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Subject Areas |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Civics and U.S. Government |
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Time Required |
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Two to three class periods |
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Skills |
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organizational analysis
information gathering
reasoning skills
formulating and defending positions
Internet skills
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Additional Data |
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Date Created: 05/21/02 |
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Congressional Committees and the Legislative Process
Introduction
This lesson plan introduces students to
the pivotal role that Congressional committees play in the legislative
process, focusing on how their own Congressional representatives
influence legislation through their committee appointments.
Students begin by reviewing the stages of the legislative process,
then learn how committees and subcommittees help determine the
outcome of this process by deciding which bills the full Congress
will consider and by shaping the legislation upon which votes
are finally cast. With this background, students research the
committee and subcommittee assignments of their Congressional
representatives, then divide into small groups to prepare class
reports on the jurisdictions of these different committees and
their representatives' special responsibilities on each one.
Finally, students consider why representation on these specific
committees might be important to the people of their state or
community, and examine how the committee system reflects some
of the basic principles of American federalism.
Learning Objectives
(1) To understand the legislative process
of the United States Congress; (2) To examine the role that
Congressional committees play in this process; (3) To learn
how one's Congressional representatives can influence legislation
through their specific committee assignments; (4) To consider
how representation on specific Congressional committees can
be important to state or community interests.
1 ��
Begin this lesson by guiding students through the basic process
by which a bill becomes law in the United States Congress,
using the chalkboard to create a flow-chart diagram of this
process. A detailed explanation of the legislative process
is available through EDSITEment at the CongressLink
website. At the website homepage, click "Table of Contents"
in the lefthand menu, then look under the heading, "Know Your
Congress" for the link to How
Our Laws Are Made, which describes lawmaking from the
House of Representatives' point of view. For a corresponding
description from the Senate's perspective, look under the
"Know Your Congress" heading for the link to "Information
about Congress," then select "...The Legislative Process,"
and click "...Enactment
of a Law." CongressLink
also provides access to a more succinct account of the legislative
process: on the "Table of Contents" page, scroll down and
click "Related Web Sites," then scroll down again and click
THOMAS,
a congressional information website maintained by the Library
of Congress. At the THOMAS homepage, look for the heading
"Library of Congress Web Links" in the lefthand menu and click
"Legislative," then click "About the U.S. Congress" and select
"About the U.S. Congress" from the list that follows for a
chapter from the U.S.
Government Manual that includes this outline of the process:
- When a bill...is introduced in the
House, [it is assigned] to the House committee having jurisdiction.
- If favorably considered, it is reported
to the House either in its original form or with recommended
amendments.
- If...passed by the House, it is messaged to the Senate
and referred to the committee having jurisdiction.
- In the Senate committee the bill, if favorably considered,
may be reported in the form it is received from the House,
or with recommended amendments.
- The approved bill...is reported to the Senate and, if
passed by that body, returned to the House.
- If one body does not accept the amendments to a bill by
the other body, a conference committee comprised of Members
of both bodies is usually appointed to effect a compromise.
- When the bill...is finally approved by both Houses, it
is signed by the Speaker...and the Vice President...and
is presented to the President.
- Once the President's signature is affixed, the measure
becomes a law. If the President vetoes the bill, it cannot
become law unless it is re-passed by a two-thirds vote of
both Houses.
2 ��
Point out to students the important
role that Congressional committees play in this process. Public
attention usually focuses on the debate over legislation that
occurs on the floor of the House and Senate, but in order
for a bill to reach the floor on either side, it must first
be approved by a committee, which can also amend the bill
to reflect its views on the underlying issue. Congressional
committees, in other words, largely control the legislative
process by deciding which bills come to a vote and by framing
the language of each bill before it is debated.
3 ��
Provide
students with background on the organization and operation
of Congressional committees, using resources available through
EDSITEment at the CongressLink
website. At the CongressLink
homepage, click "Table of Contents" in the lefthand menu,
then, under the heading "Know Your Congress," select "Information
about Congress." Click "...The Legislative Process," then
select "The Legislative Process" again for a link to "...The
Committee System in the U.S. Congress," which provides
an overview from which these key points have been drawn:
- Although committees are not mentioned
in the Constitution, Congress has used committees to manage
its business since its first meetings in 1789.
