LOUSG chapter 05

Chapter Focus
Section 1 Congressional Membership
Section 2 The House of
Representatives
Section 3 The Senate
Section 4 Congressional Committees
Section 5 Staff and Support Agencies
Chapter Assessment

Chapter Objectives
•

Congressional Membership Describe the
structure of Congress and list the qualifications
for congressional membership.

•

The House of Representatives Describe the
rules and procedures used in the House and
explain its role in the lawmaking process.
The Senate Contrast the Senate’s leadership
and role in the lawmaking process with that of
the House.
Congressional Committees Identify kinds of
congressional committees and principles by
which members serve on them.
Staff and Support Agencies Explain how staff
members and support agencies participate in
the legislative process.

•
•
•

Congressional Membership
Key Terms
bicameral legislature, session, census,
reapportionment, redistrict, gerrymander, at-large,
censure, incumbent

Find Out
• How does apportionment of membership in the
House of Representatives in districts provide
representation to local voters?
• What are the key common characteristics of
members of Congress?

Congressional Membership
Understanding Concepts
Political Processes How well do you think
members of Congress represent the people who
have delegated legal authority to them?

Section Objective
Describe the structure of Congress and list the
qualifications for congressional membership.

Jeanette Rankin, a Republican from Montana,
was the first woman elected to Congress. She
was elected to the House of Representatives
in 1916 and was reelected in 1940.

I. Congressional Sessions (page 123)
A. Each term of Congress has two sessions.
B. Sessions last until Congress votes to adjourn.

I. Congressional Sessions (page 123)

Until 1933 Congress remained in session
only four to six months each year. Should
modern Congresses return to this
schedule? Why or why not?
Answers will vary. Students should support
their opinions with good reasons.

II. Membership of the House (pages 124–127)
A. Members must be at least 25 years old,
citizens for at least 7 years, and residents of
the states they represent.
B. Members serve for two-year terms.
C. The number of representatives from each
state is determined by the census
population count every 10 years.
D. State legislatures set up congressional
districts after the census count, with one
representative from each district.


Today, each House member represents
about 625,000 people. When the population
increases, should Congress add more
members to the House? Why or why not?
No. The size of the House is limited for more
efficient government.

III. Membership of the Senate (pages 128–129)
A. Senators must be at least 30 years old,
citizens for at least 9 years, and residents of
the states they represent.
B. Senators serve for 6-year terms; one-third
are elected every two years.
C. Each state elects two senators.
D. The Senate and the House set their
members’ salaries; members receive
numerous benefits, allowances for office
staffs and business trips, tax breaks for
maintaining two residences, and pensions
when they retire.

E. Both House and Senate members enjoy
immunity from arrest, in cases not involving
a felony or treason, or being sued for libel
when Congress is in session.
F. Both the Senate and House may refuse to
seat a member and may censure or even
expel members.


If you were a politician, would you rather be
a member of the House or the Senate?
Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should cite the
advantages of membership in either chamber.

IV.The Members of Congress (pages 129–130)
A. Nearly half the members of Congress
are lawyers.
B. White, middle-aged male members are
increasingly joined by members reflecting
the ethnic, racial, and gender makeup of
the general population.

C. Most incumbent members of Congress win
reelection to office because they are well
known, find it easier to raise campaign
money, and often represent districts
gerrymandered in favor of their parties.
D. Candidates for Congress have begun using
the Internet as a campaign tool; experts
forecast that Congressional candidates will
make greater use of Web technologies in
the future.


In the late 1990s, members of Congress
faced growing criticism about spending so
much time in office raising money and
planning their reelection campaigns. Do you
think this criticism was justified? Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should support their
opinions with examples.

Checking for Understanding
1. Main Idea In a graphic organizer similar to the
one below, compare the qualifications for
representatives and senators.

House: 25 years old; citizen for 7 years;
resident of state. Senate: 30 years old; citizen
for 9 years; resident of state.

