Government_Ch4_Homework-1

=**Government Chapter 4 Homework #1**= Answer the following based on the paragraphs.

1. The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature, meaning that it is made up of two houses - the House of Representatives and the Senate. This developed out of the Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention. It follows a model set up by the British Parliament, which was also bicameral with the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Each term of Congress begins on January 3 of an odd numbered year and lasts for two years. Each congressional term is divided into two sessions, each one year in length.

There are 435 members of the House of Representatives. The Constitution does not set the number of representatives, but simply says that House seats must be apportioned, or divided, among the states on the basis of population. Each state is entitled to one seat regardless of population. There are constitutional requirements to be in the House. The minimum age is 25, must be a citizen for at least 7 years, and must be a legal resident from the state being elected from. Traditionally, representatives live in the district he or she is being elected from. Representatives serve 2 year terms. In order to assign representatives on the basis of population, the Census Bureau takes a national census, or population count, every 10 years. Each state's population determines the number of representatives it will have for the next 10 years - a process called reapportionment. States that lose population could lose representatives while those states that gain population could gain representatives. After the states find out their new representation for the next 10 years, each state legislature draws the boundaries for the congressional districts - one for each representative. The process of setting up new district lines after reapportionment has be completed is called redistricting. The Supreme Court has the authority to determine if a state has redrawn boundaries fairly or not. If a state redistricts in a way that gives one voting group advantage over another, this is called gerrymandering and is deemed illegal and district boundaries would have to be redrawn. A key Supreme Court case was //Baker v. Carr// in which the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could decide conflicts over drawing House district boundaries. Gerrymandering can happen when one party controls a state legislature and redraws boundaries in a way that might give that political party an advantage in future elections to maintain control in the state. This term is traced back to Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, a Democrat-Republican Party governor who signed a redistricting plan that gave his party an advantage over the Federalist Party. The Senate has two members from each state, a total of 100 senators. The minimum age is 30, must be a citizen for 9 years, and must be a legal resident from the state being elected from. Senators serve 6 year terms.

The House and Senate set their own salaries. They also have benefits such as expense accounts, travel accounts, free mail service, as well as others. Members of Congress often enjoy the benefit of being an incumbent at election time. An incumbent is the member of Congress who is already in office. Incumbents are re-elected about 90% of the time.
 * What determines gain or loss of representatives in a state? (A) population after a census (B) the voters (C) the Congress (D) state legislatures (E) all (F) none**


 * Who redistricts or redraws congressional district boundaries after reapportionment? (A) President (B) Congress (C) voters (D) state legislatures (E) all (F) none**


 * Congress sees a high percentage of incumbents re-elected. What is an incumbent? (A) someone running for the first time (B) one who is already in Congress (C) someone voting for the first time (D) someone who has voted before (E) all (F) none**

2. Use the map and the chart to answer the questions in #2:


 * Using the map, what has been the trend in population? (A) movement to the Midwest (B) movement to the Sunbelt (South and West) (C) movement to the Rust Belt (northeast) (D) no major change in population**


 * You'll notice that PA lost a representative from the last census. When the state redrew the district boundaries for the House, if they eliminated a district to give one party an advantage over another, it would be called (A) malapportionment (B) gerrymandering (C) deapportionment (D) this is legal to do (E) all (F) none**

3. The main job of each chamber of Congress is the same - make laws. The House has more complex rules for lawmaking and debating than the Senate, mostly because the House has so many more members. Most legislative activity is in committees. There are committees based on various topics of concern in terms of public policy. Committees also help representatives and senators specialize on issues that are important to their constituents, the people in the district or state that they represent. Overall, committees study and shape bills to be debated on in the full chamber in which it was proposed. Party affiliation determines control in the Congress in terms of the votes on laws as well as controlling the agenda. Congress operates by parliamentary procedure. These procedures are laid out in Robert's Rules of Order. Public meetings in America from lawmaking bdies to school boards use this guide to parliamentary procedure.
 * Why are committees important? (A) they pass bills (B) they influence bills (C) they study and shape bills (D) they are small groups (E) all (F) none**


