The Geography of Washington

Congress:

The Geography of Washington US Capitol House Chamber Senate Chamber

Congress’ Constitutional Role Media focuses on president at central actor of national government, BUT Article 1 of U.S. Constitution devoted to legislative branch Congress makes all laws President responsible for taking care that the laws are “faithfully executed” Over time, President has become more involved in legislation, but only through persuading Congress

Some terminology “The” Congress The House and the Senate “A” Congress A two-year meeting of Congress between elections

Congresses are Numbered 1789-1790, the first Congress 1791-1792, the second Congress And so on.

Current Congress Current Year 2010 Minus year of first Congress 1789 Equals 221 Divide by 2, equals 110.5 Add 1 111.5

We are now in the 111th Congress, second session.

Congress vs. Session A Congress is a group of elected officials that changes every two years Each Congress holds annual meetings with a break in between Each annual (yearly meeting) is a Congressional “Session.”

Formal Reference Bills, amendments, hearings, etc. are printed and available to the public Reference is by Congress and Session, as in 110th Congress, First Session (2007) 110th Congress, Second Session (2008) Bills and Resolutions Used interchangeably, though resolutions may be non-binding Bill is any proposed change in the law Reference: SR #1079, 111th Congress, first session Or HB #1512, 111th Congress, second session Or HR OR SB # xxxxx

Bicameral Means two legislative houses Usually (though not required) Upper house is smaller Upper house members serve longer terms

House – Senate Differences

House 2 year term 435 Members Elected by sub-state districts District size @ 700,000

Senate 6 year term 100 Members Elected by entire states State size ranges from low of Wyoming, 500,000 To high of California, 33,000,000

Constitutional Powers House Impeaches President and Judges All revenue (tax) bills must originate in House

Senate Tries anyone impeached Gives “advice and consent” (approval) to major presidential appointments and treaties

Senate only: Advice and Consent to all the president’s judicial nominees, from district court judge to Supreme Court Justices The Obama Cabinet: Must go through Senate Advice and Consent Vote

Entire Congress – House and Senate combined Each body must approve a bill before it can go to the president Each must provide a two-thirds vote to override a presidential veto

Apportionment -- Reapportionment Apportionment – how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives

(Senate representation is simple and never changes – Every state has two senators regardless of size, and Each Senator is elected by the entire state at staggered intervals.

Article 1, Section 2: “Representatives . . . Shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers . . . . The actual Enumeration shall be made within . . . . Every Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

Census Official National Census conducted every 10 years Official count of citizens living in each state, as well as the various subdivisions of the state Counties Cities & towns Census blocks within larger cities Sometimes down to individual city blocks

Reapportionment & Redistricting As state relative populations change so does their representation in the U.S. House of Representatives Even if representation unchanged, some areas of a state grow and other lose population

REDISTRICTING After every census state legislatures redraw the boundary lines of election districts U.S. House of Representatives districts State Legislative districts Down to city council or school board districts

How to Create a District Drawing district boundaries is entirely up to each state Two major motivations A. Incumbent protection B. Partisan benefit -- gerrymandering Texas 2002 and 2004 Redistricting

How should districts be created? Heterogeneously Balanced between Republicans and Democrats Most elections will be competitive Losers unhappy Homogeneously Mostly members of one party Most elections non-competitive BUT Not many unhappy losers

The Iowa Model of Districting Iowa uses a complex computer system administered by a non-partisan commission to draw geographically compact and equal districts

In 2004, three out of five of Iowa’s U.S. House races were considered competitive, compared to one out of ten in the rest of the nation

The Jobs of Congress Legislating Laws and budgets Creating and Monitoring Government Agency creation, funding, oversight, checks and balances Representation Constituency service, legislative role, house differences

To accomplish these tasks each house of Congress is organized 1. Politically 2. Functionally

The Legislative Job Any member of Congress may introduce a bill into his / her chamber About 10,000 bills introduced each Congress Only about 250 eventually pass Congress must review and decide which ones will pass

How a Bill Becomes a Law Congress operates as a set of screens Needs to eliminate frivolous and duplicate bills And comprehensively examine the remaining viable bills

Congressional Leaders Article 1, section 2: The House of Representatives shall chuse their speaker and other Officers Article 1, section 3: The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Congressional Parties: The House Party Caucus All Democratic members of the House or Senate. Elects party leaders, selects committee members and leaders, debate party positions on issues. Party Conference What Republicans call their party caucus.

The Congressional Parties: The House Speaker of the House The presiding office of the House of Representatives leader of the majority party. Majority Leader Speaker’s chief lieutenant in the House BUT most important officer in the Senate. Minority Leader leader of the minority party who speaks for the party in dealing with the majority Whips members of Congress who serve as informational channels between the leadership and the rank and file, conveying the leadership’s views and intentions to the members and vice versa

The Senate The Constitution specifies the vice president as the presiding officer of the Senate. S/he votes only in case of a tie. Official chair of the Senate is the president pro tempore (pro tem). Primarily honorific Generally goes to the most senior senator of the majority party Actual presiding duties rotate among junior members of the chamber True leader is the majority leader, but not as powerful as Speaker is in the House

How Congress is Organized to Make Policy: Congress at Work is Congress in Committee Votes on the floor of the House and Senate are very rarely important The work of Congress is done in each house’s committees

The Committee System Roughly ten thousand bills are introduced in each two-year session in the House. Screening process: division into committees. Committees review and work on bills before a final floor vote. Standing committees: committee with fixed membership and jurisdiction, continuing from Congress to Congress Select committees: temporary committees appointed to deal with a short-term issue or problem

Committees: The Workhorses of Congress Each committee is a microcosm of the full chamber Balanced by Party, with majority party having more seats Members usually serve on the same committee term after term Members serve on 2-3 different committees

What Do Committees Do? 1946: Legislative Preauthorization Act Every piece of legislation introduced for consideration must first be referred to a committee

What Do Committees Do? Ninety percent of all measures get tabled in committee. Duplicates, for show, etc. Measures not tabled are given a hearing, occasionally with celebrity witnesses.

