6 Chapter Notes The Structure of Congress

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6 Chapter NotesThe Structure of Congress

• The Legislative Branch

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• Bicameral- a lawmaking body of 2 houses
• The upper house is the Senate.
• The lower house is the House of Representatives.
• Reasons For a Bicameral Legislature
• Other countries had been successful with this
  type of legislature before.
• It came about because of the compromise at the
  Constitutional Convention

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• The House of Representatives
• Has 435 members
• Representation is based on the population of each
  state. One representative for every 800,000
  people.
• A member of the House serves a 2-year term with
  an unlimited number of terms.

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Cabarrus Countys Representation

• North Carolina has 13 members in the House of
  Representatives. With each serving a
  Congressional District in the State.
• Your representative is Richard Burr(R) from North
  Carolinas 8th Congressional District.

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• Qualifications
• House of Representatives
• You must be 25 years old.
• You must be a citizen of the US for at least 7
  years.
• You must live in the State you represent.

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Benefits

• Representatives have a yearly salary of 165,500
  dollars.
• Other benefits free parking, free mail (Franking
  privilege), a travel allowance, free treatments
  in V.A. hospitals, and recreation activities.

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Officers of the House of Representatives

• The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House
  (Nancy Pelosi a democrat from California.).
• She is in charge of the House.

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Duties of the Speaker

• The Speaker
• Conducts the every day operation of the House
• Appoints Representatives to special committees
• Conducts impeachment procedures
• Signs all bills passed by the House
• Becomes President if the President and the
  Vice-President are disabled.
• The Speaker gets paid 212,100 dollars a year.

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Party Leadership

• Whip - is the strong man for the party floor
  leader.
• The floor leader is in charge of their partys
  operations in the House. The Majority party
  leader is Kevin McCarthy a Republican, and the
  Minority leader is Nancy Pelosi a Democrat.
• Floor Leaders get paid 183,500 dollars a year.

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• Special powers of the House
• The House impeaches federal officials.
• All revenue bills (money) must begin in the
  House,
• They choose the President if a candidate does not
  reach 270 electoral votes

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The US Senate

• There are 100 members, 2 from each state
• Senators serve a 6-year term, without term
  limits.

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North Carolina Senators

• In NC we are represented by a Republican and a
  Democrat
• Richard Burr (R)
• Thom Tillis (R)

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Qualifications for the Senate

• You must be at least 30 years old
• A citizen of the US for 9 years.
• A resident of the State that you live in

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Benefits

• Their salary is 165,500 dollars a year
• They also have all of the same benefits that
  members of the House of Representatives enjoy.

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Officers of the Senate

• The leader of the Senate is the Vice-President.
• Currently the Vice-President is Joe Biden
• The Vice-President is not a regular member of the
  Senate, but can break a tie if necessary.
• The President pro-tempore handles the everyday
  business of the Senate. The president pro-tempore
  is the most senior member of the majority party.
  Currently the president pro-tempore is Orin
  Hatch.

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Party Leadership

• The majority leader is Mitch McConnell a
  Republican.
• The minority leader is Harry Reid a Democrat.
• They have the same duties as the party leaders in
  the House.

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Special powers of the Senate

• The impeachment trial is held in the Senate. The
  Chief Justice of the Supreme Court conducts the
  trial. For the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton,
  Chief Justice William Rehnquist was the Judge.
  2/3 votes are needed by the Senate to remove a
  federal official from office (67).
• Approves all treaties.
• Confirms all Presidential nominations to office

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Congressional Procedures

• Policing its Members- Members of Congress are
  above the law and cannot be arrested for
  anything, they cannot even be given a traffic
  ticket. But here are some ways to keep them in
  check.
• Censure- is a formal reprimand for bad behavior
  while in Congress. Usually for a less serious
  offense. This publicly exposes the problem and
  humiliates the member of Congress.
• Expulsion- is the removal from office of a member
  of Congress. This is for a serious offense that
  will bring criminal charges. A 2/3 vote is needed
  to remove a member of Congress.

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• Gerrymandering- is the process of drawing a
  Congressional district with a preconceived result
  in mind. The Supreme Court has ruled
  gerrymandering unconstitutional. The district
  must then be redrawn. The 12th district in NC had
  to be redrawn in 2002.

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Floor Procedures-

• Pigeon Hole- to set aside a bill without studying
  it. By doing this the bill will die in committee.
• Filibuster- a tactic used by wasting time talking
  about anything until the bills sponsor withdraws
  the bill.
• Cloture- a procedure to limit a filibuster. This
  limits each Senator to 1 hour of floor time. 3/5,
  or 60 votes are needed to enact cloture

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Bills and Committees

• How a bill becomes a law (refer to the chart)
• A member introduces the bill in one house.
• The bill then goes to committee and a conference
  committee to work out problems.
• The bill is then passed by that house.
• The bill then goes to the other house
• Then the bill goes to another committee to work
  out problems.
• If there are differences, the bill must go to
  another conference committee to work out exact
  wording.
• If it is all right, then the bill can pass the
  other house. A bill must pass both houses with
  the exact language.
• The President signs the bill into law, or he
  vetoes it. If it is vetoed, Congress can override
  the veto with a 2/3 vote in each house.

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Committees

• Standing Committee- Permanent committees of
  Congress.
• Select Committees- Presidential committees made
  for a special issue.
• Joint Committees- committees of both houses of
  Congress.
• Conference Committees- committees to work out a
  compromise bill.