Congress

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Congress
PRESENTATION BY MCMULLEN MCDONOUGH MATTONE OLIVER
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• And the Policy-Making Process

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CONGRESS VERSUS PARLIAMENT

• Congress was the first branch of government
  established. Some say this branch is in need of
  fixing.
• As a whole Congress has expanded programs and
  adopted favorable reforms.
• Parliament candidates are selected by a party
  and they are the ones who choose prime ministers
  and other head leaders. They have very little
  power and receive very little pay.
• Congressional candidates run in the primary
  election, the vote is for the person not the
  party. They have a very large amount of power
  and are given a high pay.

Mattone
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• Congress is more concerned with their own views
  and the view of their constituents, not of their
  party. The intent of the framers of the
  legislative branch was to have a strong central
  power with a balance among the large and small
  states also known as bicameralism. Most people
  believe that Congress is too slow.

Mattone
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SENATE VERSUS THE HOUSE

• The Senate is much more structured compared to
  the House. It is small enough to be run without
  giving authority to small groups.
• There are no time limits on speakers
  (filibustering). Senators were chosen by state
  legislators until the 17th amendment passed in
  1913.
• The House has very powerful speakers but its
  increase in size has lead to less individual
  influence. The House has become less male and
  less white recently.
• The Senate is not adopting change as easy but
  some Hispanics and blacks hold high positions.

Mattone
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WHO IS IN CONGRESS?

• Incumbents have a much higher reelection chance.
  
• Political scientists call districts that have
  close elections marginal districts and districts
  where incumbents win by wide margins safe
  districts.
• Republicans won control over Congress in 1994.
  Republicans replaced conservative democrats in
  the south.
• Democrats regained control of both chambers in
  2006.
• Members vote to please their constituents. They
  must have a clear opinion of the issue.

Mattone
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• Constituents have a much stronger influence in
  the Senate.
• House members tend more than senators to have
  opinions similar to those of the public.
• Prior to the 1990's southern democrats often were
  affiliated with the Republican party to form the
  conservative coalition.
• New members of Congress are more ideological.
• Democrats are more liberal while republicans tend
  to be conservative.

Mattone
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PARTIES AND CAUCUSES

• Democrats and Republicans in House organized by
  party leaders, who are elected by the full party
  membership within Congress during the 1st days of
  the session (2 years).
• Majority party chooses one of its members
  (usually the most senior) to be pro tempore of
  Senate. This person is to take over for the
  absence of the vice president (VP of US)
  however, usually both members are absent from
  this tedious chore, so responsibility handed to
  some junior senator.
• Real power majority and minority leader (chosen
  by senators of respecting parties)
• Majority leader schedule business of Senate,
  recognized first on floor.

McDonough
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• Whip (also elected by senators) helps party
  leader stay informed of other party member views
  and rounds up important voters has several
  assistants.
• Policy Committee helps party leader schedule
  Senate business and choose significant bills to
  review.
• Committees created to assign senators to standing
  committees Democrats Steering Committee,
  Republicans Committee on Committees.
• Party control within Senate changes frequently.
• Leaders more powerful in House because of size
• Speaker of House most important member (decides
  who will speak and what bills will be discussed)
  usually influences legislation in partys favor.

McDonough
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Caucuses

• Caucus an association of members of Congress
  created to advocate a political ideology or
  regional/economic interest a growing rival to
  parties as source of policy leadership
• TYPES
• Intraparty formed by groups who share similar
  ideology
• Personalized common interest in an issue
• Constituency represent certain groups, regions,
  or both

McDonough
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COMMITTEES

• The real work of Congress occurs here- divides up
  the work on bills.
• THREE KINDS
• Standing (most important) permanent bodies with
  specified legislative responsibilities
• Select appointed for limited purpose and lasting
  only a few Congresses
• Joint both representatives and senators serve
  created conference committee for revision of
  different legislation or to attack specific
  national problems.
• Republican majority had reduced number of
  committees in both houses
• Most power given to Committee Chair. They are
  ALWAYS from the majority party and usually have
  served the longest tenure on that committee.
• Their minority counterpart is called the ranking
  minority member.

McDonough
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STAFF AGENCIES

• Congressional Research Service responds to
  congressional requests for info neutral
  political body, therefore will not recommend
  policy, but will report facts and indicate
  arguments for/against policies. Keeps status
  tracks of major bills.
• General Accounting Office financially audits
  money spent by executive depts, agencies and
  policies, makes recommendation on several gov.
  aspects.
• Congressional Budget Office advises Congress on
  likely economic effects of different spending
  programs and prepares costs of proposed policies.
  Prepares analysis of prezs budget and eco
  projections.

McDonough
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TYPES OF RESOLUTIONS

• Simple resolution- passed by one house and
  affects that house, not signed by the president
  does not have the force of law. Usually
  procedural in nature.
• Concurrent resolution- passed by both houses and
  affects both, not signed by the president and
  does not have the force of law.
• Joint resolution- essentially a law. Passed by
  both houses and signed by the president.
• If used to propose a constitutional amendment,
  2/3 vote required in both houses but the
  presidents signature is unnecessary.

