American Government Standing committees are committees that exist

American Government

§ Standing committees are committees that exist from one Congress to the next § Standing committees are permanent subject matter committees where similar bills are sent for analysis and debate § Currently there are 19 standing committees in the House § House committees have between 10 and 75 members § Bills get their most consideration in these bodies § The leading committees in the House are the § Rules Committee § Ways and Means Committee (all revenue bills originate here, the means that tax bills are created in this committee)

§ Currently there are 17 standing committees in the Senate § Senate committees have between 14 to 28 members § In the Senate the leading committees are the: § Judiciary Committee (they approve Presidential judicial appointments)

§ Political issues are the types of things that Congressmen are supposed to fix through the passage of legislation § When politicians prioritize and decided on the types of legislation that they are going to pass, this is known as a policy agenda § A policy agenda can be impacted by a variety of things, including: § Public Demand § Presidential Priorities § Party Priorities § Environmental/Contextual Impacts

§ Public policies are addressed through the passage of bills. There a variety of types of bills in the U. S. They include: § Bill§ A bill is a proposed law § Public bill: § A public bill applies to the entire nation § Private bill: § A private bill applies only to certain people or places § In order for any official business to take place in Congress, there must be a quorum of Congressmen present § A quorum represents a majority of either Senators or Representatives in their respective houses

§ Introduction § The bill is first introduced in the House. § Committee action: § The bill is then referred to its respective standing committee § It then goes to a subcommittee for study, hearings, revisions, and approval § It then goes back to full committee for more hearings and revisions § The bill then goes to the rules committee where conditions for debate and the process for amendments is set § The rules committee can speed up, delay, or kill the legislation § Floor Action § Its then debated on the floor then passed or defeated. If its passed it then goes to the Senate

§ Senate § The bill is first introduced in the Senate. § Committee action § The bill is then referred its respective standing committee § It then goes to a subcommittee for study, hearings, revision, and approval § It then goes back to full committee for more hearings and revisions § In order to receive debate and a floor vote the bill must be placed on the calendar by the Majority Floor Leader § The bill is then debated then passed or defeated § If passed it then goes to the House

§ The House Rules Committee is known as the traffic cop § This committee screens bills before they reach the floor § This committee has the power to speed up, delay, or kill a measure § In the Senate the Floor Leader controls the appearance of bills on the floor in the Senate § The appearance of bills are scheduled on the calendar and can not reach the calendar without the approval of the Senate Floor Leader

§ A joint committee is composed of members of both houses § Some joint committees are investigative in nature and issue reports to the House and Senate, some are routine groups § Before a bill can be sent to the President it must be identical in both houses § A conference committee, is a temporary committee, that gets together to compromise on the bill

§ Conference Committee § The Conference Committee reconciles differences between House and Senate versions of a bill § Congressional Approval § The House and Senate vote on the final passage of the bill § The approved bill is then sent to the president § President § The President then signs the bill into law or the bill is vetoed § A Presidential veto can be overturned by two-thirds vote in each house in Congress § This is referred to as a legislative veto § When the bill is printed in its final form, it is referred to as being engrossed

§ Filibuster § The filibuster is a tactic used in the Senate whereby a vote on legislation can be delayed through debate § The longest filibuster was conducted by Strom Thurmond and lasted 24 hours § This tactic is rarely used in the traditional sense in today’s Senate § Generally if a filibuster is threatened (and the required number of Senators can’t be reached for cloture) the bill is returned to committee § Cloture § This is the voting process that can be initiated to end a filibuster. § It requires 60 Senators to cut off a filibuster

§ Pork Barrel Spending § This is the concept of passing legislation that will only benefit your constituency § Pork barrel spending is also referred to as earmarking or riders § Pork barrel spending is often referred to as wasteful spending by those who appose the process of earmarks and riders § Many times pork/earmarks/riders are added to bills because of political logrolling § Logrolling is similar to the concept of you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours

§ The vast majority of bills are pigeonholed in the law making process § This means that most bills are never introduced in a session of Congress and are buried away and never acted upon § There is a way in which pigeonholed bills can be pushed through the legislative process and that is through the use of the discharge petition § A discharge petition allows for the Representatives to force a bill onto the floor for a vote § This requires an absolute majority of Representatives to agree on the petition

§ Select committees are special committees § They are setup for a specific purpose and most often for a limited time § The Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate appoints the members of these special committees § They are normally setup to perform investigations into what type of legislation should be passed in order to take care of the countries’ needs