Essay on Congressional Committees: The Workhorse of Legislature

This written report is appertaining to the book How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, written by Lee H. Hamilton. This book is published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington, IL, it was copyrighted in 2004 by the publisher.

On the other hand The House of Representatives is granted the power of originating all bills for the raising of revenue. The House leadership is structured essentially the same as the Senate, with the Members in the political parties responsible for the election of their respective leader and whips. The elected officers of the House of Representatives include the Clerk, the Sergeant at Arms, and the Chaplain. Both Houses of Congress act in impeachment proceedings, which, according to the Constitution, may be instituted against the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States.

The Committee chairpersons are the ones with the real power. There is an unwritten rule that the majority party member with the longest continuous service on a committee becomes chairperson when a vacancy occurs. The committee chairperson is the only one in the committee that actually has a real say in what is going on, and that opportunity is given to the one that has served his time the longest. However, that is no longer allowed. A historical event that has influenced Congress’s operations is the Legislation Reorganization act of 1970.This act ensures that there will be no more seniority because. Now a secret ballot elects them, however, the member with the most seniority usually wins anyway.

The inter workings of Congress have been studied extensively by Richard Fenno and David R. Mayhew. Mayhew’s study of Congress took place in Washington, while Richard Fenno conducted his research by following politicians within their congressional district. Mayhew attributes three primary goals to congressmen- getting reelected, achieving influence within Congress and making “good Policy”. Fenno also attributes three basic goals, having influence inside the House than other congressmen. Second, helping their constituents and thereby insuring their reelection, and lastly helping make good policy. The purpose of this paper is to research a member of Congress and to make a direct connection between his activity in Washington and his home district. The paper will answer whether the congressmen is a delegate or trustee. Are the actions a pursuit for reelection? Are the committee assignments a path for movement within the House or outside? What legislation has he/she sponsored or co-sponsored and does it directly reflect his/her districts political view. And finally, do major industries and interest groups within his/she district affect the way he/she votes.

The purpose of the legislative committee is to come up with a compromise when a bill is proposed to the Senate and House of Representatives. They decide if they go through with a bill or they don’t or if they need to make amendments to the bill and compromise with each other. There is a standing committee which is a permanent selection of people that has legislative jurisdiction they consider bills and issues then recommend any changes that they see need to be made. They have a responsibility to monitor agencies, programs and activities that are within their jurisdictions. The standing committees recommend funding levels, authorization for the government operations and for new and existing programs. The second committee is a select committee;

Mentioning that by looking to satisfy ones own constituents, they are doing what is asked of a representative. Feno then goes on to talk about comities focusing more on the House. He states that there are two kinds of committees, "committees which its members wish to pyramid their influence and therefore maintain their influence of their committee in the house" and committees were members are interested in national recognition (388). He defends the seniority rule which is used as a determining factors when choosing a committee chair and often is criticized. He says that although he does not see it as the best way of determining importance, it is not the biggest problem with committees, and often the committee majority is responsible for many of the problems.

Members of Congress are voted to office by their electorate as their representatives at the congress level of democracy. In their capacity, they may decide to exercise their powers by the will of the people or according to their personal judgment. When the members of Congress opt to be the people’s delegate, their actions in the House and other congressional engagements are a reflection of the will of their district. As such, the delegate representative does not have or exercise the autonomy to represent and decide for their district. Instead, a strenuous consultation process is required to keep the people in control of all relevant decisions.

After introduction of the bill, the referral or assignment to house or senate then takes place. In other words, the bill is assigned to standing committee. The Speaker and Lieutenant Governor appoint committee members and chairs. This gives the presiding officers great power and these vital decisions can

In the event a bill is strongly favored by the committee the Congress leaders have a floor debate. “Major bills must first go to the Rules Committee, which decides where bills will appear on the legislation calendar and the terms under which bills will be debated by the House” (Greenberg, 351). Specific rules include; the nature of the amendments, how much time can be spent debating, and a number if necessary. The committee has the power to have a “closed ruling” which allows for a yes or no vote. In a floor debate, the Senate determines the final form of the bill also, “The threat of a hold or a filibuster means that the minority in Senate plays an important role in determining the final step of legislation” (Greenberg, 352). After this step, the members of the chamber either vote once the bill has been reported or after the amendments have been added. Once

For instance, the Speaker of the House must set the agenda, appoint chairs of committees and, have an impact over what gets voted on in the legislature (Champagne et al., 2017, p.209). Another important persona in the state legislature is the lieutenant governor; the president of the state senate. He is held accountable for setting the legislative agenda and appointing committee chairs (Champagne et al., 2017, p.210). Moreover, the committee system of the state legislature must work together to perform more common governmental tasks. Such as, when the Texas Senate and House members work together to pass a new law (Champagne et al., 2017, p. 211-212).

Firstly, there are standing committees. They are a permanent committee in house or senate that considers bills within a specific area. Each different committee is given a specific area of legislative policy jurisdiction. Members tend to seek committee seats that deal with matters of special interest to their constituents. There are select committees. It is a temporary legislative committee created for a limited time for a specific reason. They normally form to investigate public issues like aging. Another is joint committees. It is comprised of both Chambers of Congress. They can be permanent or temporary. They work with economy, tax, or Library of Congress. Conference Committees are formed to reach an agreement between the House and

The Organizational Structure of congress in the United Stated is demonstrated through the fact that we have a House and a Senate that are separated from each other. Congress is a very complex structure that possesses many committees that all handle a variety of topics. The United States Senate is composed of only 100 members that serve six year terms. Some refer to the senate as the “upper house”, and only 1/3 of the members of the United Senate are re-elected every two years. The House of Representatives is composed of 435 members that each serve two year terms. The HOR is known as the “lower house” and all 435 members are up for re-election every two years. The top two leadership roles in the Senate are The Vice President of the United States who presides over the Senate, and required to vote when there is a tie in Senate. Also in the case of a death of a president, the Vice president must step up and preside over the nation. The second most vital role in Senate is the President Pro-Tempore. The President Pro-Tempore is the highest ranked senator as elected by the Senate. The top two positions in the House are The Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader. The Speaker of the House is arguably the most influential single legislator in both houses. The Speaker presides over proceedings on the House floor, designates which bills go to which committees, designates committee assignments for new members, appoints the party 's other leaders , and

The class imitation of the House of Representatives demonstrated the roles and the process of seeing a bill from committee until the House floor. Each student was given a role and eventually a committee. The committees that were represented were the Armed Services, Appropriations, and the Ways and Means committees. Discoveries were made along the way that better developed the understanding of the process.

A bill is first introduced in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. However, a money bill must start in the House of Representatives only. After being introduced, the bill first begins in Committee, where it is assigned a number and committee. At this stage, the committee assigned to the bill will discuss and amend the bill as necessary. A majority vote is needed in order for the bill to continue on its journey to becoming a law. Sadly, ninety percent of bills die in Committee because the committee may not

The development of legislation from the point of conception to actual bill language, to legislative assignment and review, consideration by Assembly and/or Senate, and becoming law is a multi-faceted process that consists of several specific steps. Given the complicated nature of this process, it sometimes frustrates stakeholders in light of time consumed, probable constant revisions of the language, and issues that may arise in different legislative committees and special interest groups. Consequently, the process in the development of legislation has been described using various terms including laborious task and mysterious routine. Actually, individuals who engage in the development of legislation state that it is usually a very difficult and time consuming process.