09 - CONGRESS
The founding fathers intended for Congress to be the central policy-making body in the federal government. Although the power of Congress has fluctuated over the years, today it shares with the presidency the responsibility of making key policy decisions that shape the course of the nation.
CONGRESS IN THE CONSTITUTION
The Structure
The framers created a bicameral (two house) legislature with a House of Representatives to be elected directly by the people and a Senate chosen by the legislatures of each state. The membership of the House was based on population with larger states having more representatives, and the Senate was to have equal representative, two senators per state. In 1913 the 17th amendment provided for direct election of senators.
A representative was required to be 25 years old, seven years a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the state represented. A representative's term was set at two years. A senator served a six year term and was to be at least 30 years old, nine years a citizen, and a citizen of the state represented. The number of terms either representatives or senators could serve was not limited. The original number of representatives was 65; in 1911, the size was limited to 435. Representatives are reapportioned among the states every ten years after the census is taken.
Powers
In addition the "elastic" clause allowed the government to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States."
The Senate was given some special powers: to confirm many presidential nominations and to give its consent, by a two-thirds vote, to all treaties made with foreign countries. The Senate was restricted in that the Constitution provided that all bills of revenue must originate in the House. In reality that restriction hasn't meant very much because the Senate may drastically amend revenue bills, resulting in a great deal of power in making fiscal decisions.
THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS
The House has organizations and procedures that are different from those in the Senate, partly because it is more than four times as large as the Senate. Members are limited in how long they can speak, and debate may be stopped by a majority vote. The House has special structures, such as the Committee of the Whole that hears bills more quickly and less formally than on the House Floor, and the Rules Committee that regulates debate time and amendments. A closed rule prohibits amendments and sets strict time limits on debate, and an open rule permits amendments and often allows more debate time.
LEADERSHIP
Political parties determine much of the leadership in Congress. Those who have the real power are those whose party put them there.
The House
The Speaker of the House is the most important leadership position in the House. This office is provided for in the Constitution, and even though it says "The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers," in truth the majority party does the choosing. Before each Congress convenes the majority party selects its candidate, who almost always is the person selected. The Speaker typically has held other leadership positions and is a senior member of the party. Around the turn of the century, the Speaker was all powerful, especially under the leadership of Joe Cannon and Thomas Reed. A revolt by the membership in 1910 gave some of the Speaker's powers to committees, but the Speaker still has some important powers:
The Speaker's most important colleague is the majority leader, whose position is often a stepping-stone to the Speaker's position. The majority leader is responsible for scheduling bills and for rounding up votes for bills the party favors. The minority leader usually steps into the speakership when his or her party gains a majority in the House. Assisting each floor leader are the party whips, who serve as go-betweens for the members and the leadership. The inform members when important bills will come up for a vote, do nose-counts for the leadership, and pressure members to support the leadership.
The Senate
The president of the Senate is the vice-president of the United States, according to Constitutional provision. A vice-president can vote only in case of a tie and seldom attends Senate sessions. The Senate elects from among the majority party a largely ceremonial president pro tempore, usually the most senior member in the party. The president pro tempore is official chair, but since the job has no real powers, the job of presiding over the Senate is usually given to a junior senator.
The real leaders of the Senate are the majority leader and the minority leader. The Senate majority leader is often the most influential person in the Senate, and has the right to be the first senator heard on the floor. The majority leader determines the Senate's agenda and usually has much to say about committee assignments. The majority leader usually consults with the minority leader in setting the agenda. The Senate also has party whips who serve much the same functions as they serve in the House.
COMMITTEES AND SUBCOMMITTEES
Most of the real work of Congress goes on in committees and subcommittees. Bills are worked out or killed in committees, and committees investigate problems and oversee the executive branch.