Match the term with the correct definition.

___ bicameral legislation
F

A. a population count

___ censure
D

B. elected official that is
already in office

___ census
A

C. as a whole; for
example, statewide

___ incumbent
B
___ gerrymander
E
___ at-large
C

D. a vote of formal
disapproval of a
member’s actions
E. to draw a district’s
boundaries to gain
advantages in
elections
F. a two-chambered
legislature

3. Identify Elbridge Gerry, Twenty-seventh
Amendment.
Elbridge Gerry was an early DemocraticRepublican governor of Massachusetts whose
redistricting plan that gave his party a political
advantage over the Federalists inspired the
term gerrymandering.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment is the
constitutional amendment that prohibits a sitting
Congress from giving itself a pay raise.

4. How does Congress reapportion House seats
among the states every ten years?
Following the Census, each state’s population
determines how the House seats are
reapportioned.

Critical Thinking
5. Making Inferences Members of Congress
spend part of their time working for reelection.
Which house has a greater percentage of its
time remaining for legislative work? Why?
The Senate has more time because senators
come up for reelection only every six years.
Members of the House face reelection every
two years.

Political Processes What percentage of
people believe that their representative
does not listen to them? Formulate a
questionnaire that surveys voters about
this issue.

The House of Representatives
Key Terms
constituents, caucus, majority leader, whips, bill,
calendars, quorum

Find Out
• Why are committees more important in the
House than they are in the Senate?
• Why is the Rules Committee one of the most
powerful committees in the House?

The House of Representatives
Growth of Democracy Why does the majority
party often get the credit or blame for everything
Congress does?

Section Objective
Describe the rules and procedures used in the
House and explain the House’s role in the
lawmaking process.

The Speaker of the House who served the
longest was Democrat Sam Rayburn of Texas.
He served from 1940–1947,1949–1953, and
1955–1961, for a total of seventeen years. No
other Speaker has served more than 10 years.

I. Rules for Lawmaking (pages 132–134)
A. Each house of Congress has rules to help
members conduct business.
B. Congress carries out most of its work by
committees. Because of its large
membership, committee work is even more
important in the House than in the Senate.
C. Party membership guides Congress in its
work, since the majority party in each
house organizes the committees, appoints
committee heads, and controls the flow
of legislation.

I. Rules for Lawmaking (pages 132–134)

Do you agree or disagree with the House
rule that limits a representative’s
speaking time during a debate? Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should support
their answers with logical reasons.

II. House Leadership (pages 134–135)
A. The Speaker of the House is leader of the
majority party and has great power and
influence over its members.
B. Floor leaders of both the majority and
minority parties are party leaders who help
steer bills through committees.
C. Party whips assist the floor leaders in
persuading party members to support laws
the party favors.

II. House Leadership (pages 134–135)

The Speaker of the House follows the vice
president in the line of presidential
succession. Do you support or object to
this plan? Explain.
Answers will vary. Students should give
sound reasons for the plan they support.

III. Lawmaking in the House (pages 135–137)
A. Members attend House floor sessions to
vote on legislation.
B. All laws begin as bills introduced in the
House, then go to committee. If approved
there, they are put on the proper calendar,
listing the order in which they will be
considered on the House floor.
C. The House Rules Committee receives all
bills approved by the various committees of
the House.

D. The Rules Committee determines which bills
will be considered by the full House and
places them on the House Calendar.
E. The Rules Committee also settles disputes
among other House committees and delays
or blocks bills that representatives and House
leaders do not want to come to a vote.
F. When the Rules Committee sends bills to the
floor, the House may sit as a Committee of
the Whole, in which 100 members constitutes
a quorum, in order to speed up
consideration of an important bill, so that the
full House can then vote on it.


Why is so much of the work of Congress
done in committees?
Committees divide up the tasks and make
them manageable.

one below, show three ways in which the Rules
Committee controls legislation.

