Congress

1. Congress

4. Congress US CAPITOL BUILDING Legislative Branch – “makes laws”

5. I. Founders’ Intentions • Strongest branch • Separation of lawmaking power from executive • Bicameralism balances large/small states • House – more connected to people (2 yr term) • Senate – allows for independent thinking (6 yr term)

6. Constitutional Powers Article I, Section 8 • To lay and collect taxes, duties, imports • To borrow money • To regulate commerce (states and foreign) • To establish rules for naturalization • To coin money • To create courts (except Supreme Court) • To declare war • To raise and support an army and navy

7. Evolution of Powers Elastic clause has extended Congress powers • Oversight of budget – can restrict the fed. budget prepared by executive branch • Appropriations – set amount of money made available for various activity in a fiscal year • Investigation – Congress can launch investigations (Watergate, Clinton-Lewinski hearings, Steroids in baseball)

9. House 435 members 2 year term 7 year citizen (Must be 25 + yrs old) Pick Prez if no majority Initiates impeachment with majority vote Initiate Revenue (tax) bills (Why?) Strict debate rules Senate 100 members 6 year term 9 year citizen (Must be 30 + yrs old) Selects VP if no majority Tries impeachment, convicts with 2/3 vote Approve presidential appointments (Cabinet, Judges, 51%) Approve treaties’ (2/3) Loose debate rules Important Differences

11. Senate • Upper House • “the house that never dies.” staggered elections • a check on the popularly elected house • Represents the states, federalism • “the world's greatest deliberative body.” • The framers envisioned the Senate as a body of statesmen who make decisions based on experience and wisdom • Represent the elite, the aristocracy • The length of the term is supposed to insulate senators from public opinion and allow them to act independently. • Modeled after the House of Lords, the Founders wanted an aristocratic Senate in style without having a natural aristocracy • House • The people’s body • popular democracy • Directly elected • Short terms, responsive to the people • Modeled after the House of Commons

12. ???? • Our Congress, simply stated, is not built as the US Constitution dictates. The US Congress, by constitutional law, should have 100 US Senators (two per state) and 10,000 US Representatives. The words in Article 1 of the US Constitution are clear: “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand.” When you divide 300 million by 30,000 it equals 10,000 US Representatives.

14. II. Who’s in Congress? 110th Congress (2007-2008) • 85% male • 85% White • 40% Lawyers 109th Congress (2005-2006) • 29 accused of spousal abuse • 7 have been arrested for fraud • 19 arrested for writing bad checks • 117 have bankrupted at least 2 businesses • 8 have been arrested for shoplifting • In 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk driving

18. Who represents Florida?

19. Florida’s US Senators • Marco Rubio (R) Bill Nelson (D)

23. Florida's 24th congressional district Distribution • 91.08% urban, 8.92% rural • Population (2000) 639,295 • Median income $43,954 • Ethnicity • 80.0% White, 6.3% Black, 2.0% Asian, 9.8% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 0.2% other Voter Registration • As of October 2010: • Republicans: 193,865 (39.74%) • Democrats: 179,342 (36.76%) • Others: 114,655 (23.50%) Representative, Party, Years in Congress • Tom Feeney Republican January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2009 • Defeated Suzanne Kosmas Democratic January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 • Defeated Sandy Adams Republican January 3, 2011- Incumbent Rep. Sandy Adams (R)

24. Florida’s New 6th Congressional District

27. Leadership: House • Majority party controls the most significant leadership positions • House - Speaker of the House • Allows people to speak on floor • Assigns bills to committees • Influences which bills are brought to a vote • Appoints members of special and select committees MINORITY LEADER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE MINORITY WHIP MAJORITY LEADER MAJORITY WHIP

32. Senate Leadership PRESIDENT of the SENATE (VICE PRESIDENT) Senate – Majority Leader • Schedules Senate business • Prioritizes bills PRES. PRO TEMPORE MAJORITY LEADER (MOST POWERFUL) MINORITY LEADER MAJORITY WHIP MINORITY WHIP

36. With the conclusion of the 2014 mid-term elections the Republican party gained a majority in the Senate of the 114th Congress. With this coming transition, Orrin Hatch, a Republican and senior senator from Utah, is expected to be elected the new president pro tempore by the Senate, in January 2015

38. Page 69

39. P 69 • H • S • S • H • H • B • S • H • B H N N S B

40. III. Elections • House members directly elected every 2 years • Senators directly elected after 17th Amend • Elections every 6 years, staggered so 1/3 are up for election every 2 years

41. Power of Incumbency • Name Recognition & No Term Limits • Access to media to shape and frame issues • Franking Privilege: FREE MAIL service! • Fundraising --More Campaign contributions and PAC $$ therefore more effective at fundraising • Casework: working on issues for constituents in state or district—creates more loyalty and word of mouth support • Pork and Earmarks: Spending bills for ―pet projects‖ in congressional districts or states makes voters in their district happy, but those NOT in their district see it as a waste of $$. • Gerrymandering in Congressional districts creating ―safe districts‖ as opposed to marginal (competitive) districts.

42. Midterm Elections • http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/yw81ah/the-daily-show-rock-

43. Representation • The 435 members (fixed number since 1911) of the House are apportioned to each state based on population • Every 10 years, the CENSUS tells the government how many representatives each state gets - ---2010 censes – allotted 27 congressional seats to FL – 2 more than the previous census –27+2 Senate = 29 electoral votes • Baker v. Carr (1962): Court decided that apportionment and redistricting was a justifiable issue. • Reynolds v. Sims (1964): Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population in order to preserve ―One man, one vote‖; • Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) : Congressional Districts must be relatively equal in population in order to preserve ―one man, one vote‖ —NO malapportionment • –DOES NOT apply to Senate since the Constitution forbids proportional representation in the SENATE. • Districts also must be contiguous and as compact as possible

44. Redistricting and Gerrymandering • After States are told how many congressional district they have been apportioned, the State Legislature is in charge of drawing new districts that contain roughly the same number of people. • •Gerrymandering occurs when the party in charge of the state government draws the congressional lines in a manner that favors individual members of their political party, and incumbent, or a specific group of people. Basically, gerrymandering allows politicians to chose their voters, rather than the voters choose their politicians, • Gerrymandering can also be racial in that it can be used to the create majority-minority districts • Shaw v. Reno (1993), Miller v. Johnson (1995): Redistricting based on race as the predominant factor is illegal but can be done in some cases if it meets the standard of strict scrutiny (highest standard) In most cases, racial gerrymandering is illegal (especially if done to dilute voting power of minorities) but race can be a factor in the process if its done so in order to provide fair representation for minorities.

45. What is the difference between redistricting and reapportionment?

48. Illinois Districts

49. Illinois 4th District Luis Guitierrez – (D-IL)