Ch. 10 - Congress

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Ch. 12
Action!
Congress in
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Congress Gets Organized!

• The First Day in the House
• All members are sworn in
• House elects the Speaker
• Always a member of the majority party they have
  picked them in private meetings before session

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Congress Gets Organized!

• The First Day in the House
• Members are put into committees
• Also prearranged
• Majority party gets a majority in every committee
• Seniority Rule longest serving members get the
  first pick, become chairperson

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Congress Gets Organized!

• First Day in the Senate
• 1/3 of the members are sworn in (only 1/3 coming
  off of election)
• Vacant committee seats are filled

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Committees

• Committee expert groups of Congressmen who
  decide what bills will go to the whole house for
  a vote
• Most work in Congress is done in committees

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Types of Committees

• Standing Committee permanent committees that
  remain from session to session

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Current Standing Committees in the House of
Representatives

• Agriculture
• Appropriations
• Armed Services
• Budget
• Education and the Workforce
• Energy and Commerce
• Financial Services
• Government Reform
• House Administration
• International Relations

• Judiciary
• Resources
• Rules
• Science
• Small Business
• Standards of Official Conduct
• Transportation and Infrastructure
• Veterans Affairs
• Ways and Means

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Current Standing Committees in the Senate

• Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
• Appropriations
• Armed Services
• Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
• Budget
• Commerce, Science, and Transportation
• Energy and Natural Resources
• Environment and Public Works

• Finance
• Foreign Relations
• Governmental Affairs
• Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
• Indian Affairs
• Judiciary
• Rules and Administration
• Small Business
• Veterans Affairs

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Types of Committees

• Select or Special Committees Temporary
  committee to investigate wrongdoing or research a
  special matter
• Examples Senate Watergate Committee, Select
  Committee on Aging

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Types of Committees

• Joint Committees have members of both the House
  and Senate
• Conference Committees compromise different
  versions of bills between House and Senate

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How a Bill Becomes a Law
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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 1 The House/Senate
• Bill is introduced
• Can only be introduced by a member of the House
• Bill is read to the entire chamber

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 2 The House/Senate
• Referred to a standing committee
• Speaker of the House chooses the committee
• Full committee decides whether to consider it, or
  pigeonhole it

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 3 The House/Senate
• Referred to subcommittee
• Chairman of the committee decides which
  subcommittee
• Subcommittee does the vast majority of research
  and work on the bill
• 90 of bills die in steps 2 and 3

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 4 The House/Senate
• Committee/Subcommittee Hearings
• Government officials, experts invited to speak in
  favor or against bills
• Congressmen may take junkets, or trips to
  locations for further research
• Meanwhile, they markup, or make changes to the
  bill

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 5 The House/Senate
• Sent back to full committee
• Committee can either
• Send the bill to step 6 with a do pass
  recommendation
• Or refuse to report the bill, thus killing it

Oh, no!!
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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• If the rest of Congress disagrees with a
  committees decision to kill a bill, there is one
  option
• Discharge Petition majority of the House votes
  to pull a dead bill out of committee

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 6 The House/Senate
• Referred to Rules Committee
• Places bill on the calendar
• Sets the rules for time limits and number of
  amendments allowed

Oh, no!!
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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 7 The House/Senate
• Whole House Debates
• During debate, members can propose amendments to
  add onto the bill
• In the House, amendments must be relevant to the
  subject of the bill

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 8 The House
• Whole House Votes
• Majority vote passes, sends bill to the Senate

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 9 The Senate
• Introduced in the Senate
• Step 10 The Senate
• Referred to a standing committee
• Senate Majority Leader chooses which committee

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 11-12 The Senate
• Same as House referred to subcommittee, back to
  committee, then out to floor for debate

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 13 The Senate
• Whole Senate Debates
• No Rules Committee, so no limits on time or
  amendments
• Filibuster talking at length to stall action on
  a bill, can only be ended by cloture (60 votes)
• Riders amendments that have nothing to do with
  a bill

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 14 The Senate
• Senate votes
• Step 15 Conference Committee
• Members of both houses subcommittees that worked
  on the bill compromise
• Both houses then vote again on the compromise bill

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Step 16 The President
• President has 4 options
• Sign the bill, make it law
• Veto the bill, explain why
• Goes back to Congress, who can override with 2/3
  vote in both houses

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Wait 10 days and let it become law without his
  signature
• Pocket Veto - If Congress ends its session before
  10 days are up, bill dies without a veto

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