Answers might include: directs flow of
legislation; may limit debate on bills; specifies
how much a bill may be amended.


___ constituents
D
___ caucus
A
___ bill
E
___ majority leader
B
___ whips
C
___ quorum
F

A. a private meeting of party leaders
to choose candidates for office
B. the Speaker’s top assistant
C. an assistant to the party floor
leader in the legislature
D. a person whom a member of
Congress has been elected to
represent
E. a proposed law
F. the minimum number of
members who must be present to
permit a legislative body to take
official action

3. Identify Rules Committee.
The Rules Committee serves as the “traffic
officer” in the House, helping to direct the flow of
major legislation.

4. Analyze the role of House committees.
Committees enable House members to
efficiently accomplish their work with more
influence as a group than they could have as
individuals on the House floor.

5. How does a representative introduce a bill in
the House?
The representative drops a copy of the bill into
the “hopper.”

Critical Thinking
5. Understanding Cause and Effect Why are
changes in House rules more likely to occur
when political control of the House shifts to
another party?
Answers will vary, but students may suggest
that once a party gains majority power, it will
want to do things its own way, so it will establish
its own rules.

Growth of Democracy Browse through
current newspapers and magazines to
find out what legislation the majority
party in the House is trying to pass.
Make a chart of the key legislation and
record its progress for several weeks.

The Senate
Key Terms
president pro tempore, filibuster, cloture

Find Out
• Why does the Senate have fewer rules and a less
formal atmosphere than the House?
• Why does the Senate usually take longer than
the House to pass a bill?

The Senate
Growth of Democracy Why do floor debates in
the Senate often include powerful speeches
charged with emotion?

Section Objective
Contrast the Senate’s leadership and role in the
lawmaking process with that of the House of
Representatives.

You have probably heard someone say that
“talk is cheap.” Not in the Senate, where in a
1953 debate senators opposed to a bill about
offshore oil drilling rights added 1,241,414
words to the pages of the Congressional Record
—and increased the printing cost by several
thousand dollars.

I. The Senate at Work (pages 138–140)
A. The Senate has fewer rules than the House.
Senators have more freedom to express
their views and are less subject to party
discipline than representatives.
B. The atmosphere in the Senate is more
informal than in the House.
C. The vice president presides over the Senate
but has much less power and influence there
than does the Speaker of the House; the
president pro tempore often presides in
the Senate.

D. The Senate majority floor leader is
responsible for guiding bills through the
Senate; the minority floor leader develops
criticisms of majority party bills and tries to
keep the opposition party members
working together.
E. Majority and minority floor whips assist their
floor leaders in making sure members are
present for key Senate votes.
F. Senate leaders control the flow of bills to
committees and to the floor for debate; there
is no Senate committee comparable to the
House Rules Committee.

G. The Senate has only two calendars—the
Calendar of General Orders, which
schedules bills to be considered in the
Senate, and the Executive Calendar, which
schedules treaties and nominations.
H. A filibuster—a stalling of the legislative
procedure to prevent a vote—can be ended
only by a three-fifths vote; in recent years
the filibuster has lost effectiveness as a
legislative weapon because new rules allow
other matters to continue at the same time.
I. The majority party controls the flow of
legislative work in the Senate.


Why does the committee system have a
less important role in the Senate than in
the House of Representatives?
More discussion takes place on the floor of the
Senate because there are fewer senators.

one below, analyze the relationship between the
Senate majority and minority leaders, whips,
and assistant whips.

From top to bottom: majority leader, majority
whip, assistant majority whip; minority leader,
minority whip, assistant minority whip.


___ cloture
B
___ filibuster
A
___ president
C
pro tempre

A. a method of defeating a bill in
the Senate by stalling the
legislative process and
preventing a vote
B. a procedure that allows each
senator to speak only 1 hour on
a bill under debate
C. the Senate member, elected by
the Senate, who stands in as
president of the Senate in the
absence of the vice president

3. Identify Calendar of General Orders.
The Calendar of General Orders is a listing of
all the bills the Senate will consider.

