Transcript 6 Chapter Notes The Structure of Congress

6 Chapter Notes
The Structure of Congress
The Legislative Branch
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
The House of Representatives
435
Has
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.
Cabarrus County’s Representation
North
Carolina has 13 members in
the House of Representatives. With
each serving a Congressional District
in the State.
Your representative is Larry Kissell
(D) from North Carolina’s 8th
Congressional District.
Qualifications
House of Representatives:
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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.
Benefits
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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.
Officers of the House of
Representatives
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The presiding officer is the
Speaker of the House (Nancy
Pelosi a democrat from California.).
She is in charge of the House.
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.
Party Leadership
Whip - is the strong man for the party
floor leader.
The floor leader is in charge of their
party’s operations in the House. The
Majority party leader is Steny Hoyer a
Democrat, and the Minority leader is John
Boehner 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
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There are 100 members, 2 from
each state
Senators serve a 6-year term,
without term limits.
North Carolina Senators
In
NC we are represented by a
Republican and a Democrat:
 Richard Burr (R)

Kay Hagen (D)
Qualifications for the Senate
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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
Benefits
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Their salary is 165,500 dollars a
year
They also have all of the same
benefits that members of the
House of Representatives enjoy.
Officers of the Senate
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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 protempore is the most senior member of the
majority party. Currently the president protempore is Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
Party Leadership
The
minority leader is Mitch
McConnell a Republican.
 The majority leader is Harry Reid a
Democrat.
They have the same duties as the
party leaders in the House.
Special powers of the Senate
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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
Congressional Procedures
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Policing its Members- Members of Congress are
above the law and cannot be arrested for anything,
that 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.

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.
Floor Procedures
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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 bill’s
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
Bills and Committees
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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.
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.