Congress at Work

• Of the thousands of bills introduced in each session, only a few hundred become laws. Most die in the committees of Congress or a later vetoed by the president.

• This chapter introduces the lawmaking process and explores how it works.

Types of Bills

Private bills deal with individual people and places. They often involve people’s claims against the government or their immigration problems.

Public bills deal with general matters and apply to the entire nation.

Resolutions and Riders• Resolutions-Congress may also pass several types of

resolutions to deal with unusual or temporary matters. A simple resolution covers matters affecting only one house of Congress and is passed by that house alone. Joint resolution-both houses pass and the president’s signature gives it the force of law.

• Concurrent resolution covers matters requiring the action of the House and Senate, but on which a law is not needed. Like for the adjournment of Congress.

• Riders is attached to a bill, it is a provision on a subject other than the one covered in the bill.

Major Influences on lawmakers• Lawmaker’s political party

• Speaker of the House/Vice President

• Special interest groups-The representatives of these groups are call lobbyists. Their efforts are to persuade officials to support their point of view with issues like: labor unions, doctors, education groups, minority groups, and environmental organizations.

• Constituents of home state/district

• Staff/committee members

Caseworkers (Staff members)

Caseworkers• Staff members

– Can handle the requests themselves

– If not…lawmaker gets directly involved

Purpose• Helps lawmakers get

reelected• Provides the average

citizen a way to deal w/national gov’t

• How Congress oversees the executive branch

Section 4 Helping Constituents

Major influences on lawmakers (cont.) • Campaign fund contributors-PAC’S are political fund

raising organizations established by corporations, tobacco companies, pharmaceutical companies, labor unions, and other special-interest groups.

• Each other-Lawmakers take the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” approach to public works legislation. Agreements by two or more lawmakers to support each other’s bills is called logrolling.

Party Politics on Common Issues

Republicans• Support for higher-

income groups• Less spending for

gov’t programs• Less gov’t regulation• Local & State solution

to problems• Free-market solutions

Democrats• Help for low-income

people• Social welfare

programs• Gov’t regulation of

business• Job programs• Less military spending

Pork-Barrel Legislation

• Congressmen use their contacts/position to bring projects to their home state

•Lawmakers help citizens, businesses, and local governments compete for grants and contracts

Federal Grants and Contracts

•Expert staff members help their home states qualify for new projects and to keep the ones they already have

Keeping Federal Projects

Pork-barrel Legislation-”Bringing home the bacon to his or her congressional district”

• The idea is that a member of Congress has dipped in the pork barrel(the federal treasury) and pulled out a piece of “fat” (a federal project for his or her district).

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How a Bill Becomes a Law-Who can propose a law?How a Bill Becomes a Law-Who can propose a law?• Anyone can suggest an idea for a law.• However, only a Member of Congress can take a proposed

law to the House of Representatives or the Senate.

A member of the House or Senate drafts a bill.They submit the bill to the House or Senate. The bill is assigned a number that begins with:

• H.R. for House of Representatives• S. for Senate

The bill is then sent to the appropriate committee.

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The Standing CommitteeThe Standing Committee

• This is a permanent committee in the House or Senate that studies bills related to a general topic, such as education, agriculture or science.

• The committee chair assigns the bill to the appropriate subcommittee.

• Pigeonholing-Under the chairperson’s leadership, the committee can ignore the bill and simply let it die. This procedure is call “pigeonholing” a bill.

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The SubcommitteeThe Subcommittee• The subcommittee studies bills related to a sub-set of

the topics covered by the standing committee.• All of the members of the subcommittee are part of the

standing committee.• Most of the discussion in Congress takes place here.• The chair of the subcommittee, in consultation with

other committee members, decides whether to schedule a bill for discussion.

• The subcommittee may also decide to stop action on a bill that they think is not necessary or wise. The bill then dies.

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The Subcommittee - continuedThe Subcommittee - continued• The subcommittee first holds hearings on the bill, giving

supporters, opponents and experts a chance to voice their views.

• Amendments (changes) to the bill are then suggested and voted on.

• The subcommittee may also decide to write an entirely new bill.

• Finally, the subcommittee votes on whether to take the bill to the full committee for a vote.