 * Many groups that hold meetings such as school boards, little leagues, and the Congress, state and U.S. follow procedures for making motions and rules, which come from (A) congressional records (B) parliamentary work (C) Robert's Rules of Order (D) textbooks (E) all (F) none**

4. The House of Representatives is led by the Speaker of the House. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House and its most powerful leader. The Speaker is chosen by a caucus, which is a closed meeting of the majority party members. The majority party in the House chooses the Speaker. The Speaker has the power to appoint heads of committees, members to various committees, and can decide which legislation to be debated. The House majority leader is a position beneath the Speaker and helps to plan the party's legislative program, steer important bills through the House, and make sure the chairpersons of the many committees finsih work on bills that are important to the party. The majority leader is the floor leader of his or her political party and like the Speaker is from the party that has the majority in the House. The party in the minority has a leader as well, the minority leader, whose job it is to lead the loyal opposition. The majority and minority leaders have assistants, called whips, whose job it is to watch how party members vote on legislation. All laws start as bills. A proposed law is called a bill until both chambers of Congress passes it and the president signs it. According to procedure, when a bill is introduced in the House, it is placed in the hopper, a mahogany box that is accessible to all enar the front of the chamber. The Speaker then sends the bill to the appropriate committee. Bills are put on a calendar to show when they're up for discussion. The House has a rules committee that is important since it is the "traffic officer" of the House. This committee helps direct the flow of major legislation. The chairperson of this committee has a lot of influence. It can control how easily or difficult a bill is discussed, debated, and voted upon. The Rules Committee decides the length of time a bill is debated, aspects of any revisions to the bill, and can even settle disputes among other committees. The House Rules Committee is a powerful committee. In order for regular business to take place in the House, there must be a quorum, which is the minimum number of members needed for official legislative action. The House needs a majority of its members, or 218, to conduct business.
 * What position is in charge of the House and leads legislation? (A) Majority Leader (B) Speaker of the House (C) President of the House (D) Vice President (E) all (F) none**


 * Assistants to floor leaders are called (A) assistants (B) speakers (C) caucuses (D) whips (E) all (F) none**


 * Use the word quorum in a sentence being certain that your sentence shows that you know the meaning of the word. "We have a quorum" is not a valid sentence!**

5. The Senate works in similar fashion to that of the House, but it is smaller with 100 members and has less rules for debating bills. According to the Constitution, the Vice President is the President of the Senate. However, the Vice President does not vote on legislation in the Senate unless there is a tie and must cast the tie-breaking vote. The Vice President as the President of the Senate would preside over the Senate during Senate business. The Vice President does not have powers like the Speaker of the House. Since the Vice President is usually involved in executive branch duties, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate acts on behalf of the Vice President. This position is usually with the longest serving member of the majority party in the Senate. The true power in the Senate rests with the Senate Majority Leader. The Majority Leader appoints committee chairpersons and positions. The Majority Leader also controls which bills come to the Senate floor for debate and vote. Senate bills can be brought to the floor through unanimous consent, or 60 votes, which is rare especially on bills that one party favors and the other party does not. The Minority Leader leads the minority party in the Senate and is the opposition to the Majority Leader. Both floor leaders have assistants, or whips, like the House. Since the Senate doesn't have rules on debates like the House, debates on bills in the Senate can be as long as a senator would like to speak. Senators can use the unlimited debate time to try to stop the passage of a bill. This is called a filibuster. To filibuster means to extend debate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote. A filibuster can only be stopped by a vote for cloture, which takes 60 votes and then limits debate time.
 * Which position is President of the Senate? (A) Speaker of the Senate (B) Majority Leader (C) President Pro Tempore (D) Vice President (E) all (F) none**


 * Which position has the true power in the Senate? (A) Speaker of the Senate (B) Majority Leader (C) President Pro Tempore (D) Vice President (E) all (F) none**