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HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

• HOUSE SENATE
• Intro Intro
• Committee Action Committee Action
• Referred to House Referred to Senate
• Referred to subcommittee Referred
  to subcomm.
• Reported by full comm. Reported by full comm.
• Rules comm. Action
• Floor Action Floor Action
• Debate and vote Debate and vote
• Conference Action
• House of Reps. Senate
• President

McDonough
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BILL LAW cont.

• Mark up occurs in committees and/or
  subcommittees but these changes are not final
  until they are approved by the House or the
  Senate.
• A bill only moves forward if a majority of the
  committee votes to report it out to the House or
  Senate. Attached to the bill are the committees
  opinions of the bill (including dissenting
  opinions, if any)
• Most bills usually die in committees and/or
  subcommittees (OVER 90)
• In the House, a discharge petition can be filed
  to remove a bill from committee and put it
  directly out onto the floor, but it is rarely
  used
• In the Senate, a bill can be discharged from
  committee session when a member moves to have the
  bill come directly before the Senate. However,
  discharge is rarely used because almost any
  proposal can get to the floor as an amendment to
  another bill.
• Both houses set calendars to hear and vote on
  bills

McMullen
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• In the House, the Rules Committee reviews most
  bills and decides how they will be heard
• Closed rule means that a bill has a strict time
  limit on debate and that no amendments can be
  offered unless they come from the sponsoring
  committee.
• Open rule permits any amendments to a bill from
  the floor
• A rider is a provision added to a piece of
  legislation that does not pertain to the bills
  purpose. It has the ability to strongly persuade
  the president to vote one way or the other based
  on the extent of the rider. It also allows
  legislators to attach to the bill any pet project
  that they wish to get passed.
• A Christmas tree bill is a bill that has a lot of
  riders attached. (Riders only permitted in
  Senate).
• Bills in the Senate may be considered in any
  order at any time that the majority of the Senate
  chooses while the House sticks to a very tight
  hearing schedule that does not allow any
  individual complaints to be heard.

McMullen
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FLOOR DEBATE IN HOUSE

• Floor debate in the House on revenue bills and
  most other bills is discussed by the Committee
  of the Whole which is a 100 member quorum
  encompassing whoever happens to be on the floor
  at that time.
• The Committee of the Whole debates, amends, and
  decides the final wording of the bill but must
  send it back to the House to vote on it.
• In the Committee of the Whole, the sponsoring
  committee guides the discussion and allots time
  equally between proponents and opponents and
  limits speaking time. Only germane amendments are
  permitted if rule allows but riders are never
  permitted.
• A quorum call is a delay tactic used to postpone
  action on a bill by roll calling to see if the
  minimum number of members is present. If there
  are missing members, the House must adjourn or
  send someone to find the missing members.

McMullen
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FLOOR DEBATE IN SENATE

• In the Senate, there are no time limits for
  debating a bill, an amendment can be offered at
  any time, and senators need not address anything
  relevant to the bill if they wish.
• Riders can be used and amendments do not need to
  pertain to the bill
• A cloture motion can end a Senate filibuster if
  16 Senators sign a petition for cloture and 3/5
  (60) of the Senate vote yes on the petition. If
  it passes, each Senator is limited to one hour of
  debate on a bill
• Filibusters and cloture votes has become more
  popular recently.
• Double-tracking has allowed to Senate to continue
  with normal business during a filibuster by
  temporarily shelving the bill. This also allows
  the Senators filibustering a bill to rest and
  take a break, which makes it easier to filibuster.

McMullen
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METHODS VOTING ON BILLS

• Voice vote members shout yea or nay division
  (standing) vote members stand and are counted
  in both of these votes, names are not recorded.
• Teller vote members line up in yea lines and nay
  lines and record their votes with a teller. Names
  are only recorded at the request of 20 members.
• Roll-call vote now done electronically, records
  the vote of each name can be done at the request
  of 1/5 of the representatives present in House.
• The Senate does not use a teller vote nor
  electronic counters
• If a bill passes in the House and Senate in
  different versions, the differences must be
  ironed out. Minor differences are concluded by
  the last house to act on the bill sending the
  bill back to other house, which accepts the
  alterations.

McMullen
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• If the differences are major, a conference
  committee between the two houses is held. Members
  of the committee are picked up the chairmen of
  the committees that handled the bill in the House
  and the Senate. There are usually between 3-15
  members. Debate in conference committees is very
  arduous and can either be open or closed to the
  public. Often the legislation is changed
  substantially.
• Most conference committees usually favor the
  Senate version of the bill. After a decision is
  reached, the houses can either accept or reject
  the report. In most cases, it is accepted and
  sent to the president for signature. If the
  president vetoes, the bill returns to the house
  of origin. Both houses can override the veto is
  2/3 of each house approve.