What Do Committees Do? In this stage, the actual language of the bill is forged. Modifications or amendments before it goes to the floor “The Floor” = entire chamber that casts the final vote

What Do Committees Do? Report: summarizes bill’s provisions and the rationale behind it. Rules Report stipulates whether a bill is: open, closed, modified, or subject to the time-structured rule.

Committee Chairs These individuals have tremendous power and prestige. Authorized to select all subcommittee chairs Call meetings Recommend majority members to sit on conference committees Can kill a bill by not scheduling hearings on it Have staff at their disposal Seniority still important in the Senate Committee chairs are ALWAYS members of the majority party

Ranking Member Refers to committee members only The most senior member of the MINORITY party on the committee The person likely to take over as chair if their party wins a majority of seats

After the Committee: House of Representatives Bill goes to Rules Committee for a Rule Date for vote – put on calendar Number of pro and con speeches and length of each Amendments allowed from floor? As a large body – 435 members – needs strict rules to move legislation along

After the Committee: Senate Agreement by Majority and Minority Leaders on calendar (date for debate and vote) No official rules Senators have the power of unlimited debate But Majority and Minority Leaders voluntarily set expected limits try to keep each other informed if members want amendments or more debate

Filibuster: The 60 Vote Rule 60 Votes for Cloture Cloture: A motion to end all debate Filibuster threat as important as reality A minority of 41 Senators can kill any bill or presidential appointment Threaten a filibuster and have enough votes to block a cloture motion.

Floor Debates and Votes Floor debates rarely important Only in the case of a bill that is both very controversial and likely to have a close vote Substantial deference to committees and party leaders Most of the time very few members on the floor Quorum call when a time for a vote Consent Calendar

The Conference Committee An IDENTICAL bill must be passed by both houses before it can be sent to the President The different houses have different interests Elected by different constituencies Senate seats are more competitive – less safe So bills passed by each are likely to differ in details

Conference Committee Equal members (@3-5) from each house Members usually selected by chairs of original committees reviewing a bill Try to iron out differences, reach a compromise Conference Committee report goes to both bodies for usually vote without debate The Job of Congress: Creating and Monitoring Government The Constitution creates NO government agencies Only Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court All other government agencies and offices are created by acts of Congress All government departments and agencies All courts below the Supreme Court Every agency program is created by Congress And every year Congress sets that agency’s budget President selects agency leaders, many with Senate approval, and requests funding and program changes

Congressional Oversight Congress monitors agency activities to ensure they are carrying out the intent of Congress Hold hearings on problems and what government agencies are doing about them Conducted by the committees responsible for legislation affecting the agency or policy area

The Job of Congress: Representation Who are the members? What is their job? How do they see their role? How do they serve their constituencies? What do they need to do to accomplish these tasks?

Women U.S. ranks near the bottom among world democracies in the proportion of women in the lower chamber of the national legislature. Reasons? legacy of gender discrimination; not a major reason Societal prejudice against women serving in public office is low and has been diminishing, but there is still gender discrimination. electoral system contributes to the slow rate of progress Women do better in proportional electoral systems.

The Representatives and Senators The Job Salary of $168,500 with retirement benefits Requires long hours, a lot of time away from family, and pressure from others to support their policies Maintain two homes Full time in DC But also home state / district Member Resources Each member has: a Washington office and one or more district offices. typical House member employs 18 personal staff assistants (more than 40 percent in district). This has risen significantly over time. travel subsidies use of the frank (free use of the U.S. mail)

Web Sites: Finding your Representative or Senator House of Representatives www.house.gov Senate www.senate.gov Each allows you to find your representative or senator by their name or your state or zip code

Theories of Representation Trustee Role played by elected representatives who listen to constituent’s opinions and then use their best judgment to make final decisions Delegate Role played by elected representatives who vote the way their constituents would want them to, regardless of their own opinions Partisan Role played by elected representatives who vote with their party

Members of Congress do much more than make laws. Representatives engage in constituency service: district service: effort by members of Congress to secure federal funding for their districts casework: to help constituents when they have difficulties with federal agencies

Pork or Pork Barrel Spending or Earmarks Most budget items are recommended by the President or the agency running a program Congress reviews and decides whether to approve and how much Pork or earmarks are items added by individual members of Congress to benefit their home states or constituencies “earmarked” for home district

Casework Casework: members of Congress handling constituent requests for individual service E.g., Late or missing Social Security Check Help getting in touch with family member serving in the military

Congress: The Balancer of Interests In contemporary times, Congress serves as a balancer of interests Competing demands upon government Members of Congress represent many of those demands Members seek compromises that will satisfy as many voters as possible

The Legislature vs. the Executive President and Congress have different needs and serve different constituencies Even if both controlled by the same party Congress’s ultimate power is the power of the purse Presidents have no money to spend unless it is first authorized by Congress Most important battles are battles over funding