- Committees enable Congress to divide
responsibility for its many tasks, including legislation,
oversight, and internal administration, and thereby cope
effectively with the great number and complexity of the
issues placed before it.
- There are today approximately 200
Congressional committees and subcommittees in the House
and Senate, each of which is responsible for considering
all matters that fall within its jurisdiction.
- Congress has three types of committees:
(1) Standing Committees
are permanent panels with jurisdiction over broad policy
areas (e.g., Agriculture, Foreign Relations) or areas of
continuing legislative concern (e.g., Appropriations, Rules);
(2) Select Committees are
temporary or permanent panels created to consider a specific
issue that lies outside the jurisdiction of other committees
or that demands special attention (e.g., campaign contributions);
(3) Joint Committees are
panels formed by the House and Senate together, usually
to investigate some common concern rather than to consider
legislation, although joint committees known as Conference
Committees are formed to resolve differences between
House and Senate versions of a specific measure.
- Many committees divide their work among subcommittees,
upon which a limited number of the committee members serve.
Subcommittees are responsible for specific areas within
the committee's jurisdiction and report their work on a
bill to the full committee, which must approve it before
reporting the bill to its branch of Congress.
- Party leaders determine the size of each committee, which
average about 40 members in the House and about 18 members
in the Senate, and determine the proportion of majority
and minority committee members. The majority party always
has more seats on a committee and one of its members chairs
the committee. Each party also determines committee assignments
for its members, observing rules that have been adopted
to limit the number and type of committees and subcommittees
upon which one member can serve.
- Each committee's chairperson has authority over its operation.
He or she usually sets the committee's agenda, decides when
to take or delay action, presides at most committee meetings,
and controls the committee's operating budget. Subcommittee
chairpersons exercise similar authority over their smaller
panels, subject to approval by the committee chair.
- The work of Congressional committees
begins when a bill that has been introduced to the House
or Senate is referred to the committee for consideration.
Most committees take up only a small percentage of the bills
referred to them; those upon which the committee takes no
action are said to "die in committee." The committee's first
step in considering a bill is usually to ask for written
comment by the executive agency that will be responsible
for administering it should it become law. Next, the committee
will usually hold hearings
to gather opinions from outside experts and concerned citizens.
If the committee decides to move forward with the bill,
it will meet to frame and amend the measure through a process
called markup. Finally,
when the committee has voted to approve the bill, it will
report the measure to its
branch of Congress, usually with a written report explaining
why the measure should be passed.
- Once a bill comes to the floor of the House or Senate,
the committee that reported it is usually responsible for
guiding it through debate and securing its passage. This
can involve working out parliamentary strategies, responding
to questions raised by colleagues, and building coalitions
of support. Likewise, if the House and Senate pass different
versions of a bill, the committees that reported each version
will take the lead in working out a compromise through a
conference committee.
4 ��
Have students research the committees
and subcommittees upon which their Congressional representatives
serve, using library resources or the resources available
through EDSITEment at the CongressLink
website.
- To help students find out who your
Congressional representatives are, click "Know Your Congress"
in the lefthand menu on the CongressLink
homepage, then enter your school zipcode into the search
form. (This search form is set up for zip+4 zipcodes, but
you can type a 5-digit zipcode into the first box and still
search successfully.)
- Click the "Search Now" button for
a report (from the Congress.Org website) listing your representatives
in the House and Senate.
- Click on the name of each representative
for a profile, including a photograph, which lists the representative's
committee assignments.
- Click on the name of each committee
for a complete roster of the committee's members and a list
of its subcommittees. There is also a "Committee Jurisdiction"
link on this page that will provide an outline of the committee's
areas of responsibility.
- To find out which subcommittee a
representative serves on, select each subcommittee name
and click the "Get Subcommittee Roster."
- For an overview of Congressional
committees and their jurisdictions, click "Know Your Congress"
in the lefthand menu at the CongressLink
homepage and select "Information about Congress," and select
"...The Legislative Process," then select "The Legislative
Process" again for links to ...Committees
of the U.S. Senate and Committees
of the U.S. House of Representatives, two reports (prepared
in 1996 and 1995 respectively) which describe each committee
and list its subcommittees.