4. How does the Senate bring bills to the floor?
Through unanimous consent, all senators
present agree to consider a bill from
the calendar.

Critical Thinking
5. Making Comparisons Compare the rules
and procedures of the House with those of
the Senate.
Possible answer: The Senate has a more
informal atmosphere than the House and
follows more flexible rules; furthermore,
senators generally can act more independently
than members of the House do.

Growth in Democracy Search through
a reference work of historic speeches.
Use one of the speeches as a model for
a persuasive speech of your own.

Congressional Committees
Key Terms
standing committee, subcommittee, select
committee, joint committee, conference committee,
seniority system

Find Out
• Why are several different kinds of committees
necessary in the House and Senate?
• Why are committee chairpersons considered the
most powerful members of Congress?

Congressional Committees
Political Processes Why have committees
become the power centers in Congress?

Section Objective
Identify kinds of committees and why members
serve on them.

In the early 1950s Wisconsin Senator Joseph
McCarthy, chairman of the Committee on
Government Operations, treated witnesses
before that committee so harshly, ignoring
their constitutional rights, that the Senate later
censured him. Such misconduct now is often
called “McCarthyism.”

I. Purposes of Committees (page 141)
A. Committees ease Congressional workload
by dividing work among smaller groups,
allowing members to specialize on key
issues.
B. Committees allow members to discuss and
select the most important bills Congress
will consider.
C. Committees hold investigative public
hearings on key problems and issues to
inform the public.

I. Purposes of Committees (page 141)

Identify some advantages and disadvantages
to working out a compromise on a bill.
Advantages: wider support in Congress,
more care in crafting legislation.
Disadvantages: bill loses original focus; it
takes a longer time.

II. Kinds of Committees (pages 142–144)
A. Standing committees deal with certain
issues continuing from one Congress to
the next.
B. The majority party in each house controls
standing committees and bases committee
membership on each party’s strength.
C. Subcommittees handle special
subcategories of standing committees’ work
and continue from one Congress to the next.
D. Select committees are special committees
created in both houses of Congress, usually
for one term only, to study a specific issue
and report their findings.

E. Joint committees are made up of members
of both houses to act as study groups.
F. Conference committees are temporary
committees set up to resolve the differences
in the House and Senate versions of a bill by
working out a compromise bill that each
house then can accept or reject.


Identify some issues that you think are
important enough to create a select
congressional committee.
Answers will vary. See list of types of issues
on page 143.

III. Choosing Committee Members (pages 144–145)
A. Membership in committees is one key role
played by members of Congress.
B. Membership on certain committees:
1. helps members to build reputations and
to increase their chances for reelection;
2. gives members a chance to influence
important national legislation;
3. enables members to influence other
members since those committees
deal with issues that are important to
all members.

C. In both houses, both parties assign
members to the standing committees.
D. The party leaders and chairpersons of the
standing committees are the most powerful
members of Congress.
E. Standing committee chairpersons make key
decisions about the work of their
committees, though their power has been
reduced since 1970.
F. Seniority traditionally guided the election of
chairpersons until the 1970s.


Members of Congress who have served the
longest often head key committees and have
an important voice in passing legislation. Do
you think this seniority system helps
Congress to operate more effectively?
Explain your viewpoint.
Answers will vary. See seniority system
page 145.

1. Main Idea In a Venn diagram, show how a
conference committee and a joint committee are
alike and how they are different.

Conference committees resolve differences
between conflicting versions of a bill. Joint
committees act as study groups. Both have
members from the Senate and House.


