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Haskell MidtermINDEXReading OutlinesChapter Page
Oleszek 1…………………………………………………………... 1Oleszek - Chapter 3: Preliminary Legislative Action……… ……... 4Oleszek 8- Resolving House-Senate Differences………………….. 6Oleszek 9- Legislative Oversight…………………………………... 8Thurber- Chapter 1 & 2…………………………………….……….10Thurber- 3………………………………………………………….. 11Thurber- 4…………………………………………………………...12Thurber- 5………………………………………………………….. 13Thurber- 7…………………………………………………………. 14Thurber- 8…………………………………………………………...16
 
Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process, Ch. 1- Walter J. Oleszek
Congress is dominated by rules and procedures, which aim to promote their respective chambers, e.g. House rules favor majorities, whileSenate rules favor individual Senators. Rules and procedures promote stability, legitimacy, division of labor, protection of minority rights,conflict resolution, and distribution of power. Congressional rules are primarily dominated by precedents/folkways and unconventionallawmaking. Congressional decision-making has multiple decision points, coalition building, and a deadline. The last section focuses on thedifferences between House and Senate.
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Congressional rules and procedures aim to expedite, slow down, or stop action on legislation. Congress is an independent policy maker, aswell as the nation’s premier forum for addressing the economic, social, and political issues of the day.
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Senate procedures are designed to emphasize extended deliberation over expedited decision making.
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October 2002, Daschle took procedural action to limit filibuster on the Iraq war issue in order to make Democratic issues moreimportant in the 2002 midterm elections. Senator Robert Byrd, D-W. VA, asked that no procedural attempt to end discussion on sucha momentous issue. Daschle responded by invoking cloture, or “closure of the debate.”
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Byrd was suspected of using delaying tactics, such as engaging in a talkathon on the preamble to the joint resolution. Daschleresponded by “moving the preamble into the main text” in the evening after the Senator had left, preempting Byrd.
The Constitutional Context 
 
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James Madison & Alexander Hamilton created several familiar basic principles in the Constitution:1.
 
Limited Government- wanted a strong and effective government that would not threaten personal and property rights. TheConstitution is filled with implicit and explicit “auxiliary precautions” (Madison’s phrase), such as the bill of rights and checks andbalances.2.
 
Separation of powers was envisioned by the framers to:a)
 
Restrain the power of any one branch.b)
 
Ensure that cooperation would be necessary for an effective government.c)
 
Congress is the first branch of government, granting explicit and implied responsibilities through Article I’s “elastic clause.” Thisclause empowers Congress to make “al Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution” its enumerated orspecific powers.d)
 
Article II and III created the executive and judicial branches describing only briefly the framework and duties of thesegovernmental units.3.
 
Check and balances create cooperation and accommodation.4.
 
Federalism- The Constitution’s supremacy clause makes all national laws and treaties “the Supreme law of the land”; however,powers not granted to the federal government are devolved to the states.
Functions of Rules and Procedures
 
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Thomas Jefferson- “Uniformity of proceedings in business not subject to the caprice of the Speaker or captiousness of the members.”Rules provide:1.
 
Stability, more marked nowadays by a procedural evolution. In the House, more procedural and political powers are centralized in theSpeaker. In the Senate, the use or threat of dilatory procedures is a growth industry, showing more use of unanimous consentagreements as a way to avoid parliamentary stalemates.2.
 
Legitimacy, 1993-1995, Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 which devised appropriate workplace andemployee protection laws (e.g. age discrimination, civil rights, and health and safety laws.)3.
 
Division of Labor- Committees provide division of labor and specialization. Each committee has quorum requirements, public noticeof committee meetings and hearings, and the right to counsel for witnesses. These rules also allocate staff resources to committees andsub-committees.4.
 
Protection of Minority Rightsa.
 
Majority rule is embedded in the rules, precedents, and practices of the House. However, minority rights still exist. For example,minority party is represented on every standing committee; any lawmaker with contrary views can claim one-third of the debatetime on conference reports if the Republican and Democratic floor managers both support it.b.
 
Senate operates with rule and procedures that advantage minority rights. Senators have the right to speak at great length (filibusterand to offer amendments, such as nongermane amendments.5.
 
Conflict Resolution- rules avoid conflicts if equally observed.6.
 
Distribution of Power- Congress distributes power according to its rules and customs. Rules establish a hierarchy of leadership andpower.
 Rules and Policy Making in Congress
 
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Congress voted 420-1 against Jim Trafficant to expel him from the House, usually members have to hear to their constituencies.
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Congress usually requires a simple majority to decide public policy, except in these cases:1.
 
Overriding presidential vetoes (a two-thirds vote)2.
 
Senate ratification of treaties (two-thirds)3.
 
ending extended debate (a filibuster) in the Senate (three-fifths)
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Congress is a collegial, not a hierarchical body. Power does not flow up or down, but everywhere.1.
 
Procedure and Policy:a.
 
