Story: 110th Congress Convenes Under Democratic Management, 1/08/07
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june07/congress_1-08.html

Reading Comprehension Questions:

1. What change recently took place in the Senate and House of Representatives?

2. Name five issues the 110th Congress is expected to address.

3. What is the make-up of the Senate and why could this be a problem for Democrats?

4. Who is the new Speaker of the House and where does this person stand in the line of presidential succession?

5. To what level do House Democrats hope to raise the minimum wage?

6. What issue do Democrats favor that President Bush has vetoed?

7. What are "earmarks" and what effect did they have on the previous Congress?

8. What is "pay-go" and why does it concern Senate Republicans?

9. When do the Speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader want U.S. troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq?

Discussion Activity (more research might be needed):

1. Research which parties have controlled the Senate, the House of Representatives and the White House over the past 20 years. How did legislation differ between time periods when one party controlled both the Congress and the White House and when control of the two branches was split between the two parties? How was one-party control better or worse? What does your conclusion say about the current Congress?

2. Pretend that your political party is taking over the majority in both the House and Senate. What issues do you think are important? How would you go about creating legislation and law? How would you deal with those in the other party?

3. How do you think change of power in Congress will affect the campaigns of candidates in the next presidential election?

Write a 300-500 word essay on either of these topics providing clear examples. Send your completed editorial to NewsHour Extra (extra@newshour.org). Exceptional essays might be published on our Web site.