The Senate

The Senate

• 17th Amendment – senators elected by popular vote of people

• Each state has 2 Senators

• Senate has 100 voting members (no non-voting delegates)

• Senate elections are staggered – 1/3 elected every 2 years – each Senator term is 6 years

• No limit on number of times a Senator can serve

• Senators chosen by the entire state, not districts

• Has special treaty ratification powers and confirmation powers of presidential appointees

The Senate: Georgia’s Senators

Johnny Isakson (R) Saxby Chambliss (R)

The Senate - Chamber

The Senate:Leadership

Vice President

Majority Party Leader(Floor Leader)

Majority Party Whip(Assistant Floor Leader)

Minority Party Leader(Floor Leader)

President Pro Tempore

Committee Chairs

Minority Party Whip(Assistant Floor Leader)

The Senate:Leadership

• President of the Senate

• VP Joe Biden Presides over Senate, but

does not debate Also does not vote,

unless to break a tie Ceremonial position with

little power

The Senate:Leadership

• President Pro Tempore

• Robert V. Byrd (D-DL) Stands in as President when

VP is not present By tradition, usually the

most senior Senator of

the majority party Unlike the VP, is a voting

member

The Senate:Leadership

• Majority Floor Leader

• Harry Reid (D-NV) Most influential member

of the Senate and majority party spokesman

The Senate:Leadership

• Minority Floor Leader

• Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Same role as House

Floor Leader

The Senate:Leadership

• Assistant Majority Leader

(Democratic Whip)

• Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) Role is same as House

Majority

Whip

The Senate:Leadership

• Assistant Minority Leader

(Republican Whip)

• George N. Peterson (R-Mass) Same role as House Minority

Whip

The Senate:Committees

Standing• Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry • Appropriations • Armed Services • Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs • Budget • Commerce, Science, and Transportation • Energy and Natural Resources • Environment and Public Works • Finance • Foreign Relations • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs • Judiciary • Rules and Administration • Small Business and Entrepreneurship • Veterans Affairs

• Special, Select, and Other • Indian Affairs • Select Committee on Ethics • Select Committee on Intelligence • Special Committee on Aging

• Joint • Joint Committee on Printing • Joint Committee on Taxation • Joint Committee on the Library • Joint Economic Committee

Congressional Committees

• Why a Committee System? High volume of legislation

(bills) – sending bills to corresponding committee helps speed up process

Allows study of legislation by specialists

• How the Committee System Works? Congress divides its tasks

among approximately 250 committees and sub committees.

The House and Senate each have their own committees, but they are similar

Congressional Committees• 4 Types1.) Standing : permanent committee that deals with specific policy

matters (agriculture, energy and natural resources, veterans affairs, etc…) ; divided into subcommittees that handle more specialized problems

2.) Select : temporary committee appointed for a specific purpose; most are formed to investigate a particular issue (Watergate Committee, Hurricane Katrina Committee, Y2K Committee, etc)

3.) Joint : made up of members of both houses of Congress; can be a select committee or perform routine duties

4.) Conference: temporary committee of members from both houses created to resolve differences in House and Senate versions of a bill; is a compromise committee

Congressional CommitteesStanding and Subcommittees -

ExamplesHouse of Reps.

Standing Committee:

Committee on Resources

Sub Committees:

Office of Native American Affairs

Energy and Minerals

Fisheries and Oceans

Forests and Forest Health

National Parks

Water and Power

SenateStanding Committee:

Environment and Public Works

Sub Committees:

Transportation and Infrastructure

Clean Air, Climate Change, Nuclear Safety

Fisheries, Wildlife, and Nature

Superfund and Waste Management

Congressional CommitteesMembership and Leadership

Membership• Percentage of each committee’s membership reflects the overall percentage of

Democrats and Republicans in each house Ex. – 53% of house is Republican, so 53% of all committee members

will be Republican

• Members try to serve on committees where they can influence public policy relating to their district or state, or influence national public policy issues Ex – Kansas senator on the agriculture committee Ex – Iowa representative on the foreign relations committee

Leadership• Committees are led by a chairperson who belongs to the majority party and is

chosen by majority party members of committee

Floor Debate

House• Rules Committee decides if debate will be open rule or closed rule and

how long debate can last

• Members can only propose amendments (when allowed) related to the topic of the bill

Senate• More casual; no limits on debating riders are allowed

Amendments not related to the topic of the bill

• Can filibuster Unlimited debate by Senators to stall a bill from being voted on Can only be ended by a cloture (petition signed by 60 Senators)

Why Do Incumbents Win?

• Better name recognition

• Can use franking privilege to sent out campaign letters

• Have greater access to media

• Raise campaign money more easily (have support of PACs and lobbyists)

• More campaign experience

• Have large staffs to help with casework and constituency services

• Take credit for federal money that gets allocated to their district or state

Criticisms of Congress

• Overstaffed and self-indulgent

• BRIBERY!!!!! Both houses have created rules and limits to help curb legal bribes

House rules allows only family and close friends to give gifts to representatives

Senate put a limit of $50 on any gift (including dinner) and a $100/year limit on gifts from a single source, unless the gift givers are family or “close personal friends”

How A Bill Becomes A Law