Chapter 4C Flashcards
When does Congress convene?
- every two years
- January 3rd of every odd-numbered year
Organizational Procedures Within House (7 Steps)
- Clerk of House from preceding term presides at beginning of first day’s session.
- Members-to-be choose speaker.
- Speaker takes oath of office.
- Speaker swears in rest of members (as body).
- House elects clerk, parliamentarian, sergeant at arms, chief administrative officer, and chaplain.
- House adopts rules that will govern its proceedings through the term.
- Members of twenty permanent committees are appointed by floor vote.
Organizational Procedures Within Senate
Senate = continuous body (only 1/3 of members are up for election every two years), so it does not face large organizational problems at beginning of its term
Speaker of House
- more powerful presiding officer than Vice President
- elected presiding officer of House and acknowledged leader of his/her majority party
Speaker of House Duties (9)
- preside and keep order
- interprets and applies rules
- refers bills to committees
- rules on points of order
- puts motions to a vote
- decides outcome of most votes
- names members of all select and conference committees
- signs all bills and resolutions passed by House
- MUST vote to break a tie
President of Senate
- Vice President
- unlike House, Senate does not choose its own presiding officer, and its presiding officer is not a member of Senate
- cannot take floor to speak or debate and may ONLY vote to break tie
President Pro Tempore
- serves in Vice President’s absence
- always leading member of majority party
Party Caucas
closed meeting of members of each party of each house
Floor Leaders
-try to carry out decisions of their parties’ caucuses and steer floor action to parties’ benefit
Majority v. Minority Leader
MA- floor leader of party that holds majority of seats in each house of Congress
MI- floor leader of party that holds minority of seats in each house of. Congress
Where is the bulk of Congress’s work really completed?
within committees
Committee Chairman
- decides in what order and at what length committees will consider bill
- whether public hearings are to be held
- what witnesses the committee will call
Seniority Rule
- unwritten custom
- most important posts in Congress will be held by those party members with the longest records of service
Standing Committees
permanent panels to which all similar bills can be sent
House Rules Committee
-decides whether and under what conditions the full House will consider a measure
Special Committee
committee appointed to perform a special function that is beyond the authority or capacity of a standing committee.
Conference Committee
temporary joint body created to resolve bicameral differences of a bill
Bill
proposed law presented to House or Senate for consideration
Public v. Private Bills
PU- apply to nation as a whole
PR- apply to certain persons or place rather than the entire nation
Joint v. Concurrent Resolutions
J: similar to bills (when passed, have force of law); often deal with unusual or temporary matters
C: do not have force of law; deal with matters in which House and Senate must act jointly
How many readings does each bill receive?
First: clerk labels bill with prefix, number, and title
Second: floor consideration
Third: takes place just before final vote
Pigeonhole
to “bury” bill (bill dies in committee)
Discharge Petition
enables members to force a bill that has remained in committee for 30 days onto floor consideration
Committee Actions
- report bill favorably with “do pass” recommendation
- pigeonhole bill
- report bill in amended form
- report bill with an unfavorable recommendation
- report a committee bill