Types of Committees
There are four types of committees:
STANDING COMMITTEES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SENATE
Agriculture Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Appropriations Appropriations
Banking and Financial Services Armed Services
Budget Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Commerce Budget
Education and the Work Force Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Government Reform and Oversight Energy and Natural Resources
House Oversight Environment and Public Works
International Relations Finance
Judiciary Foreign Relations
National Security Governmental Affairs
Resources Judiciary
Rules Labor and Human Relations
Science Rule and Administration
Small Business Small Business
Transportation and Infrastructure Veterans' Affairs
Veterans' Affairs
Ways and Means
The Work of Committees
More than 11,000 bills are introduced in the House and Senate over the two year lifetime of a Congress, and all of them cannot possibly considered by the full memberships. Each bill is submitted to a committee that has life or death control over its future. The majority of bills are pigeonholed, or forgotten for weeks or forever, and never make it out of committee. They are submitted to a subcommittee that will discuss it and possibly hold hearings for it. About 3000 staff assist the various committees and subcommittees, conducting research and administrative and clerical work. Supporters and critics of the bill appear at the hearings and are questioned by subcommittee members. The bills that survive this far into the process are then marked up (changed or rewritten) and returned to the full committee where it may be altered further. If the committee approves, it will then be sent first to the Rules Committee in the House, and then to the floor; the bill is sent directly to the floor in the Senate
Committee Membership
Committee membership are controlled by the parties, primarily by the majority party. The chairman and a majority of each standing committee come from the majority party. The remaining committee members are from the minority party, but they are always a minority on the committee. In the House of Representatives, a Committee on Committees places Republicans on committees, and the Steering and Policy Committee selects the Democrats. In the Senate, each party has a small Steering Committee that makes committee assignments. Assignments are based on the personal and political qualities of the member, his or her region, and whether the assignment will help reelect the member.
Getting on the right committee is very important to most members of Congress. A member from a "safe" district whose reelection is secure may want to serve on an important committee that promotes a power base in Washington. On the other hand, a member who has few ambitions beyond his or her current position and whose reelection is less secure may want to serve on a committee that suits the needs of constituents. For example, a secure representative from Kansas may prefer to serve on the Agriculture Committee.
Committee Chairmen
Committee chairmen are the most important shapers of the committee agenda. Their positions were made more powerful in the House by the 1910 revolt which transferred power from the Speaker to the chairmen. From 1910 until the early 1970s, chairmen were chosen by the seniority system, in which the member with the longest continuous service on the committee was placed automatically in the chairmanship. In the early 1970s, the House decided to elect committee chairmen by secret ballots from all the majority members. As a result, several committee chairmen were removed, and although most chairmen still get their positions through seniority, it is possible to be removed or overlooked.
The Rules Committee in the House
The Rules Committee in the House plays a key role in shaping legislation because it sets very important rules for debate when the bill is presented to the House after it leaves the committee. A closed rule sets strict time limits on debates and forbids amendments from the floor, except those from the presenting committee. Under closed rule, members not on the committee have little choice but to vote for or against the bill as it is. An open rule permits amendments and often has less strict time limits, allowing for input from other members. The Rules Committee is controlled by the Speaker, and in recent years, has put more and more restrictions on bills, giving Rules even more power.
CAUCUSES
Although Congress is organized formally through its party leadership and committee system, equally important is the informal network of caucuses, groupings of members of Congress sharing the same interests or points of view. There are currently more than seventy of these groups, and their goal is to shape the agenda of Congress, which they do by elevating their issues or interests to a prominent place in the daily workings of Congress. Some Caucuses are regionally based, such as the Conservative Democratic Forum (also known as the Boll Weevils because they are mostly from the South), the Sunbelt Caucus, and the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition. Others share racial, ethnic, or gender characteristics, such as the Congressional Black Caucus, or caucuses for women and Hispanics. One of the oldest is the Democratic Study Group, which encourages unity among liberal Democrats. Others share specialized interests, such as the Steel Caucus and the Mushroom Caucus.
Within Congress caucuses press for committees to hold hearings, and they organize votes on bills they favor. Caucuses also pressure agencies within the bureaucracy to act according to the interest of the caucus.
WHO IS IN CONGRESS?