McMullen
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REDUCING POWER AND PERKS

• Many congressional would-be reformers claim that
  legislators overuse pork-barrel legislation,
  which are bills that give tangible benefits to a
  group of constituents in order to win votes, but
  that legislators are very slow to pass meaningful
  legislation regarding national policy.
• The franking privilege, or free postage, is the
  most treasured perk of congressional incumbents
  because they can send out campaign literature for
  free.
• Many reformers do not agree with the franking
  privilege or wish to prohibit it because it comes
  directly from taxpayers.
• In the past, Congress has exempted itself from
  the laws it passed, claiming it would violate
  the separation of powers. In response to public
  criticism of this practice, in 1995, Congress
  passed a bill that requires Congress to obey
  eleven important laws governing things such as
  civil rights, occupational safety, and fair labor
  standards, and family leave.

McMullen
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• Reformers claim that pork-barrel legislation
  (bring home the bacon) is a misallocation of
  tax dollars because it supports trivial social
  projects for reelection prospects.
• Truthfully, not all pork is bad because many
  congressional districts get benefits that are
  long overdue to them. Additionally, spending on
  pork legislation is only a small fraction of what
  is spent on entitlement programs.
• A citizen-oriented Congress a pork-barrel
  oriented Congress.

McMullen
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ETHICS AND CONGRESS

• Some argue that the separation of powers has
  fostered corruption rather than prevented it like
  the Framers hoped it would because with power
  placed in the hands of many, there are many
  opportunities to exercise influence and to
  satisfy favor seekers.
• Some rules on ethics in the Senate and House
  Senators and Congressmen may not receive gifts
  from totaling more than 100, or accept any
  contributions or gifts from lobbyists. A
  Senators outside income may not exceed 15 of a
  senators salary. House members may travel at the
  expense of others if it relates to business.
  Ex-Senators and Ex-House members may not try to
  influence members of Congress for one year after
  leaving office.

McMullen
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SETTING THE AGENDA

• The political agenda involves what to make policy
  about
• At any given time, certain shared beliefs
  determine what is legitimate for the government
  to do. This legitimacy is affected by shared
  political values, the impact of custom and
  tradition, the impact of events such as wars and
  depressions, and changes in the way political
  elites think and talk about politics.

McMullen
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LEGIT SCOPE OF GOV ACTION

• Changes in attitude and the impact of events tend
  to increase the scope of legitimate government
  action. The expansion of government has been a
  nonpartisan process.
• During wartime (or after a terrorist attack), the
  people authorize the government to do whatever is
  necessary to win. During a depression, the people
  also expect the government to do something.
• Sometimes, the government enlarges its agenda of
  policy issues without any crisis or widespread
  public demand, even when conditions at which a
  policy is directed are improving (i.e.-programs
  to combat urban poverty were adopted in the
  mid-1960s when the number of people (black and
  white) living below the poverty line was
  declining).
• Many policies are the result of small groups of
  people enlarging the scope of government through
  their demands. Sometimes they are organized
  groups like corporation or unions and other times
  they are unorganized groups like urban
  minorities.

McMullen
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• De Tocqueville observed that citizens are most
  restless when they have started to become better
  off (relative deprivation).
• On occasion, a group will express its
  dissatisfaction violently (i.e- the black riots
  in American cities in the mid 1960s).
• The courts, the bureaucracy, and the Senate have
  become particularly important in setting the
  agenda.
• The courts make decisions that force action by
  the other branches of government they set off a
  chain reaction that alters the political agenda
  (Brown v Board of Education).
• The courts are the preferred vehicles for the
  advocates of unpopular cases where there is no
  majority.
• The bureaucracy is so large and includes so many
  experts that it has become a source of policy
  proposals as well as an implementer of those
  proposals that become a law.
• The fact that the Senate has become a source for
  political change can be seen in the fact that
  many senators are tempted to run for president
  and raise new issues to the public.

McMullen
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HOUSE

• 435 members that serve 2 year terms
• Can only one major committee assignment (policy
  specialists)
• Speakers referral of bills to committee is hard
  to challenge
• Committees almost always consider legislation
  first
• Scheduling and rules are controlled by the
  majority party
• Rules Committee is powerful controls time of
  debate, admissibility of amendments
• Debate is usually limited to one hour
• Nongermane amendments may not be introduced from
  the floor
• Revenue bills must start here. Decide prez if no
  winner in e college.

McMullen
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SENATE

• 100 members that serve 6 year terms (staggered
  terms)
• Can sit on 2 or more committees (policy
  generalists)
• Referral decisions are easy to challenge
• Committee consideration is easily bypassed
• Scheduling and rules are generally agreed to by
  majority and minority leaders
• Rules Committee is weak few limits on debate or
  amendments
• Debate is unlimited unless shortened by unanimous
  consent or by invoking cloture
• Nongermane amendments may be introduced. (Riders)
• Choose VP if no winner in e college.

McMullen
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Do members represent their voters?

• Representational view (delegate)- members vote to
  please their constituents in order to secure
  re-election.
• Organizational view- where members take cues from
  their party on how to vote.
• Attitudinal view (trustee)- the members ideology
  determines his/her vote.