• If the bill does not pass, it dies.

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The Standing CommitteeThe Standing Committee

• The committee discusses the bill.• Committee members suggest and vote on

amendments.• The committee votes on whether to send the bill

to the full House or Senate.

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The Standing Committee – cont.The Standing Committee – cont.• If the bill passes, the committee writes a report

explaining:• The key points of the bill• The changes they have made• How this bill compares to current laws• Why they recommend this bill for approval

• The bill and the report are then sent to the full House or Senate.

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The Floor (whole House or Senate)The Floor (whole House or Senate)

• The bill is placed on the calendar of the House or Senate until it is scheduled for discussion.

• The House and Senate have different rules for debating the bill.The House is chaired by the Speaker of the HouseBefore debate begins, a time limit is set for how long any Member can speak (usually 1 – 5 minutes). First a Member speaks who is for the bill and then one who is against the bill. Debate continues in this way.

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Debate on the House floor – cont.Debate on the House floor – cont.

• Debate on a bill can be ended by a simple majority vote.

• Following this debate, amendments to the bill can then be suggested and debated. The same rules apply.

• Finally, the bill is put to a vote.

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Debate on the Senate floorDebate on the Senate floor

• The Senate is chaired by the Vice President; the President Pro Tempore may chair in his place.

• There are no time limits to debate in the Senate. Members may speak for as long as they choose.

• Amendments may be offered at any time during debate.

• At the end of debate, the bill is put to a vote.

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What happens next?What happens next?

• Both the House and the Senate must pass similar forms of a bill.

• If a bill is passed in only the House or the Senate, it is sent to the other one for debate, amendment and a vote.

• After both the House and the Senate have passed similar bills, the two bills are sent to a conference committee.

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The Conference CommitteeThe Conference Committee• The conference committee includes members of both the

House and the Senate.• The committee discusses the differences between the two

bills. • They re-write the bill in a form that they think will pass in both

the House and the Senate and vote on it.• After they pass the re-written bill, the committee writes a

report that contains:• The re-written bill• An explanation of how they worked out the differences

between the two bills

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Back to the floorBack to the floor

• The conference committee report with the re-written bill is sent to the House for a vote.

• If the House passes the bill, it is sent to the Senate.

• If the House or the Senate does not pass the bill, it dies.

• If the bill passes in both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the President.

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The PresidentThe President

The President has 4 options:1. Sign into law. He can sign the bill, which

then becomes a law.2. Law without signature. He can let the bill

sit on his desk for 10 days without signing it while Congress is in session. The bill then becomes a law.

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The President - continuedThe President - continued

3. Veto. He can choose to not sign the bill, so it will not become a law. However, if the bill is then passed by 2/3 of both the House and the Senate, it still becomes a law.

4. Pocket veto. If, after 10 days, he has not signed it and Congress is no longer in session, the bill does not become a law.

Taxing and Spending BillsGetting Money to operate our Government: Remember the

National Government gets most of the money it needs from taxes.

Appropriating money: This is the power or approval of government spending. Article I sec. 9- “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law”

Some of these expenditures are known as entitlements because they are social programs that continue from one year to the next.

Taxing and Spending Bills

• The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the exclusive power to start all revenue measures.

• All important work on tax laws occurs in the House Ways and Means Committee. This committee decides whether or not to go along with presidential requests for tax cuts or increases.

House Influence of Tax Bills• Ways and Means Committee

– Accepts or rejects presidential requests for tax increases and cuts

– Makes rules to determine who pays what taxes and who receives tax benefits

Chapter 7

Senate Influence of Tax Bills

Finance CommitteeProposes amendments to tax billsEliminates provisions senators object to More powerful than W&M committee

Appropriating Money

• In addition to passing tax laws to raise money, Congress has another important power over government spending. The power of appropriation, or approval of government spending is a congressional responsibility.

• An authorization bill sets up a federal program and specifies how much money may be appropriated for that program.

Appropriations Committee

Committee Powers

• Decide to increase or cut agency budgets

• Receive, review, and amend appropriations requests from executive agencies

Limitations• Kill bills• Affect uncontrollable

expenditures and entitlements– 70% of budget is

already allocated to programs, projects, etc