___ conference
C
committee
___ joint
D
committee
___ select
A
committee
___ standing
B
committee

A. a temporary committee formed to
study one specific issue and
reports its findings to the Senate
or the House
B. a permanent committee in
Congress that oversees bills that
deal with certain kinds of issues
C. a temporary joint committee set up
when the House and Senate have
passed different versions of the
same bill
D. a committee of the House and
Senate that usually acts as a
study group and reports its
findings back to the House and
Senate

3. Identify Select Intelligence, Rules, Ways and
Means, Appropriations Committees.
The Select Intelligence Committee is one of
several committees that have been reclassified
as permanent committees.
The Rules, Ways and Means, and
Appropriations Committees are key
committees within the House of Representatives.

4. List four important powers of a committee
chairperson.
Any four: makes key decisions about
committee work, decides when hearings will
be held and which witnesses will be called,
hires committee staff members, controls the
committee budget, manages floor debates
over the bills from the committee.

Critical Thinking
5. Making Inferences Why did Republicans,
when they won control of Congress in 1995,
institute many rule changes?
Possible answer: The majority party can set
the rules, and the Republicans wanted to do
things in ways that were more comfortable for
them or that they considered more efficient.

Political Processes Watch coverage of
a congressional committee on television,
or read about it in a newspaper. Outline
the major issues presented in the
testimony before the committee. Write a
position paper in which you agree or
disagree with the witnesses.

Staff and Support Agencies
Key Terms
personal staff, committee staff, administrative
assistant, legislative assistant, caseworker

Find Out
• Why do members of Congress have large
personal and committee staffs?
• How could a committee staffer have more
influence than a member of Congress over a
proposed bill?

Staff and Support Agencies
Political Processes How do staffs and support
agencies help members of Congress carry out their
many responsibilities?

Section Objective
Explain how staff members and support agencies
participate in the legislative process.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest
library, as of 2000 housing more than 18
million books and 71 million maps,
recordings, photographs, and manuscripts.
One of its most treasured items is the
Gutenberg Bible, which is on permanent
display for visitors to see.

I. Congressional Staff Role (pages 146–147)
A. Lawmakers rely on their staffs to help with
many congressional duties.
B. As congressional workloads have increased,
staff duties have become increasingly
important as well.

I. Congressional Staff Role (pages 146–147)

In 1995 Congress cut the congressional staff
by one-third. Do you think this reduction was
necessary? Explain your answer.
Answers will vary. Staff cuts are rare, but this
one had bipartisan support.

II. Congressional Staff Growth (page 147)
A. Prior to 1946, Congress had no staff aides. In
recent decades, increased complexity has
resulted in much larger congressional staffs.
B. Congressional staffs provide expert help on
key issues and help members of Congress
serve constituents’ growing demands.

II. Congressional Staff Growth (page 147)

Should members of Congress be responsible
for helping private citizens resolve their
difficulties with government agencies? Why
or why not?
Answers will vary. See constituent service under
Congressional Staff Growth on page 147.

III. Personal Staffs (pages 147–148)
A. Members’ personal staffs are divided so
that some staffers work in Washington and
others work in members’ home states.
B. Administrative assistants run lawmakers’
offices, supervise schedules, and advise on
political matters.
C. Legislative assistants keep lawmakers well
informed about bills, assist in committee
work, write speeches, and keep track of the
workflow.
D. Caseworkers are congressional personal
staff members who handle requests from
constituents; they usually staff members’
offices in their home states.

III. Personal Staffs (pages 147–148)

Congressional staffers are not elected, yet
they sometimes exert great power and
influence in the lawmaking process. What
are some advantages and disadvantages
of this system?
Advantages: staff provides expert information;
helps manage workload.
Disadvantages: may be out of touch with the
people; may have too much influence.

IV.Committee Staff (pages 148–149)
A. Committee staffs work for congressional
committees, assisting chairpersons as
bills proceed through various committees
to the floor.
B. Committee staff members often become
experts in the areas their committees
handle; critics argue that staff members are
unelected, yet they have a large role in
shaping legislation.