Members of Congress are far from typical Americans, but they have a number of characteristics in common:
The fact that members of Congress represent privileged Americans is controversial. Some argue that the composition of Congress does not provide adequate representation for ordinary Americans. Others believe that a group of demographically average Americans would have difficulty making major policy decisions and that elites can represent people who have different personal characteristics from themselves.
It is important to note that Congress has gradually become less male and less white. Between 1950 and 1994 the number of women senators rose from 2 to 8, and female representatives have increased from 10 to 48. There were 38 black representatives in the 104th Congress, as compared to 2 in the 82nd (1951-52). Although there is only one black senator, there were none in the 82nd Congress. Today, the House has 18 Hispanics and 4 Asian-Pacifics; the Senate has 2 Asian-Pacifics and one Native American.
Incumbents
During the 1800s most members of Congress served only one term, returning home to their careers when they completed their service. During the 20th century, serving in Congress has become a lifetime career for most members, and the number of incumbents, or those who already hold the office, with secure seats, has increased dramatically.
Scholars do not agree on all the reasons for the incumbency trend. Some believe that with fewer voters strongly attached to parties, people are voting for individuals, not for candidates because they are Democrats or Republicans. Incumbents have more name recognition than challengers; therefore are more likely to be elected. Incumbents enjoy free mailings (called the franking privilege), more experience with campaigning, and greater access to the media. They also raise campaign money more easily than challengers, because lobbyists and political action committees seek their favors. Today $8 of every $10 of PAC money is given to incumbents.
Representation
For many years, any state with more than one representative have elected a representative from single-member districts. Two problems emerged from single-member districting: malapportionment (districts of unequal sizes and populations) and gerrymandering (district boundaries drawn in strange ways in order to make it easy for the candidate of one party to win election in that district). The term "gerrymandering" is derived from the original gerrymanderer, Eldrige Gerry, who had a Massachusetts district drawn in the shape of a salamander, to ensure the election of a Republican. Over the years both parties were accused of manipulating districts in order to gain an advantage in membership in the House.
The first problem was addressed by the Supreme Court in the 1964 case, Wesberry v. Sanders, in which the Court ordered that district be drawn so that one person's vote would be as equal as possible to another (the "one man one vote" decision). Gerrymandering continues to be an issue, with a later version, racial gerrymandering, or drawing district lines so as to assure the election of a minority candidate, being as criticized as the older party-based type.
Malapportionment was addressed in 1964 when the Supreme Court ordered districts to be drawn so that one person's vote would be worth as much as another's. The Courts "one person, one vote" has controlled inequality in representation, but gerrymandering is still an important issue. A more recent form is racial gerrymandering, or rearranging districts to allow a minority representative to be elected, is just as controversial as the old style party gerrymandering.
HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW
Similar versions of bills often are introduced in the House and the Senate at approximately the same time, especially if the issues they address are considered to be important. The vast majority of bills never make it out of committee, and those that survive have a complex obstacle course to run before they become laws.
Introduction of a Bill
Every bill must be introduced in the House and Senate by a member of that body. Any member of the House simply may hand a bill to a clerk or drop it in a "hopper". In the Senate the presiding officer must recognize the member and announce the bill's introduction. House bills bear the prefix "H.R.", and Senate bills begin with the prefix "S."
If a bill is not passed by both houses and signed by the president within the life of one Congress, it is dead and must by president again during the next Congress.
In addition to bills Congress can pass resolutions. A simple resolution is passed by either the House or the Senate, and usually establishes rules, regulations, or practices that do not have the force of law. For example, a resolution may be passed congratulating a staff member for doing a good job or having an anniversary. Sometimes simple resolutions set the rules under which each body operates. A concurrent resolution comes from both houses, and often settles housekeeping and procedural matters that affect both houses. Simple and concurrent resolutions are not signed by the president and do not have the force of law. A joint resolution requires the approval of both houses and the signature of the president, and is essentially the same as a law. Joint resolutions are sometimes passed when the houses of Congress are in a hurry, as when they passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964, giving President Johnson a virtual "blank check" in making decisions for the Vietnam War.
