THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS

Chapter 5

CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPCH. 5, SEC. 1

Describe the characteristics of membership in Congress

Content Vocabulary Bicameral legislature- two house chamber;

Senate and House of Rep. Session- meeting of Congress Census- population count (every 10 yrs) Reapportionment- process to divide the

number of reps among the states Redistricting- process of setting up new

district lines after reapportionment Gerrymandering- process of drawing district

boundary lines to gain an advantage Incumbent- members already in office

Congressional Sessions Congressional terms start on January 3rd of odd

years Terms last 2 years Terms have 2 sessions; each last 1 year The President can call Congress into special

sessionThere are a total of 535 members

435- House100- Senate

Currently- 114th Congress

Membership of the House 435 members Members are apportioned among the

states based on pop.

Pennsylvania has 18 repsCalifornia has 52 reps

Montana has 1 rep(1 Rep per 400,000 people)

Qualifications of the House 25 years or older Citizen of the U.S. for at least 7 yrs Legal resident of the state that elects

them

Terms of Office for House Members

2 year term Elected in November of even years Terms start on January 3rd following

election

Representation and Reapportionment

A census is taken every ten years for reapportionment.

If a states pop. goes down they may lose representatives; if it goes up they may gain them.

Reapportionment Act of 1929 fixed the number of reps in the House at 435

Redistricting After the census, state legislatures can

redraw the district lines in their state.

States abuse their power of redistricting by Gerrymandering- drawing lines to gain an advantage in elections.

Gerrymandering results in odd shaped districts

Elbridge Gerry – Salamander - Gerrymander

Pennsylvania Congressional Districts

Find Your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives

Norristown, East Norriton, West Norriton

Allyson Schwartz (D)

District 13 Pat Meehan (R)

District 7

Jim Gerlach (R)District 6

Brendan Boyle (D)

Ryan Costello (R)

Qualifications of the Senate

30 years old Citizen for at least 9 years Legal resident of the state they rep.

Terms for Senators Elections held in Nov. of odd numbered

years Terms start on Jan. 3 6 yr terms

PA SenatorsRobert Casey

DemocratPat ToomeyRepublican

Salaries of Benefits Current salary is $174,000/year

Congress sets its own salary however, 27th Amendment- prohibits a sitting Congress from giving itself a pay raise

Congress’s Job DutiesLegislator – make laws

Committee member- Screen and revise bills

Constituent Rep- represents the people back home

Constituent Servant- Does favors for citizens

Politician- works for the party

The Voting Roles of Congressmen

Trustee- votes based on their own judgment

Delegate- votes based on opinion of the constituents

Partisan- votes with the party

Politico- balances all three