POLS 101 1st Edition Lecture 26 Outline of Current Lecture I. Congress- Bill MakingII. Functions of CongressCurrent LectureI. Congress- Making a bill into a law. Much easier to kill a bill than to pass one. A. Bill starts by being introduced in the House of Representatives, then moves to a committee, and subcommittee, in the committee they have a hearing discussing the bill, the subcommittee then votes on the bill. After the bill passes the subcommittee, the bill moves to the Rule Committee, this is a very important stage for the bill. The Rules committee decides whether or not a bill makes it onto the floor of the house for a vote, they also schedule the length of time for debate so equal sides can be heard. The Rules Committee also decides if the bill can be amended on the floor. When the bill moves to the floor of the house, all representatives have a chance to listen to debate and vote on the bill. Vote is done by majority rule.B. In the senate, bill is introduced, the goes to committee and subcommittee. There is no equivalent for the rule committee in the senate, because debate is scheduled andunlimited in the senate. The debate will be led by party leaders, and will be a much more informal process. The open rule allows for amendments, the closed rule does not allow for a bill to be amended. The difference between the house and the senate when passing a bill, the schedule of the bill is less informal in the senate. It is typical that the bills are not identical in the house and senate, so a conference committee is called composed of individuals from the house and the senate to work out a compromise for the bill. After the conference committee, the bill goes back to the floor of the house for a vote then moves to senate, then the president votes on it. President may veto the law, and if it is not the end of the two year term the president will send the bill to the house and the senate, they have the option to overwrite the veto. Need 2/3 of house and 2/3 of senate to overwrite a president’s veto! If the president does not veto a law, the bill then becomes law. II. Functions of CongressA. LawmakingThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.B. Representation- DELEGATE- Will do exactly what constituents want. TRUSTEES- They will do what they think is best for their constituents. Many legislatures chose a role in between, as a politico, sometimes they act as delegate and sometimes they act as trustees. The hard part about being a Delegate is not knowing what the constituents want, they may survey constituents and listen to lobbyists. Legislatures know that there is sometimes their vote is paid attention to by their constituents. C. OMSBUDSMAN- role of congress where individual legislatures helping their constituents with individual problems that relate to the bureaucracy. Constituent service, Omsbudsman offices exist in many places, like on our college campus, you can get help receiving the benefits and services you deserve. Congressman assume the role as omsbudsman to help get re-elected. D. The power of the purse is the most important power congress has, they pass spending bills and budget bills. Agencies know they do not want to hassle a legislature to avoid budget cuts in their department. E. OVERSIGHT- congress, as one of its checks and balances, will watch what federal agencies and departments are functioning, congress will step in and correct any issues in the departments, they may do this through committee hearings to get a resolution. F. GAO- General Accountability Office- A Legislative agency that exists how federal programs are doing and if there is any poor management, then writes a report to congress to review. The GAO can pose a threat to a departments budget. Congress can revoke certain programs if the bill is not meeting certain expectations, they repeal the law, leaving the government agency with less power. Most of the time congress is not fully aware of the functioning of all of the government agencies. G. Congress POLICE PATROL and Fire Responses- Congress reacts to a specific power, investigating agency and the problem, if congress was to police patrol they would have the agencies watched always, but that is too much for congress to
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