How did we get there? Virginia Plan: Bicameral legislature with houses based off population (larger states preferred) New Jersey Plan: Bicameral legislature with houses based off a set number of representatives per state (smaller states preferred) Connecticut Compromise: THE GREAT COMPROMISE- One house (House of Representatives) uses population data, the other uses a set number (Senate)

Slide 11

What are the benefits of having a bicameral legislature?

Slide 12

Benefits of a Bicameral Legislature Typically represent larger countries Why? Prevent flawed/biased/reckless legislation from being passed How? Provide enhanced oversight/control of the Executive Branch How?

Slide 13

Unicameral Legislature Unicameral Legislatures are often found in unitary systems of government Tend to be geographically smaller What are some advantages of having a unicameral legislature (1 legislative body)?

Slide 14

Benefits of having a unicameral legislature Advantages: Legislation can be proposed and passed quickly Fewer elected officials for the population to monitor Fewer competing political interests Greater accountability since legislators cannot blame the other chamber

Slide 15

Bicameral Legislatures in practice: UK The United Kingdom has a bicameral legislature. House of Commons (central lawmaking body)and the House of Lords The members of the British House of Commons are elected by citizens and serve maximum terms of 5 years The House of Lords comprises members who acquired their positions either through inheritance or through royal appointment to life terms Have diminished legislative power Still maintains a platform from which it can raise public awareness of policy issues What are pros/cons of having a House of Lords?

Slide 16

Bicameral Legislatures in practice: Canada The House of Commons possesses most of the political power The Senate has considerable power to investigate social and policy questions and to revise legislation. Like the U.S. Senate, the Canadian upper house uses a regional apportionment system for equal representation However, the system was modeled on demographics present in 1867 Severely underrepresents the newer provinces, that now boast some of Canadas largest and most commercially successful cities. The Senate no longer reflects current demographics. Senators were initially appointed for life, but have been required to retire at the age of 75

Slide 17

Unicameral Legislatures in practice: Costa Rica Has a tradition of free, democratic elections dating to 1889 Because of a previous history of authoritarianism, Costa Rica has instituted many precautions aimed at curtailing the concentration of power Political power is diffused by a constitutional provision that prohibits both the president and members of the Legislative Assembly from seeking reelection to consecutive terms. Prevents one party from dominating the Assembly A tendency of unicameral legislatures

Slide 18

US House Background Elections held every even-numbered year (ie: 2012, 2014) All members have 2 year terms If a member dies or resigns during his term, the governor of the home state is required to call a special election to fill the vacancy In some states, the governor appoints a new representative What could be a problem here?

Slide 19

Requirements for the House Be at least 25 years old Been a US citizen for at least 7 years Be a legal resident of the state you represent Not necessary to live in district you run in Question: How does the residency requirement play a role in politics? Explain.

Slide 20

US House of Representatives Based off population but each state must have at least 1 representative District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands have one delegate who cannot vote IS THIS FAIR?

Slide 21

House of Representatives Consists of 435 members Why 435 ? 1789: 65 reps in the House (one for every 30,000 people) Over time change needed due to added population 1911: Limit to be 435

Slide 22

How does the 435 get divided? Apportioned (distributed by population) Each state gets a number appropriate to it from census data If population increases, you may acquire seats If population decreases, you may lose seats

Slide 23

Each state is divided into districts based off population

Slide 24

Slide 25

Which states have the most seats? Which states have the fewest seats?

Slide 26

Gerrymandering Drawing district lines that favor a particular political party, politician, group, etc. Ie: PA elects 18 House membershas to be divided into 18 congressional districts Process is controlled by the majority party in the state legislature Intentionally used to benefit a particular political party help that party win more seats Goal: create many districts that will elect members of one party, and only a few that will elect members of the opposite party

Slide 27

Gerrymandering

Slide 28

To review The idea behind gerrymandering is pretty simple: Redistricting to gain a party advantage You pack your opponents' supporters together into very few districts. Then you make other districts relatively more balanced but you place enough of your supporters in most of them to give you an advantage.

