SENATE LEADERSHIP

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SENATE LEADERSHIP
President of the Senate Dick Cheny/Vice
President R-Wyoming
What is my job in the Senate?
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SENATE LEADERSHIP
President Pro Tempore Robert C. Byrd-D, West
Virginia
What is my job?
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SENATE LEADERSHIP
What do We do?
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin-D, Illinois
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid-D, Nevada
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SENATE LEADERSHIP
Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott-R, Mississippi
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell-R, Kentucky
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Congressional Powers

• Expressed Powers vs. Implied Powers
• EXPRESSED-Clearly state in the Constitution-27
  powers
• IMPLIED-reasonably deduced from the expressed
  powers
• McCulloch v. Maryland
• - Marshall and the Court judged that the
  Congress can exercise the necessary and
  proper
• - Elastic Clause Article I, Section 8,
  Clause 18
• You should know major Congressional Powers both
  expressed, implied and especially the role of the
  Commerce Clause in exercising the implied powers

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The Filibuster

• Only available to Senators because of Senate
  Rules
• Longest single filibuster ever was by Sen. Strom
  Thurmond (R SC) that lasted 24 hours and 18
  minutes
• Senators tag-teamed a 75-day filibuster to kill
  the Civil Rights Act of1964
• Only allowed to drink water or milk and must
  remain on their feet
• Currently, you need 60 votes to invoke Cloture
  and end a Filibuster

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The 9th Congressional District
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Reapportionment Redistricting

• 1. Every ten years a census occurs and the
  official population of each state is determined
• 2. Pretend the 435 Representatives are a deck of
  cards
• ?? -Each state gets dealt 1 card
• ?? -States get additional cards in proportion
  to their population
• ?? -IA gets 5, WI MN get 8 and we get 19

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Reapportionment and Redistricting

• 3. The next step is for each state to redraw the
  congressional districts inside this state so the
  population is equal in each district. This
  process is called redistricting.
• -Some states have independent groups draw the
  lines but in most states the legislatures draw
  the lines. (Can you foresee any problems?)
• -Westberry v. Sanders (1964) affirmed that
  legislative districts must be redrawn to best
  reflect one-person, one-vote principle.

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GERRYMANDERING

• Make sure you see the big picture. For example,
  whoever controls the state legislature controls
  the way districts are drawn and determines who is
  in control the congressional representation from
  their state.

What is Gerrymandering? The purposeful drawing
of district lines to exclude a particular group
or party form representation.
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Shaw v. Reno (1993)A case of Gerrymandering

• -North Carolina created the 12th CD to
• include a large minority population with
• the hopes of increasing the numbers of
• representatives of color from NC.
• -Essentially, they gerrymandered a
• district to increase minority
• representation.
• -The Court ruled the 12th CD
• unconstitutional under the 14th
• Amendments Equal Protection clause.
• ??

North Carolinas 12th Congressional District
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Congressional Elections

• Date
• First Tuesday after the first Monday in November
• Districts
• Single member
• At large
• Qualifications
• 25 years old, US citizen for seven years, must be
  inhabitant of state
• 30 years old, US citizen for nine years, must be
  inhabitant of the state
• Term/Session/Special Session

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Seats lost by the party of the President in
Midterm Elections
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Philosophy of Representation
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Congressional Words

• Logrolling
• ?? Working together to pass a piece of
  legislation. Often
• involves reciprocityI help you on this one and
  you
• help me roll the next big log.
• Seniority
• Seniority determines office space, committee
  assignments, and leadership positions.1994
  Contract with America reworked the committee
  chairs system and now there are term limits on
  committee chairs and limits on how many
  committees you can chair simultaneously.
• Christmas Tree Bill
• When a bill has a lot of riders. For example
  the 1996 Foreign Investors Act, a bill designed
  to solve the balance of payments problem had
  riders giving assistance to hearst drivers, the
  mineral ore business, importers of scotch
  whiskey, and presidential candidates

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Congressional Compensation

• House and Senate Members
• 165,200
• Senate Leadership
• Vice President-212,100
• Majority Leader-183,500
• Minority Leader-183,500
• House Leadership
• Speaker of the House-212,100
• Majority Leader-183,500
• Minority Leader-183,500
• And Dont Forget about the 27th Amendment
• DONT FEEL BAD, THEY WILL BE GETTING A PAY
  INCREASE NEXT YEAR?

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Is that all our US Representatives receive??

• Special tax deductions
• Generous travel allowances
• Pay very little for life and health insurance
• Full medical care at military hospitals
• Generous retirement plan
• Suite of offices in DC with staff
• Offices back in state with staff

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Is that all they get?

• Free printing and mailing
• Reduced rates to produce radio and TV spots
• Free distribution of speeches, newsletters, etc
• Choice of many fine restaurants on Capitol Hill
• Two top of the line gymnasiums
• Free parking (on the Hill and at airports)
• Help form the Library of Congress
• WHY DO THEY GET ALL OF THESE GREAT THINGS???
• Because Congress regulates itself.

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Congressional Pensions

• -Members of Congress are eligible for a pension
  at age 62 if they have completed at least five
  years of service.
• -They are eligible for a pension at age 50 if
  they have completed 20 years of service
• -They are eligible at any age after completing 25
  years of service.
• -The amount of the pension depends on years of
  service and the average of the highest three
  years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a
  members retirement
• annuity may not exceed 80 percent of his or her
  final
• salary.
• The average pension for members of Congress is
  about
• 50,000 a year.
• -They are part of Social Security and Medicare