Procedures affect policy outcomes, e.g. major civil rights legislation failed for decades to win congressional approval becausesouthern senators used rules to kill or modify measures. Procedures are employed to define, restrict, or expand the policy optionsavailable to members during floor debate.
 
b.
 
Policy decisions are often expressed as procedural moves. Legislators employ various procedures to handle knotty problems suchas postpone on the ground of insufficient study in committee. A measure may also be tabled by the House or Senate, a proceduralvote that effectively defeats a proposal without rendering a clear judgment on its substance.c.
 
Nature of the policy can determine the use of certain procedures. Congress usually uses expeditious procedures fornoncontroversial measures and deliberative procedures for controversial measures. For example, in October 2003, the Do NotCall list was ruled unconstitutional, and then Congress made it constitutional in September.d.
 
Policy outcomes are more likely to be influenced by members with procedural expertise. Knowing parliamentary procedure is toyour benefit.2.
 
Conventional versus Unconventional Lawmaking- “Regular order” refers to what the House or Senate rulebook prescribes for theconsideration of legislation. Most of the time, the “regular order” is to cumbersome and Congress chooses toa.
 
Create special procedures such as “rules” from the Rules Committee in the House or unanimous consent (UC) agreements in theSenate.b.
 
Create more contemporary lawmaking, such as increased gridlock in the Senate because each individual senator has moreincentive to push their procedural prerogative. Additionally, the rise of omnibus bills have gained prominence since the 1980s, inpart because party and committee leaders can package or bury controversial provisions in one massive bill.c.
 
Party leadership tends to bypass the standing committees more often or made adjustments in legislation after it is reported out of committee.d.
 
Special circumstances call or special rules, e.g. 1995 Contract with America lasting from January 4- April 7, 1995 logging in 528session hours (double the previous session). Recent House speakers Tip O’Neill Jr. employed partisan or bipartisan task forces tofacilitate passage of legislation and to draft legislation. Sometimes, legislation is passed through budget conference reports, etc.3.
 
Precedents and Folkways- Congressional decision making is shaped by a chamber’s formal and informal structure of rules, precedents,traditions, goals, and expectations.a.
 
Precedents- accumulated past decisions on matters of procedure, represent formal and informal. For example, formal rulesprescribe the order of business in the House and Senate, but precedents permit variations through the unanimous consent of themembers.b.
 
Folkways- unwritten norms of behavior that members are expected to observe. In 1950s:i.
 
Apprenticeship- junior lawmakers should listen and learn from seasoned colleagues before engaging in policymakingii.
 
Courtesy- members should be solicitous toward their colleagues and avoid personal attacks on themiii.
 
Specialization- a member should master a few policy areas not try to impress colleagues as being a jack-of-all-tradesCurrently, the nature is more “entrepreneurial” where incentives- both inside and outside Congress are to get quickly involved inlawmaking. Newcomers deferring to their elders are seen as unusual in the Senate.
Congressional Decision Making
 
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Congressional decision making has the following features:1.
 
Decentralized power structure:a.
 
Specialized committees struggle to promote policy coherence. E.g. overlapping and fragmented committee responsibilities canimpede the development of comprehensive and coordinated national policies. Additionally, special relationships withsubgovernments, issue networks, or sloppy large hexagons influence numerous policy areas.b.
 
Central party leadership struggles to promote party coherence. Many public policies are enacted because diverse elements of bothparties temporarily coalesce to achieve common goals. Party leaders cannot dictate policy because many members cannot rely onparty leadership.2.
 
Multiple decision points mean that at each step of a bill’s progress a majority coalition must be formed to move the measure along.Bills are referred to committee and then subcommittee, and then back. The bill is then scheduled for consideration by majority partyleadership. After floor debate and final action in one chamber, the steps are repeated in the other house.3.
 
Bargaining and Coalition Building-a.
 
Logrolling- exchange of voting support on different bills by different members of Congress.b.
 
Compromise- building coalitions through negotiation of the content of legislation. Each side agrees to modify policy goals on agiven bill in a way that is generally acceptable to the other.c.
 
Nonlegislative favors- Other objectives such as prestigious committee assignments, getting reelected, running for higher office,obtaining larger office space and more staff, or being selected to attend a conference abroad.4.
 
Every bill in congress faces the two-year deadline of the congressional term (108
th
Congress- beginning January 7, 2003 to January 3,2005). Inaction or postponement can kill a bill, but around December- lawmaking is furious.
The House and Senate Compared 
 
House Senate
Shorter term of office (two years) & larger 435 members Longer tem of office (six years) & 100 membersAdheres closely to procedural rules on floor activity Operates mostly by unanimous consentNarrower constituency Broader, more varied constituencyOriginates all revenue bills Sole power to ratify treaties and advise andconsent to presidential nominationsPolicy specialists Policy generalistsLess press and media coverage More press and media coveragePower less evenly distributed Power more evenly distributedLess prestigious More prestigiousMore expeditious in floor debate Less expeditious in floor debateStrict germaneness requirement for floor amendments No general germaneness rule for floor
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