CONGRESS: THE NATIONAL LEGISLATURE

Question 1

Article 1 of the Constitution established a…

Answer 1

Bicameral Legislature

Question 2

What is a Bicameral Legislature?

Answer 2

a two house lawmaking body

Question 3

What are Express Powers?

Answer 3

powers listed/mentioned in the constitution

Question 4

What are the powers of Congress?

Answer 4

• Power to tax
• Declare war
• Print Money
• Regulate Trade
• Establish Post Offices
• Establish Court (other than supreme court)
• Raise and support an army and navy
• Power to call the Nation Guard

Question 5

what is the U.S House of Representatives?

Answer 5

• Lower chamber of Congress
• Constituency (a body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body) is made up of a district or section of a state

Question 6

Requirements to Serve in the U.S. House of Representatives

Answer 6

• At least 25 years old
• At least 7 years of citizenship
• Live in the state you represent

Question 7

How long is the term for U.S. House of Representatives?

Answer 7

2 years

Question 8

What is the U.S. Senate?

Answer 8

• Higher chamber of congress
• Constituency (a body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body) is made up of the entire state
  -Every state gets 2 senators

Question 9

Requirements to Serve in the U.S. Senate

Answer 9

• At least 30 years old
• Nine years of citizenship
• Live in the state you represent

Question 10

How long is the term for the U.S. Senate

Answer 10

• 6 years
• 1/3 of the senate is up for re-election every 2 years.

Question 11

What is a Bill?

Answer 11

a piece of legislation that has yet to become law

Question 12

How must a bill become a law?

Answer 12

The EXACT same bill must go through both the House and the Senate.

Question 13

What are the steps for a Bill process?

Answer 13

(Happens in both chambers 1-3)
1) Bill introduced to Congress (must be introduced by a Congressman)
2) Goes to Committee: (subcommittee reviews, changes and rewrites the bill- he refers it back to the committee for final decision)
3) Floor Vote: The bill goes to the floor (of whichever chamber starts the bill): All the members of that chamber of congress, debate and pass amendments (changes) to the bill, and vote as to whether pass it or not.
4) Bill goes back to the House and Senate for the final vote
5) Presidential Decision

Question 14

What is a Markup?

Answer 14

term for the markings of the committee / subcommittee put on a bill that must be written into the final text.

Question 15

What is logrolling?

Answer 15

the practice of congressmen to trade votes with one another on different pieces of legislation

Question 16

In the Senate amendments must be …

Answer 16

Germane, or relevant to the subject of the bill

Question 17

Who is in charge to resolve any differences between House and Senate bills?

Answer 17

The Conference Committees

Question 18

When it comes to the Presidential Decision step in the bill process, there are 3 options for a bill. What are they?

Answer 18

• Sign it: the bill becomes a law
• Veto it: reject the bill, sending it back to congress to try again.
• Pocket Veto: President “puts the veto in his pocket” - if Congress adjourns within ten days, the bill is dead.

Question 19

What is a Filibuster?

Answer 19

a strategy where a senator that opposes a bill attempts to talk a bill to death

Question 20

What is a Cloture?

Answer 20

Rule that allows 60 senators (must be present) to vote to stop a filibuster

Question 21

What are Powers Unique to the House?

Answer 21

• House begins all revenue bills
• Bring up impeachment charges - needs a simple majority vote.
• Elect the president, when there is no majority in the electoral college

Question 22

Revenue Focuses on….

Answer 22

anything that raises money for the government

Question 23

What is a Trustee Model?

Answer 23

a member of Congress makes their decisions based on their personal beliefs, or based on the public good.

Question 24

What is a Delegate Model?

Answer 24

decisions made be elected officials mirror citizens views

Question 25

The Politico Model of representation is a

Answer 25

combination of both the delegate and trustee models.

Question 26

Powers Unique to the Senate

Answer 26

Ratifying all treaties by a 2/3 vote
*Provides a check on the President – President makes treaties, Senate may approve or deny them.

Advice and consent: approval power of presidential nominees with a simple majority vote
*Same as ratifying treaties, the president hires for government positions, the Senate must give their “advice and consent” on who the president nominates.

Impeachment Trial (Removal Power): conduct the trial for impeachment (2/3 vote to convict) – president is removed and banned from running for political office again.

Question 27

Impeachment Power

Answer 27

formal charges for “treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
1. With a majority vote in the House, articles of impeachment (formal charges) are made against the offical.
2. If two-thirds (2/3) of the Senate votes to convict at the impeachment trial – the official is removed from office and banned from running again in the future.

Question 28

Committee Chairman (“Chair”)

Answer 28

highest-ranking committee member (from the majority party).
*Chairmanships are decided generally by the seniority rule, being that the longest-serving member from the majority party becomes the chair.

Question 29

Ranking Member

Answer 29

highest ranking committee member (from the minority party).

Question 30

Leadership in the House is …

Answer 30

stronger, and has more control over the members.

Question 31

Leadership in the Senate is…

Answer 31

weaker than the House, and has less control over the members.

Question 32

Speaker of the House

Answer 32

The top officer (and only officer mentioned in the Constitution) in the House is the Speaker of the House.
- The Speaker elected by the majority party in the House of Representatives.

Question 33

Powers of the Speaker

Answer 33

Oversees the entire House.

Set the agenda for the year (what bills / policies the House will focus on / vote on).
*All votes for bills are scheduled on a legislative calendar.

Decides which committees will review each bill in the House.

Question 34

Majority Leader

Answer 34

Floor leader for the majority party
–
responsible for working with the other leaders in the majority party to collect votes for their party’s bills.

Question 35

Minority Leader

Answer 35

responsible for working with the other leaders in the minority party to collect votes for their party’s bills and oppose the majority party.

Question 36

Majority / Minority Whips

Answer 36

third ranking officer –
works with their other party leaders to …
Conduct early vote counts – predict the success or failure of a bill.
Keep the members of the party voting the way the leadership wants them to.

Question 37

Majority Whip

Answer 37

Collect votes from congressmen to pass the majority party’s bills.

Question 38

Minority Whip

Answer 38

Collect votes from congressmen to oppose the majority’s votes.

Question 39

President of the Senate

Answer 39

oversees the Senate
Casts tie breaking vote in the Senate (only when required).

Question 40

President Pro Tempore

Answer 40

The only role of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate is to oversee the Senate in the absence of the President of the Senate.

**This has become basically a ceremonial position given to the longest serving Senator in the majority party.

Question 41

Senate Majority Leader

Answer 41

Leader of the majority political party in the Senate
The Majority Leader is the member in the Senate leadership that sets the agenda for the Senate.

Question 42

Senate Minority Leader

Answer 42

Leader of the minority political party in the Senate.

Question 43

Senate Whips: same roles that they have in the House.
Whips have fewer votes to “whip,” or collect, than in the House (435 House members, 100 Senators) – and senators are more independent-minded than representatives.