 * What is the purpose of a filibuster? (A) debate negative points of a bill (B) delay or stop the passage of a bill (C) limit debate time (D) prevent a veto (E) all (F) none**


 * Why is 60 votes important in terms of a filibuster? (A) ends a veto threat (B) allows a filibuster (C) stops a filibuster with cloture (D) it takes 60 votes to pass a bill (E) all (F) none**

6. Both the House and the Senate depend on committees to consider thousands of bills that are proposed each session. Committees help ease the workload. The committees study and shape the bills that are sent to the chamber floor to be debated and voted upon. Committees allow lawmakers to divide their work up among smaller groups, allows lawmakers to become specialists, and is a system that is the only practical way for Congress to operate because no lawmaker can possibly know the details of each of the thousands of bills that are introduced in each term of Congress. Committees hold public hearings and investigations to help the public learn about key problems and issues facing the nation. The various types of committees. Standing committees are permanent committees that deal with certain kinds of issues. The majority party controls the standing committees and the chairperson of the committee is from the majority party. Most standing committees have subcommittees that specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee's responsibility. Select committees are temporary committees usually to investigate a specific issue, such as the 9-11 Commission that investigated the terror attacks of 9-11-01. Joint committees are the ones that are made of both House and Senate members. A specific type of joint committee is a conference committee, which is made of both House and Senate members to compromise a bill that passed by one version in the House and a different version in the Senate. A bill can't go to the president unless the same exact bill passed both chambers in the same version. The chairpersons of standing committees are among the most power members of Congress. They make key decisions such as when committees meet, bills they will consider, and for how long. There is an unwritten rule of seniority. This means that chairpersons of committees often go to those who have been in the longest from the majority party. Representatives and senators have staff members who run local offices, check the mail and email, help do research on bills, and advise the congressman. Personal staff works directly with the representative or senator while committee staff works with the many committees. Caseworkers are personal staff members who help handle the many requests for help from a member's constituents. The Library of Congress is the biggest library and can help lawmakers and their staff research bills that were being debated. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) makes cost predictions on bills being debated. The Government Printing Office (GPO) is the largest multipurpose printing plant and prints for the entire federal government. Every day it prints the Congressional Record, a daily record of all the bills introduced in both houses and of the speeches and testimony presented in Congress. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) watches over how Congress spends funds.
 * Permanent committees such as the armed forces committee and appropriations committee are called (A) standing (B) select (C) joint (D) caucus (E) all (F) none**


 * If the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, a conference committee meets to (A) get a compromise version of the bill (B) study and shape the bill (C) end a filibuster (D) investigate, like all temporary committees (E) all (F) none**


 * Which staff agency studies budget proposals and makes cost predictions? (A) Government Accountability Office (B) Congressional Budget Office (C) Treasury of Congress (D) Cost of Budget Department (E) all (F) none**