IV.Committee Staff (pages 148–149)

What are the advantages and disadvantages
of having an experienced staffer remain with
the same committee for many years?
Answers will vary but should show evidence and
understanding of committee work.

V. Support Agencies (pages 149–150)
A. The Library of Congress provides
information requested by Congress,
congressional staff, and committees.
B. The Congressional Budget Office
coordinates budget making, studies
presidential budget proposals, projects
new program costs, and tracks
congressional spending.

C. The General Accounting Office is the
watchdog over the spending of funds
appropriated by Congress, informing
members about specific program costs.
D. The Government Printing Office serves the
federal government by printing the
Congressional Record, a complete account
of all congressional speeches and testimony,
and the Statistical Abstract of the United
States, an annual publication.


What is the main advantage of having
congressional support agencies that are
independent of the executive branch?
Agencies that support Congress are responsible
only to Congress.

1. Main Idea In a graphic organizer like the one
shown, analyze the differences between
personal staff and committee staff in Congress.

Personal: work directly for individual senators and
representatives; run the lawmaker’s office; research
and draft bills; attend committee meetings; prepare
speeches; handle requests for help from
constituents. Committee: work for many House and
Senate committee members; draft bills; study
issues; collect information; plan committee hearings;
write memos; prepare committee reports.


___ administrative
B
assistant

A. work for House and
Senate committees

___ caseworker
C

B. runs lawmaker’s office,
supervises schedule,
and gives advice

___ committee staff
A
___ legislative
E
assistant
___ personal staff
D

C. handles requests from
constituents
D. work directly for
individual senators and
representatives
E. makes certain lawmaker
is well informed about
proposed legislation

3. Identify Library of Congress, Congressional
Budget Office, General Accounting Office,
Government Printing Office.
The Library of Congress is one of the largest libraries in
the world.
The Congressional Budget Office coordinates the
budget-making work of Congress, studies the budget
proposals put forward by the president each year, and
makes cost projections of proposed new programs.
The General Accounting Office is the nation’s watchdog
over the spending of funds Congress appropriates.
The Government Printing Office is the largest multipurpose printing plant in the world and does the printing for
the entire federal government.

4. Why did the numbers of congressional staff
increase rapidly after 1900?
Staffs grew to cope with the growing complexity
of lawmaking and increasing numbers of
constituents.

Critical Thinking
5. Demonstrating Reasoned Judgment Why do
you think the comptroller general who oversees
the General Accounting Office is appointed for a
15-year term?
Possible answer: The comptroller general
needs to serve a long term to trace the ways in
which Congress appropriates and spends funds.

Political Processes Create a political
cartoon that includes a caption about the
role of committee staff in Congress.
Take a position on whether professional
staff members have too much power.

Reviewing Key Terms
Match each term below with one of the following phrases or terms.

a. House

b. Senate

___ 1. bill
c

c. Both chambers
___ 6. joint committee
c

___ 2. majority leader ___ 7. redistricting
c
a
___ 3. gerrymandering ___ 8. reapportionment
a
a
___ 4. filibuster
b

___ 9. censure
c

___ 5. constituents
c

___ 10. incumbent
c

Recalling Facts
1. What are the qualifications for members of the
House and Senate?
Representatives must be at least 25 years old,
citizens of the United States for at least 7 years,
and legal residents of the state that elects them.
Senators must be at least 30 years old, citizens
of the United States for 9 years, and legal
residents of the state they represent.
2. Identify the most powerful committee in the
House of Representatives.
The House Rules Committee is the most
powerful committee in the House of
Representatives.

Recalling Facts
3. List four advantages incumbents have in
running for office.
Incumbents find it easier to raise campaign
funds; they often represent districts that have
been gerrymandered in their party’s favor; they
are better known to voters; they use their
positions and office staff to help solve problems
for voters.
4. How do House rules differ from Senate rules?
Senate rules are more flexible than House rules.
Senate rules are designed to give all senators
maximum freedom to express their ideas. House
rules are more complex and are designed to
move legislation quickly once it reaches the floor.