Slide 29

Gerrymandering, again

Slide 30

Drawn by Republicans in 2010 (more Republicans in Congress for PA) Lets take a look at gerrymandering in PA

Slide 31

Gerrymandering at work

Slide 32

Senate Two Senators from each state Six year terms Elections held each even-numbered year Thus, 1/3 of Senate comes up for election every 2 years Ensures 2/3 have experience If someone dies, governors appoint member until next regular election or state has a special election

Slide 33

Requirements for the Senate Be at least 30 years old Been a US citizen for at least 9 years Be a legal resident of the state you represent

Slide 34

Are these requirements fair? House of Reps At least 25 years old A US citizen for at least 7 years A legal resident of the state you represent Senate At least 30 years old A US citizen for at least 9 years A legal resident of the state you represent Should they be changed?

Slide 35

What are the differences between the House and Senate? Similarities? Use pages 136-142, and your notes, to fill in this chart to the best of your ability

Slide 36

Differences between House and Senate Add anything new to your charts

Slide 37

Explaining Term Lengths

Slide 38

Gerrymandering Activity

Slide 39

Differences between House and Senate

Slide 40

Annual Salaries of Congress Members How much do you think Congress gets paid? How much SHOULD Congress get paid?

Slide 41

Congress in General Salary: $174,000 Members get an allowance to pay staff members as well Provided offices in Capitol Free trips to home state Allowances for local offices Franking privilege: right to mail letters or packages for free Leaders in each chamber receive extra compensation

Slide 42

Congress (continued) Immunity when Congress is in session Cannot be arrested in or on their way to or from a meeting in Congress Reason: not unnecessarily kept from performing their duties Exempted from arrest or interrogation for any speech or debate entered into during a legislative session Rules of Conduct Limits on outside income and full disclosure of finances Can challenge qualifications of newly elected members

Slide 43

Can our Reps be punished? Expulsion: Person must give up seat in Congress Requires a 2/3 vote Only for very serious offenses Only happened 20 times (5 in House; 15 in Senate) Last House member in 2002 (James Traficant) Last Senate member in 1862 (Jesse D. Bright) Many times expulsion votes fail or person in question resigns John Ensign of Nevada in 2011

Slide 44

Can our Reps be punished? Censure: Formal disapproval of actions Must stand alone at front of House/Senate and listen as the charges are read Censures: 9 in Senate, 23 in House Last one in 2010: Charles Rangel of New York

Slide 45

Review from yesterday: Congressional Salaries

Slide 46

Slide 47

Delegated Powers (again) Article I, Section 8: Powers delegated to Congress Financing Government Regulating and Encouraging American Trade/Industry Defending the Country Creating Lower Courts: National Court System Providing for Growth

Slide 48

Financing Our Government Borrowing Money Collecting Taxes Printing and Coining Money Spending for Programs

Slide 49

Regulating Trade Domestically Trade between states (interstate commerce) Laws to protect rights of inventors (patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc.) Internationally Tariffs and embargoes Trade with foreign nations

Slide 50

Defending Our Country Declaration of War Only Congress can do this! Have we had times when we fought without declaring war? Maintaining armed forces, regulating use of troops Approval of Treaties

Slide 51

Providing for Growth Regulation of Immigration/Naturalization Govern US territories, national parks, naval bases, etc. Provide admission for new states Acquire lands War, eminent domain, treaties, purchase or gift, etc.

Slide 52

Implied Powers The elastic clause make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers Stretches Congressional role to many other areas Examples: Military academies and draft (necessary to ensure defense of US), minimum wage (regulation of commerce)

Slide 53

Special Powers by Chamber House Starts revenue bills Impeach public officials Chooses president if electoral majority not reached Senate Impeachment trials Vice president if no VP candidate gets enough votes Treaties approved with 2/3 vote Supreme Court justices approved by majority vote

Slide 54

Impeachment Read through the article on impeachment Summarize the main point of each section What can the president be impeached for? Whats the formal procedure for impeachment proceedings? After impeachment, what happens in the Senate?

