Unit 4 The Legislative Branch Study Guide Explain all the following: 1. Bi-Cameral 2. Congress: - Office - term - Number of members - Selection -

Transcription

1 Unit 4 The Legislative Branch Study Guide Explain all the following: 1. Bi-Cameral 2. Congress: - Office - term - Number of members - Selection - Requirements th Amendment th amendment th amendment 6. Which house has One-third of its entire body is elected every two years? 7. census 8. constituents 9. gerrymandering 10. How many senators and how many from each state 11. Membership Privileges for congress members 12. Franking Privilege 13. Congress has 4 major roles: 1) Legislators : a) Delegates b) Trustees c) Partisans 2) Committee 3) Constituent Servant 4) Politician 14. Congress s Express powers 15. Implied Powers 16. Eminent Domain 17. President pro tempore 18. Speaker of the House 19. Whips 20. Standing committees 21. Select committees 22. Joint committee and Conference committee 23. Which House has a committee deals with Indian affairs? 24. Which House has a committee deals with taxation? 25. Which House s has a committee deals with Ways and Means? 26. Which House has a committee deals with Small business? 27. What is a bill? 28. Explain how a bill becomes a law 29. pocket veto 30. pigeonholed 31. cloture 32. Rider 33. Filibuster

2 -A Bicameral Congress- Constitution - Two houses{ }, known as Congress was necessary, in order to create a compromise for the Virginia and New Jersey plans of representation. The Founding Framers favored a bicameral Congress in order that one as a. Office Number Term Selection Requirements House of Representative Senate At least per state Based on population state Legislative Branch Elected by the of Elected by the voters of their State. According to 17 th Amendment. - Age or over - Citizen for years - Resident of state in which elected. - Age or over - Citizen for years - Resident of state in which elected. A congressional term starts January 3 rd and ends January 3 rd - set by the Only the President may call Congress into a a meeting to deal with some emergency situation. Congressional members, due to the around $174,000 -The House of Representatives- The total number of seats in the House shall be {distributed} among the States on the basis of their respective populations today. A is taken every ten years to. Guam, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and American Samoa have each. There are set for only two years each, because it forces them to pay closer attention to their constituents{ ). Congressional elections are held on the of each even-numbered year. Districts that have unusual shapes or even defy description have sometimes been Gerrymandering refers to the act of to the advantage of the political party that. In Principle, this is allowed in order to keep representation in each district. Today s Volusia County s Member: US Representative of Florida 7th District. -The Senate- The Constitution says that the Senate shall be composed of from each. -Today s Senate consists of Originally, the Constitution provided that senators were chosen by the State legislatures. Now because of the (1913) the people now directly vote for senators. They are voted in for longer terms to deal with the To make sure there are always experienced Senators in office - of the entire body is elected every two years. Today s Senators from Florida: and

3 Congressional Duties -Membership Privileges- Members of Congress are for noncriminal offenses in congressional business. The Speech and Debate Clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 1) protects representatives and senators from. They get Special.The allows members of Congress to and other materials postage-free by substituting their facsimile signature{frank} for the postage. -Congress has 4 major Duties: 1) Legislators - are elected to vote on bills; Their options on how to vote: a) As - see themselves as agents of the people who elected them directly. b) As - vote on a bill s merit and not their constituency s opinion back home. c) As - Lawmakers who owe their first allegiance to their political party. 2) Committee Membership Senators & Representatives before they are voted on. 3) Constituent Servant - Does for the people back home. 4) Politician Keep in touch with leaders and prepare for reelection. -Congressional Powers- The Supreme Court & Congressional Power The Following are Cases that expanded Congresses powers: a) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - Implied Powers elastic clause gave Congress power to create federal banks; It has national laws. b) Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) - Commerce Clause - states can t interfere with Congress attempt to regulate interstate activities. The Constitution grants Congress a number of specific powers in three different ways: (1) (Enumerated) powers are in the Constitution. (2) powers are granted to expressed powers. a) Implied Powers comes from: Article I section 8, clause 18, which states also known as the, because it congressional power. The expressed power To declare War (3) Inherent powers are not explicitly listed in the Constitution, but granted because they are a gov t and need to do it. Example: taking private property for public use. -Strict Versus Liberal Construction listsa) believe you can interpret what they meant when they wrote the constitution. Advocated by. b) Only do as is written in the constitution and those implied powers absolutely necessary to run the gov t - Advocated by