7. Article 1 Section 1 of the Constitution gives Congress (and only Congress) the legislative power - that is the power to make laws. Article 1 Section 8 lists the expressed delegated powers of Congress, or the powers that are written down for the U.S. Congress. Article 1 Section 8 Clause 18 is the "Necessary and Proper Clause" also called the Elastic Clause since it gives Congress the power to do whatever is "necessary and proper" to carry out its other powers. Note that this clause doesn't give Congress the power to do what is necessary and proper over anything - just to carry out its other delegated powers. This clause does allow the Congress to have implied powers, or powers not specifically expressed in the Constitution. An example would be the Congress establishing the interstate highway system. The Constitution doesn't give the Congress this power, but Congress does have the power to regulate interstate commerce. In the 1950s, the Congress set up the interstate highway system since it was necessary and proper to do so to better regulate commerce, since the trucking industry was the major way to ship and trade. Article 1 Section 9 lists the powers that are specifically denied to the Congress. Congress can't suspend the writ of habeas corpus, meaning Congress cannot hold a person without them being told why. Congress can't pass ex post facto laws, or laws that make a person guilty for a crime before it was a crime. Congress can't pass bills of attainder, or punish someone without a trial. The Bill of Rights also lists what Congress can't do - Congress can't take away specific freedoms. One of Congress's important powers is that of taxing and spending or the "power of the purse." The original intent was that federal spending would only be in areas in which the states were not competent and federal spending had to benefit ALL Americans. This changed after America entered into a force shift. Article 1 Section 7 says that all revenue bills, laws for raising money, must start in the House. The reason was to give more populated states a greater voice in tax policy. Bills that deal with spending money are called appropriations bills. Appropriations have become larger debates due to America's high debt and yearly deficit spending that adds to the debt. Congress also has the power to borrow money. This is a power that has become largely abused as seen by America's out-of-control spending and national debt. Congress can borrow from other countries but mostly borrows from itself. How? By the sale of government securities, or bonds. When more money is needed in the treasury, the Federal Reserve buys bonds, then prints money. Congress has the power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, or trade, as well. This is a power that greatly increased after a 1936 Supreme Court case. Interstate commerce is trade among the states. In 1824, there was a question over whether or not commerce included rivers. In //Gibbons v. Ogden// the Supreme Court expanded the "Necessary and Proper Clause" to include river commerce in the power to regulate commerce. Congress has some foreign powers as well, which include the power to declare war. The Senate specifically has the power to approve of treaties or appointments of ambassadors made by the president. Overall, Congress must approve of any funding/appropriations in foreign endeavors. Congress has the power of impeachment if an executive branch of judicial branch official abuses power. In terms of amending the Constitution, the Congress (along with state legislatures) start the process.
 * Congress has implied powers that come from (A) Elastic Clause (B) Expanded Clause (C) Supremacy Clause (D) Rubber Band Clause (E) all (F) none**


 * Revenue bills must start in the House and are bills that deal with (A) spending (B) commerce (C) military (D) committees**


 * What can't Congress do? (A) hold a person without telling them why by suspending the writ of habeas corpus (B) punish one without a trial in a bill of attainder (C) pass a law that takes away freedom of religion (D) make someone guilty of a crime before the action was a crime in an ex post facto law (E) all (F) none**


 * In //Gibbons v. Ogden//, Congress would be allowed to use broad interpretation in its power to (A) tax (B) regulate commerce (C) borrow money (D) pass laws (E) all (F) none**

8. Congressional committees have the power of investigation. Investigations may include how laws are working, spending, scandals, include members of Congress or the other branches. Congress can subpoena witnesses. A subpoena is a legal order that requires a person to appear or produce requested documents. Perjury to Congress, or lying under oath is a serious crime. Witnesses who don't cooperate can be held in contempt, which could lead to arrest or jail. Often times in investigations, Congress may grant immunity to a witness to get to the root of a problem. This means that a witness may be free from prosecution in order to gain testimony on major wrong-doing. Congress also has the power of oversight, or the power to review executive branch activities and how laws are being carried out. Congress and the president must work together on laws and the budget. When Congress is controlled by one party and the president is of the opposing party, this often leads to political conflict based on ideology.
 * Congress often conducts oversight of a law, which is when Congress (A) reviews how a law is being carried out (B) does personal work for constituents (C) passes rules on debates (D) looks over a law and doesn't lose sight of the facts (E) all (F) none**