Recalling Facts
5. What position in the Senate does the vice
president serve?
The vice president serves as president of
the Senate.

1. Political Processes How does the census
affect the reapportionment of the House?
A state’s population determines its number of
House members.

2. Growth of Democracy Why does the
Constitution provide for free and unlimited
debate in Congress?
Free and unlimited debate in Congress ensures
that legislators would have the freedom to
express their ideas and opinions.

3. Political Processes How does the majority
party in each house determine the flow of
legislation?
In both houses the majority party selects the
leaders and controls the flow of legislative work.
The House majority leader plans the party’s
legislative program and steers important bills
through the House, making sure that
committees complete their work on important
bills. The majority leader of the Senate steers
bills through the Senate and plans the Senate’s
work schedule with the minority leader.

Critical Thinking
1. Making Inferences Why are bills that minority
party members introduce unlikely to be reported
out of committee?
Minority leaders have no power over
scheduling work in the House, so a bill
introduced by a minority party member may
never reach the floor.

Critical Thinking
2. Making Comparisons In a graphic organizer
like the one below, compare the duties of a
congressional administrative assistant with
those of a legislative assistant.

Administrative: run the lawmaker’s office;
supervise schedules; give advice on
political matters.
Legislative: attend committee meetings; keep
track of work on floor of Congress; keep the
lawmaker informed.

Interpreting Political Cartoons Activity
1. What is the subject
of this cartoon?
The subject is
incumbent
members of
Congress.

2. What do the roots
of the tree trunk
symbolize?
The roots
represent the
network of support
that incumbents
build—a network
that makes it hard
for them to be
“uprooted” by a
challenger at
election time.

3. According to this
cartoon, how
difficult is it to
unseat an
incumbent?
It is extremely
difficult.

What is the House mace, and has it ever
been used?
The mace is a 46-inch-long staff topped
by a silver globe and an eagle with
outstretched wings. The sergeant-at-arms
has used the mace to restore order on
several occasions. Sometimes the
Speaker has ordered the sergeant-atarms to parade it up and down aisles to
quiet agitated members.

1) Governor Elbridge Gerry

2) Massachusetts

3) 1812

2) New York and
Pennsylvania
1) New York ranked first in 1890, third in 2004

3) California, Texas, and
Florida

1) the Republicans
2) the Republicans
3) Possible answer:
disappointment with Congress
performance, a general shift back
to the Democrats

2) joint committees
1) standing committees,
subcommittees, and
select committees

3) to reconcile the House
and Senate versions
of bills

1) by completing more
than 875,000 research
requests for
Congress

2) discs, tapes, photographs,
prints, and moving images

3) about 216
million

Following Local Coverage of Congress Begin the
chapter by watching a local half-hour evening news
program (not national or cable news) and jotting down a
note about any stories relating to members of Congress.
During the course of the chapter, continue to watch the
same local news (perhaps three times a week) and note
relevant stories. When finished watching, respond to the
following questions:
• Overall, about how much of the local coverage
mentioned the work of members of Congress?
• How much coverage was given to members that
represent your district or state?
• If you were the news director, would you change the
program’s coverage of Congress? Why or why not?

Congressional Staff Growth By 1900, fewer than
300 people served on congressional staffs.
Complaining about the later growth of these staffs,
Senator Herman Talmadge (D-Georgia) said, “We
have got a lot of bright-eyed, idealistic young
people right out of law school, seeking new worlds
to conquer. They spend virtually all of their time
writing speeches . . . and developing brand new
spending programs . . . and if you double the staff
you double the amendments and double the costly
new programs.”

