Bills are then
put onto the house calendars. Calendars- list bills that are up for
consideration. 5 different calendars. Union calendar (bills for consideration,
house calendar(public bills), private calendar(bills that deal with individual
people or places, consent calendar(bills with a unanimous consent to debate out
of regular order) , and discharge calendar(Petitions to discharge a bill from
committee).Rules committee serves as the traffic officer in the house, helping
to direct the flow of major legislation. Quorum- the minimum number of members
who must be present to permit a legislative body to take official action. House
is led by the Speaker of the house. The senate is composed of 100 members, 2
from every state. To qualify as a senator you must be at least 35 years of age,
a resident of the US for 9 years, and a legal resident of the state they
represent. In the event that the vice president is unavailable to oversee the
senate a pro tempore is elected by the members of the senate, usually the most
senior member. A standing committee is a permanent committee in congress that
oversees bills that deal with certain kinds of issues. A sub-committee is a
group within a standing committee that specialized in a subcategory of it’s
standing committees responsibility. A Joint committee is a committee comprised
of the house and senate that usually acts as a study group and report its
findings back to the house and senate. Select committees study one specific
issue and report their findings to the house or senate. Conference committees
are temporary committees set up when the house and senate have passed different
versions of the same bill. The seniority system gave the member of the majority
party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the
leadership of that committee.
Congress has two types of staffs, a personal staff
and a committee staff. The Personal Staff members work directly for individual
senators and representatives. Committee staff members work for the many house
and senate committees. Administrative assistant- is a very important legislative
aide. The AA runs the lawmakers office, supervises the lawmaker’s schedule, and
gives advice on political matters. Legislative assistant- are a second type of
personal staff member. An LA makes certain that the lawmaker is well informed
about the many bills with which she or he must deal. An LA does research, drafts
bills, studies bills currently in congress, and writes speeches and articles for
the lawmaker. Some personal staff members are called caseworkers because they
handle the many requests for help from people in a lawmaker’s state or
congressional district. Support Agencies- Library of congress, congressional
budget office, general accounting office, and government printing office. The
legislative powers of congress is stated in article I, section 8. Expressed
powers are also known as Enumerated powers. Implied powers allow congress to
expand its role to meet the needs of a growing nation, creating the elastic
clause. The elastic clause is another name for the necessary and proper clause,
#18, which implies that congress has powers beyond those expressed in the first
17 clauses. The Writ of Habeas corpus is a court order to release a person
accused of a crime to court to determine whether he or she has been legally
detained. Powers of congress- money powers, commerce powers, military and
foreign policy powers, and other legislative powers. Appropriations bills are
proposed laws to authorize spending money. Interstate commerce- is commerce
among the states. Copyright- the exclusive right to publish and sell a literary,
musical, or artistic work for a specified period of time. A patent is the
exclusive right of an inventor to manufacture, use, and sell his or her
invention for a specific period, currently 17 years, and can be renewed.
Impeachment- A formal accusation of misconduct in office against a public
official. Only a charge of wrong doing, not a determination of guilt.
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