9. As stated, the most important power of Congress comes from Article 1 Section 1 - the power to make laws. Two types of bills (proposed laws) are introduced in Congress - private bills that deal with individual people or places and public bills that deal with general matters that apply to the whole nation. Besides passing laws, Congress can also pass resolutions to make policy on an unusual or temporary matter. A joint resolution is one passed by both houses and signed by the president and has the force of a law usually done to correct an error in a previous piece of legislation. Earmarks are a way that members of Congress can specify that some part of a funding bill will go toward a certain purpose. Representatives often use earmarks to bring money to their home district in little pet projects such as building projects. A congressman that brings a lot of earmarks to his/her home district can gain support by bring in money. However, the increase in earmarks over the years is what has led to wasteful spending and high debt. Some bills that are passed have riders attached. A rider is a provision on a subject other than the one covered in the bill. This might be done to help get support from members of Congress that may not support the original bill but support one of the riders attached to the bill. Anyone can have an idea for a bill, but a bill can only be introduced or proposed by a representative or senator. Many times the president urges a bill to be worked on. Once a bill is officially proposed it is sent to a committee. The chairperson of the committee can send it to a subcommittee. The committee can ignore the bill, kill the bill, or work on the bill. Committees often hold hearings to listen to experts on both sides of the bill (those who support and those who oppose). A majority vote can report the bill to the full chamber in which it was proposed. Once a bill is out of committee it goes to the chamber floor (House floor if introduced in the House and Senate floor if introduced in the Senate). On the chamber floor the bill is debated and voted on. Many times, members of the chamber don't read the entire bill, but rather read the committee report, which explains the bill and both sides of the issue from the testimonies and hearings. Once the bill passed the chamber in which it was introduced, it goes to the other chamber where the bill goes through the same process. If the bill passes both chambers in the same version, it does to the president. However, if the Senate passes the bill in one form and the House has a different version, then a conference committee made of members of both chambers must get together to develop a compromise version of the bill so that it can go to the president. The president must sign the bill for it to become a law. The president could reject, or veto, the bill. Congress could override a veto with a 2/3 vote in both chambers. After a bill becomes a law it is registered with the National Archives and Records Service. Citizens can easily track bills through various websites including THOMAS ([]) after Thomas Jefferson.
 * What is a provision to a bill on a subject other than the one covered in the bill, often by way of earmarks to gain support? (A) provision (B) filibuster (C) caucus (D) rider (E) all (F) none**


 * Who can introduce a bill? (A) anyone (B) representative or senator (C) president (D) voter (E) all (F) none**


 * In a committee, what happens? (A) chairperson determines subcommittee (B) it can pass the bill or ignore it (C) listen to testimony or hold hearings (D) vote on any changes (E) all (F) none**


 * If the bill passes a committee, it gets debated on the floor of the chamber in which it was introduced. Often times all members don't read the entire bill because all specifics are in the committee (A) markup (B) report (C) debate (D) floor action (E) all (F) none**


 * Once the bill passes one chamber, it goes (A) to the president (B) to a conference committee (C) to the other chamber (D) to be registered (E) all (F) none**


 * When does a bill become a law? (A) when it's registered (B) when it passes both chambers (C) when a compromise version is written (D) when it's signed by the president (E) all (F) none**

10. The national government gets most of its revenue from taxes. Income tax is the biggest federal source of revenue through taxes. The power of appropriation, or approval of government spending, belongs to Congress. Both chambers have appropriations committees, which are important committees that representatives and senators aim to be part of. Part of the problem of America's large national debt is spending on entitlements, or social programs that individuals receive. Entitlements include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, and several others. When it comes to passing laws and spending, Congress is influenced from various sources. The voters have perhaps the largest influence for obvious reasons. Lobbyists also influence lawmakers. Lobbyists are hired by interest groups that want to influence the passing of laws that their group supports. Lobbyists are hired by interest groups to meet with members of Congress in order to influence the passing of certain laws. Congress is often influenced by political party. It's rare that a member of one party breaks from his/her party to vote with the opposing party on a bill. Often times, laws passed are bipartisan, or supported by both parties. Congressmen have more responsibilities than lawmaking. Helping constituents with problems is called casework. Requests from constituents might include help with Social Security information or issues, a veteran needing aid with veterans' services, or needing aid with starting a business or a college loan. Congressmen aim to bring jobs to their district. Pork-barrel legislation is the term given to laws that appropriate money for local projects.
 * How can voters influence members of Congress?**


 * How can interest groups influence members of Congress?**

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