STRUCTURE OF CONGRESS-Teacher's Key

Study Questions

1. Which party controlled the Senate before the elections? How many seats did each party have? Democrats; 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans, 1 Independent

2. How many seats does each party have in the Senate after the elections?
51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, 1 Independent

3. Which party now selects the Senate Majority Leader and all the Senate committee chairs? Republicans

4. Which party controlled the House before the elections? How many seats did this party have? How many seats are needed to control the House? Republicans; 223 seats before elections;218 needed

5. Which party has a majority in the House after the elections? Did they gain or lose seats in this election? Republicans; gained

6. What is the significance of one party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House?
ability to control the agenda and concentrate on and pass the Presidents' objectives

Fill in the Blank Activity

A. Speaker of the House - Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
Role: presiding officer, key role in selecting party leaders, much control over assigning bills to committees, spokesperson for party

House Majority Leader - Tom Delay (R-TX)
Role: assists Speaker, schedules bills, rounds up votes

House Majority Whip - Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Role: helps round up votes on legislation the majority party hopes to pass, acts as a liaisons between the party leadership and the House rank-and-file

House Minority Leader - Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Role: leader of the minority party in the House, leads opposition and attempts to impact agenda, party spokesperson

House Minority Whip - Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Role: assists Minority Leader, helps round up votes on legislation the minority party hopes to pass or block, acts as a liaison between the party leadership and the House rank-and-file

Senate Majority Leader - Bill Frist (R-TN)
Role: the leader of the majority party in the Senate, schedules floor action, influences committee assignments, rounds up votes on legislation the majority wishes to pass, given priority in speaking on the floor

Senate Majority Whip - Mitch McConnell (R - KY)
Role: assists the majority leader and acts as the majority party floor leader in his/her absence, mobilizes votes on major issues

Senate Minority Leader - Tom Daschle (D-SD)
Role: the leader of the minority party in the Senate, leader of the opposition, works with the majority leadership to schedule floor action and make committee assignments, given priority in speaking on the floor

Senate Minority Whip - Harry Reid (D - NV)
Role: assists the minority leader and acts as the minority party floor leader in his/her absence, mobilizes votes on major issues

B.Standing committees - permanent committees formed to handle bills related to a particular policy area, have subcommittees to divide their work, conduct oversight of the bureaucracy

Joint committees - committees consisting of members from both chambers that consider bills related to a particular narrow policy area, usually can't report bills

Conference committees - temporary committees consisting of members from both chambers formed by party leaders to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill

Select committees - committees formed for a specific purpose and for a limited time period

Caucuses - an informal group of members of one or both chambers who share a certain characteristic or interest, formed to promote a common interest

Political parties - leadership positions are elected by the conferences of the two major parties, committee chairs all belong to the majority party of each chamber, parties strategize and vote together on some issues

Discussion Questions

1.Who introduced the bill? Were there co-sponsors? Rep. Armey (by request), 118 cosponsors

2. Were there other versions of the bill or related bills? yes - many

3. How many committees was it referred to? What did they do with the bill? It was referred to a select committee (House Committee on Homeland Security) and to 11 standing committees and 1 permanent select committee for consideration. Committees held hearings, considered the bill, and marked it up. They then reported the bills with amendments to the Select Committee on Homeland Security. All committees discharged the bill on 7/12/02. It was reported on 7/24/02 by the Select Committee on Homeland Security.

4. What rule did the Rules Committee give it? "Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 5005 with 1 hour and 30 minutes of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. It shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Select Committee on Homeland Security now printed in the bill. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order."

5. What happened during floor debate? Were any amendments presented? Debate followed the rule. Many amendments were made one after the other. The bill was recommitted to the Select Committee on Homeland Security with instructions. It passed 295-132.

6. When was it received in the Senate? What happened to the bill in the Senate? 7/30/02; Consideration lasted several months. Many amendments were offered. Consideration was stopped 10/1/02 when a cloture motion failed to be invoked and did not resume until 11/13/02 (after the elections). The bill was passed and sent to the House with amendments 11/22/02.

7. What happened once the Senate passed the bill? The Speaker asked the House to agree to the Senate amendment which they did immediately and then sent it to the President. He signed it into law.

Focus Questions

1. What does the Constitution say about the types of legislation that should originate in each chamber? How are these differences reflected in the committee make-up of each house? Revenue bills must originate in the House. The Senate must approve presidential nominations and treaties. Thus, the House has a number of committees that deal with economic and budgetary issues, including the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate, on the other hand, has powerful Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees.

2. The process a bill goes through from introduction to passage is largely the same in the two chambers but there are some important differences. What are they? For example, what is the role and function of the House Rules Committee? Debate is limited in the House according to the rules determined by the Rules Committee whereas debate in the Senate is unlimited. Majority leadership in the House has more control over the schedule and floor action than in the Senate.

3. Members of Congress are busy! They belong to a number of committees, subcommittees, caucuses, and other groups. Using relevant Web sites, research and identify which committees and other groups your senators and representative belong to. Answers will vary according to district.

4. Analysis: With so many bills introduced each year, what role do committees play? What do you think about the power committees and their chairs have over the futures of bills? What impact do other groups within Congress have on the legislative process? Committees mean life or death for legislation. They mark up (amend) bills and bills usually must receive a favorable report by a committee in order to be considered by the whole chamber. Committee members lobby for bills and manage their consideration once they reach the floor of each chamber. Parties and caucuses impact the legislative process as they try to promote their interests.

5. Analysis: What can you conclude about the power and roles of Congressional leaders? How do they impact the legislative process? To what extent do they set the policy-making agenda. How do Senate and House leaders differ in how much power they have? Answers will vary. Leaders are crucial in the legislative process as they set the agenda. Congressional leaders are comparatively weak as both chambers are relatively decentralized. House leaders have more power as the House is more centralized than the Senate and Senators tend to be more independent.

6. Define and explain the significance of the following terms related to the Senate filibuster.

filibuster - a way to block or delay action on a bill or other matter by speaking nonstop on the floor of the Senate (usually just threatened), allowed because debate is unlimited in the Senate, increases the power of individual Senators and the minority party

double-tracking - a method by which the Senate continues its work during a filibuster by moving on to another issue

cloture - a motion to stop a filibuster, requires 60 votes, the only way to limit debate in the Senate

supermajority - while a majority of 51 is required to control the Senate and pass legislation, a supermajority of 60 is required to bypass the power of the minority to hold up legislation they oppose with the threat of a filibuster