Bills in Committee
After introduction, a bill is referred to committee, whether in the House or the Senate. The Constitution requires that "all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representative," but the Senate can amend bills almost beyond recognition. However, because of this special power, the committee in the House that handles revenue legislation - the Ways and Means" is particularly powerful.
Most bills die in committee, especially if they are only introduced to satisfy constituents or get publicity for the member of Congress that introduces it. In the House a discharge petition may be signed by 218 members to bring it to the floor, but the vast majority of bills are referred to the floor after committee recommendation. For a bill to come before either house, it must first be placed on a calendar: five in the House, and two in the Senate. The Congressional Calendars are as follows:
House
Senate
Floor Debate
Important bills in the House, including all bills of revenue, must first be referred to a Committee of the Whole that sits on the floor, but is directed by the chairman of the sponsoring committee. The quorum is not the usual 218 members, but 100 members, and the debate is conducted by the committee. Sometimes bills are significantly altered, but usually, the bill goes to the full floor, where the Speaker presides, and debate is guided by more formal rules. The bills are not changed drastically, largely because many are debated under closed rules. If amendments are allowed, they must be germane, or relevant to the topic of the bill.
Bills in the Senate go directly to the floor where they are debated much less formally than in the House. Senators may speak for as long as they wish, which leads more and more frequently to a filibuster, the practice of talking a bill to death. Although one man filibusters are dramatic, usually several senators who oppose a bill will agree together to block legislation through delay tactics, such as having the roll called over and over again. A filibuster may be stopped by a cloture, in which three-fifths of the entire Senate membership must vote to stop debate. No limit exists on amendments, so riders, or nongermane provisions, or often added to bills from the floor. A bill with many riders is known as a Christmas-tree bill, and usually occurs because individual senators are trying to attach their favorite ideas or benefits to their states.
Voting is also more formal in the House than in the Senate. House members may vote according to several procedures:
The Senate basically votes in the same ways, but it does not have an electronic voting system.
Conference Action
If a bill is passed by one House and not the other, it dies. If a bill is not approved by both houses before the end of a Congress, it must begin all over again in the next Congress if it is to be passed at all. When similar bills are passed by both houses, they go to conference committee, whose members are selected from both the House and the Senate. Compromise versions are sent back to each chamber for final approval.
Presidential Action
A bill approved by both houses is sent to the president who can either sign it or veto it. If the president vetoes it, the veto may be overriden by two-thirds of both houses. The president has ten days to act on a proposed piece of legislation. If he receives a bill within ten days of the adjournment of the Congress, he may simply not respond and the bill will die. This practice is called a pocket veto.
CRITICISMS OF CONGRESS
PORK-BARREL LEGISLATION
By the 1870s members of Congress were using the term pork to refer to benefits for their districts, and bills that give those benefits to constituents in hope of gaining their votes were called pork barrel legislation. The term comes from the pre-Civil War days when it was the custom in the South to take salt pork from barrels and distribute it among the slaves, who would often rush on the barrels. Critics point out that such actions do not insure that federal money goes to the places where it is most needed, but to districts whose representatives are most aggressive or most in need of votes.
LOGROLLING
Logrolling occurs when a member of Congress supports another member's pet project in return for support for his or her own project. The term comes from pioneer days when neighbors would get together to roll logs from recently cleared property to make way for building houses. This "cooperation" occurs in Congress in the form of "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." As with pork barrel legislation, bills may be passed for frivolous reasons.
THE TERM-LIMITS DEBATE
The Constitution imposes no limits on the number of terms members of Congress can serve. Just as an amendment was passed during the 1950s to limit the term numbers of presidents, many argue that terms of members of Congress should be limited as well.
With the growing prevalence of incumbency, supporters of term limits believe that popular control of Congress has weakened and that members may become dictatorial or unresponsive to their constituents. Others believe that the most experienced members would be forced to leave when their terms expire, leaving Congress without their expertise. The seniority system and methods of selected party leaders would be seriously altered with questionable results. In recent years the demand for term limits has increased, but so far, Congress has not imposed them.