4 Congress in Action -Congress has particular procedures when they are in session: The House ( )has formal organizational meetings at the beginning of each term to determine. It has the power to bring charges of Impeach against a president. The Senate( ), because it is, has fewer organizational issues to address at the start of each term. It conducts trials of Impeachment. When Congress is ready, the President presents a to a joint session of Congress. This message, in which the President reports on the state of the nation as he sees it, is -The Presiding Leaders- Before the New Congress meets each holds a closed meeting. This is a closed meeting so the leaders can and pick leaders and committees. The leader makes all final decisions. The is the presiding officer of the and the acknowledged. Today it s a) Main duties are to and in the House. b) The Speaker names the, and and resolutions passed by the House. The job of President of the Senate is assigned by the Constitution to the but they a) The, the leader of the majority party, is elected from the and serves in the Vice President s absence. Today it s b) They have many of the as the Speaker of the House. The Floor leaders are who make sure laws get passed. The assist the floor leaders by keeping them informed and persuading party members along party lines.

5 Congressional Committee System -Congressional Committee System- A bill is a proposed law. Members of Congress and try to get a majority of both houses to vote for them. Most of the in Congressional committees. Congress is really a collection of that work together to approve each other s decisions. Standing committees are groups in Congress that. Committee chairmen are the members who The seniority rule,, the most important posts will go to the senor serving members. The majority party always on each committee (the lone exception being the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Traffic Cops is the most powerful. It decides whether and under what the full House will debate and vote to filter all the bills. Select committees are panels established to handle a and usually exist for a limited time. Joint committee is one composed of of congress. Conference committee a is created to iron out between bills passed by the House and Senate before they are is the process by which Congress, through its committees, to see that the agencies of the executive branch are working effectively.

6 How a bill becomes law -Steps One and Two - A Bill is a for the nation or person presented to the House or Senate for consideration. In the House members introduce a bill by putting a copy in a {A box} by the secretaries desk. Then the bill is referred to a for consideration. -During a Bill s Life- A Rider deals with an, a way of sneaking a weak proposal into law. Earmark or Pork-Barrel: special projects/programs that are & intended to benefit a district/state. A bills can die in a committee by, to put away for later or never to be acted upon. is a statement of position/opinion on a particular subject that carries authority. Congress uses it to regulate the in either the House or the Senate. - Example: proposing Concurrent Resolutions are proposals that both houses pass,, again it s not a law. - Example: Foreign affairs Joint Resolutions are proposals worked on by both houses together and can act like a law. - Example: -Step Three- If the bill makes it through its committee, then it s sent to the floor, where the Committee of the whole. Majority and minority floor leaders generally decide in advance how they will split the time to be spent. There are four methods of taking a floor vote in the House: 1. During the Speaker calls for the yea 2. and then the no s. (Computerized now) 3. In a standing vote, members in favor or opposed to the bill rise and then are counted by the clerk. 4. One fifth of a quorum can demand, in which the Speaker names two tellers, for and against, and members pass by each one to be counted. 5. A may be demanded by one fifth of the members. - Step Four - Once a bill has been approved at second reading, it is engrossed{ }. It is then read for a third time and a final vote is taken. Then it s over to the - The Senate passing a Bill- Bills are introduced by senators, who are formally recognized for that purpose. Most of the as the houses, but less strict, because there less members. As a general rule, senators may on the floor for as - term for any attempt to Senate action on a bill or other matter by speaking at inordinate length. If at least vote for {A senate rule limiting debates}, no more than another 30 hours may be, forcing a vote on a bill. -Steps Five and Six- Any created Bill by Congress, before being sent to the president must have been houses in. formed to iron out the differences, if one of the houses doesn t accept the other s version of a bill, to make them identical. Lastly when it s finished the bill is sent to the. The president can either sign it into law or veto{ } it. The President s veto can be overridden by a of the members present in each house. (If president within 10day s it becomes law) A occurs if Congress adjourns{session ends} within 10 days of submitting a bill and the President does not sign it. The bill then dies.