Slide 55

Impeachment Impeachment: accuse an officeholder of misconduct If guilty, they may be removed from office Charges drawn up in House Majority votes in favor of charges, official is impeached Senate will then hear trial with vice president acting as the judge (exception: presidential impeachment, when the chief justice presides over hearing) If 2/3 of Senate finds accused guilty, they may be dismissed from office

Slide 56

Presidents up for impeachment Andrew Johnson Richard NixonBill Clinton

Slide 57

Review from yesterday What does impeachment mean? How many presidents have been impeached? What was each mans outcome? Describe the process of impeachment

Slide 58

What Congress Cant Do Infringe on Reserved Powers to States (which amendment?) Regulate elections, create schools, establish marriage laws, etc. No ex post facto laws (laws that apply to actions that occurred before laws were passed) No bills of attainder (sentence people to prison without trial)

Slide 59

What Congress Cant Do No passing laws that violate Bill of Rights No favoring trade of a specific state No titles of nobility No suspending writ of habeas corpus (cannot remove right to a court order)

Slide 60

Slide 61

Term of Congress begins at noon on January 3 rd of every odd numbered year 113 th Congress will go from 2014-2015 Constitution requires Congress to meet at least once each year Terms and Sessions

Slide 62

Congress divided into two sessions, one for each year of the term Begins on January 3 rd unless Congress proposes another date When legislative work is done, both houses adjourn and the session is ended The president may call them back into a special session after they have adjourned (this would occur for a serious problem only, ie: Hurricane Katrina) Sessions of Congress

Slide 63

Normally, the Senate and House work as two separate entities However, there are times both of them meet together in a joint session Example: President gives State of the Union address All members of Congress meet in the House chamber to hear the Presidential speech Example: Visiting leaders Example: 9/11 Joint Sessions

Slide 64

Under the Constitution House of Reps must select a presiding officer Speaker of the House Vice President of the United States is the president of the Senate Senate must have someone selected to serve in the absence of the Vice President President Pro Tempore Organization

Slide 65

Caucuses: Private meetings in which each party selects leaders Occurs on the first day of each term of Congress Democratic party chooses their own leaders Republican party chooses their own leaders Majority party: political party with the most members in each house Minority party: political party that has fewer members Question: What are the minority and majority parties of our houses today? How do we decide the leaders?

Slide 66

Vice president does not usually preside over daily meetings, thus majority party selects the president pro tempore Literally means for the time being Presides over day-to-day meetings Each party has a leader who is assisted by a party whip Whip counts votes, encourages party loyalty, and ensures that the partys members are present for important votes Senate

Slide 67

Speaker of the House presides over the House when it is in session Always a member of majority party Most powerful officer of the House No member may speak until recognized by Speaker Speaker influences the order of business in the House House also has majority/minority leaders and whips House of Representatives

Slide 68

Committees meet to consider legislation and hold hearings Each committee has a chairperson and ranking member Chairperson: majority party Ranking Member: minority party Usually the longest serving member of the minority party represented is named Ranking Member Subcommittees: smaller groups that consider legislation before it is looked at by full committee Committees

Slide 69

Slide 70

Slide 71

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Slide 72

History of the Filibuster

Slide 73

Basic Definitions (continued) Veto: President rejecting a bill passed by Congress May be overridden by a 2/3 vote in both houses Pocket veto President does not sign or veto bill within 10 days and Congress is NOT in session Note: If Congress is in session and bill sits on desk, it automatically becomes law

Slide 74

The Actual Process

Slide 75

Step-by-Step A bill is introduced in either the House or Senate Exception: Appropriation Bill must be in House Bill assigned letters and numbers to denote it (Ie: HR1215) HR=House of Reps 1215=Place among bills introduced during current session Once bill is introduced, it is printed in the Congressional Record (publication of daily proceedings in Congress)