5 ��
Divide the class into small groups and
have each group prepare a report on one of the committees
(or subcommittees) upon which one of your Congressional representatives
serves, including the size of the committee, its jurisdiction,
and whether your representative has a leadership post on the
committee. Encourage students to include as well information
about legislation currently before the committee. They can
find this information using library resources or through the
CongressLink
website, accessible through EDSITEment. At the CongressLink
homepage, click "Related Web Sites" in the lefthand menu,
then scroll down and click THOMAS,
where students can click on the current Congress under the
heading "Bill Summary & Status" to retrieve a search form
that includes an option to find all bills referred to any
committee (# 7 at the bottom of the search form). Under the
heading "Committee Reports," students can click on the current
Congress to retrieve a search form that includes an option
to find all reports issued by any committee (# 4 on the search
form). In addition, under the headings "House Committees"
and "Senate Committees," students can find up-to-date links
to committee hearing schedules.
6 ��
After students present their reports,
discuss how committee assignments can affect a Congressional
representative's ability to effectively represent his or her
constituents. Do your representatives have seats on committees
with jurisdiction over issues that have special importance
for your state or community? If so, how might their presence
on these committees help assure that Congress takes action
on questions of local interest? Do your representatives have
seats on committees with jurisdiction over important legislative
activities, such as budget-making or appropriations? If so,
how might their presence on these powerful committees help
assure that your community's views receive careful Congressional
consideration? After exploring these questions, have students
debate the extent to which a Congressional representative's
committee vote may be more influential than his or her vote
on the floor of the House or Senate. Which vote has more impact
on legislation? In this regard, have students consider President
Woodrow Wilson's observation that "Congress in session is
Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms
is Congress at work."
7 ��
Conclude by having students consider
how the structure and function of Congressional committees
reflects some of the fundamental principles of federalism.
For a broad discussion of federalism, have students read The
Federalist No. 39, in which James Madison highlights the Constitution's
provisions for a federal, as distinguished from a national,
form of government. (For a text of this essay, click "Related
Web Sites" in the lefthand menu at the CongressLink
homepage, scroll down and click THOMAS,
then select "Historical Documents" in the lefthand menu; click
"The Federalist Papers," then click "A list of titles" and
select 39
in the index.) Have students imagine, for example, that they
are members of a Congressional committee that is considering
a bill with special importance for the people of your community.
How would they balance their responsibilities to their constituents
with their responsibilities to the nation as a whole? To what
extent is this a question each Congressional representative
must answer individually? To what extent is it a question
that the mechanisms of our government answer through the legislative
process?
Extending the Lesson
- For an historical perspective on
the role of Congressional committees, CongressLink
offers a lesson plan titled, "The
Legislative Process: The Case of the Civil Rights Act of
1964," which provides background and primary source
material on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that was required
to keep this controversial bill from dying in committee.
(At the CongressLink
homepage, select "For Teachers" in the lefthand menu, then
scroll down and click on "The
Legislative Process: The Case of the Civil Rights Act of
1964.")
- For a comparative view of the workings
of Congress, visit the "Learning Page" of the American
Memory website, accessible through EDSITEment, where
you will find a set of lessons titled In
Congress Assembled: Continuity and Change in the Governing
of the United States. Lesson 3 in this set, "Linking
Past to Present," provides primary source materials
for examining congressional action on veterans' benefits,
the national debt, and terrorism in the 1780s and the 1990s.
(At the American
Memory homepage, click "Learning Page," then select
"Lesson Ideas" and click "Sample Lessons." Scroll down and
click In
Congress Assembled: Continuity and Change in the Governing
of the United States for a link to Lesson
Three: Linking Past to Present.)
Other Information
Standards Alignment
- CIVICED (9-12) I
What are Civic Life, Politics, and Government?
- CIVICED (9-12) II
What are the Foundations of the American Political System?
- CIVICED (9-12) III
How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy?
- CIVICED (9-12) V
What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?
- NCSS-10
Civic ideals and practices. Citizenship in a democratic republic. more
- NCSS-2
Time, continuity, and change. The ways human beings view themselves in and over time. more
- NCSS-5
Individuals, groups, and institutions. more
- NCSS-6
Power, authority, and governance. more
- NCTE/IRA-1
Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works. more
- NCTE/IRA-3
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. more
- NCTE/IRA-4
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. more
- NCTE/IRA-7
Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience. more
- NCTE/IRA-8
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge. more
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