What’s in a Name?
The Founders named the U.S. Senate after ancient
Rome’s highest political body. At the time, 9 of the 13
colonies named their upper bodies “senate.” The
House of Representatives lacked such a grand,
historic origin. “House” simply refers to a legislative
body or assembly of representatives. The Founders
may have borrowed the name from the Virginia House
of Burgesses.

Term Limits In both bodies of Congress,
members may serve for an unlimited number of
terms. The issue of term limits has been debated
since the founding of our nation. Organize two
teams—one in favor of term limits and the other
against them—and have the teams debate the
issue. Jot down the key points in each side’s
argument for follow-up discussion, during which
students can vote for the view that they think
provides Americans with better representation.

Parliamentarians in Congress advise the presiding
officers of the House and Senate about parliamentary
rules and procedures. They also counsel members of
Congress on procedures for routing legislation and
decide which committees have jurisdiction over bills.
Activity: Review the importance of parliamentary
procedure, discuss why parliamentarians would be
considered powerful employees of Congress and how
the student parliamentarian (in the textbook activity)
influenced the class meeting.

Interviewing Caseworkers Interview a
caseworker for a member of Congress. Ask and
report to the class the caseworker’s responses to
questions about his or her daily responsibilities,
contact with the office in Washington, and so on.

Technology The Library of Congress is an invaluable
resource for legislators and their staffs, but it also is
available to the public—and people do not have to go to
Washington to use it. Students may be interested in
exploring the Library of Congress via its official Web
site at http://www.loc.gov/.

Vernon Baker
In 1996 the Pentagon leadership conceded that racism
was the reason that no African Americans had been
awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II. President
Clinton awarded Baker the medal, announcing, “Today
we fill the gap in that picture and give a group of heroes
who also loved peace—but adapted themselves to war
—the tribute that has always been their due.”
Activity: Work in groups to research the history of
discrimination in the United States armed forces.
Present your findings to the class in the form of a time
line, a photo or art essay, or a skit.

More About the V-Chip Networks and TV
programmers disapprove of the V-chip. They are
worried about the potential loss of advertising revenue
and creative control, and they question the
constitutionality of the V-chip law. Television networks
protest that the V-chip plan violates free speech rights
of programmers, and they support a $2 million fund to
develop alternative blocking technology.

Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814)
Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814) served the United
States with distinction. In 1776 he was a member of
the Continental Congress and a signer of the
Declaration of Independence. In 1787 he
represented Massachusetts at the Constitutional
Convention. Even after the term gerrymandering
was coined, Gerry received honorable recognition.
From 1813 to his death he served as vice president
during President James Madison’s second term.

Ron Wyden
Ron Wyden of Oregon was the first person to be
elected to the Senate entirely by mail. In early
1996, he won a special election in Oregon to fill the
unexpired term of Senator Robert Packwood, who
resigned in 1995. Ballots were mailed to voters on
January 10 and had to be mailed back or dropped
off at specific locations before 8 P.M. on January
30. (On Super Tuesday in 1996, Oregon also held
the first presidential primary conducted entirely by
mail-in ballot.)

Sam Rayburn (1882–1961)
Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) was one of the most
influential Speakers of the House. He served in that
position for more than 17 years between 1940 and
1961. Rayburn (1882–1961) was respected for his
accessibility and for his personal integrity, which he
revealed in comments like these:
“There are no degrees of truthfulness. You are 100
percent, or you are not.”
“If you’re convinced in your heart that something is
right, do it, go after it, fight for it, even if you find
yourself in a minority of one.”

Thomas Reed
Thomas Reed served as Speaker from 1889 to
1891 and from 1895 to 1899. He was sometimes
called “Czar Reed” because of the aggressive way
he controlled the House. Before he became
Speaker, members of the minority party would try
to block the majority party by refusing to be counted
in the quorum for a vote. One of Reed’s first actions
as Speaker was to count all members who were
present, whether they liked it or not—even having
the House chamber doors locked so that no
member could escape.

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LOUSG chapter 05

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LOUSG chapter 05