Slide 76

Committee Process Once proposed, bill goes to standing committee Permanent Congressional committee that meets regularly Bill goes to committee based on subject (ex. Agriculture) May be referred to subcommittee for review Actions in committee Set aside and essentially killed Hearings: witnesses for and against bill to help committee recommend accepting, rejecting, or changing the current bill After the hearing, committee can pass as is, change and pass, or kill the bill

Slide 77

House Actions Placed on House calendar and Speaker decides when bill will reach floor for debate Before debating bill, House Rules Committee decides how much time will be allotted for bill Evenly distributed between supporters and opponents of the bill Amendments to bill may be proposed at this time but must be relevant to the bill

Slide 78

House (continued) Committee of the Whole: Entire House acts as one big committee debating bills in some cases Amendments may be offered, debates taken for short time, then a vote on the amendment When discussion on amendments and bill is complete, vote is taken

Slide 79

Rules for voting in the House Quorum needed for House to conduct business Majority of the members present Majority needed to pass a bill in most cases Roll-call votes for important bills Each members name is called and their vote is recorded

Slide 80

Senate Same steps as House: presented, committee, recommendations/amendments, committee vote, floor debate, floor vote Differences No limit to debate on bills, thus speeches may last long time To prevent a vote in some cases, Senators will threaten to speak for hours to talk the bill to death Known as a filibuster

Slide 81

Senate (continued) Debate can be limited however 3/5 vote of the full Senate can limit time on debate, ending the ability to filibuster Cloture: procedure for ending debate in Senate and taking the vote

Slide 82

Bill Passed BothNow What? If bills have any difference, conference committee occurs Equal number of Senators and Representatives who work to reach a compromise on the bill Compromise sent back to both houses to be voted upon Once passed, sent to the desk of the president

Slide 83

President and the Bill Sign bill into law Refuse to sign bill (veto); Sent back to Congress with reasons as to why it was rejected Pocket Veto ***VETOES CAN BE OVERRIDDEN WITH A 2/3 VOTE

Slide 84

Basic Definitions Review: Bill: Proposed Law Appropriation Bill: Bill Approving the spending of money Note: Appropriations bills MUST begin in House of Reps Filibuster: Method of delaying a vote in Senate by using lengthy speeches Cloture: Legislative procedure for ending debate in Senate and taking a vote

Slide 85

Sources of Law Ideas Citizens: Only if they speak up! Groups: Businesses and influence groups Congressional Committees Members of Congress President: Often during State of Union Address

Slide 86

Extension Activity- 15 points Take some time to create your own law Once written down, give your law to one classmate (House of Reps/Senate) They can approve, amend, or veto your law They must write what they decide to do on your paper and sign it Next, give your law to another classmate (House of Reps/Senate) They can approve, amend, or veto your law Thy must write what they decide to do on your paper and sign it Finally, give your law to one final classmate (President) They either approve or veto your law They must write what they decide to do on your paper and sign it

Slide 87

Name the following: Vice President: President Pro Tempore: Senate Majority Leader: Senate Minority Leader: Senate Whips: Speaker of the House: House Majority Leader: House Minority Leader: House Whips:

Slide 88

Vice President: Joe Biden President Pro Tempore: Patrick Leahy Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid Senate Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell Senate Whips: Richard Durbin (D) and John Kyl (R) Speaker of the House: John Boehner House Majority Leader: Kevin McCarthy (R) House Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D) House Whips: Steny Hoyer (D) and Steve Scalise (R)

Slide 89

Remainder of Class Explain the significance of each term to the legislative branch: (This will count as 2 extra points toward your chp test) Bicameral legislature Apportioned Gerrymandering Immunity Expulsion Censure Caucuses President pro tempore Elastic clause Impeach Appropriation bill Filibuster Cloture Veto