The Basics of the Legislative Branch Notes

Name:____________________________

Go to www.mrsarmstrongmck.wix.com/amgovquest
Click on Version B at the top of the webpage. Follow the links to help you answer the questions and
fill in the blanks below. For questions that ask you to interpret information, please use complete
sentences.
1. Congress
A. Congress is part of the ________________ branch of the U.S. government. This branch is
responsible for making ____________.
B. The ____________________ and the ________________ are the two houses that form Congress.
Both are formed by people who were _______________ by people in the United States.
2. The House of Representatives
A. There are currently ____________ members of the House of Representatives. The number of
representatives is determined by ___________________________.
- Proportional Representation is: _________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
B. Only the House can introduce _____________ bills.
C. The Representative for our district is __________________________.
- Read their profile. Do you think that their views line up with Salems? Would you have voted for
them? Why or why not?

3. The Senate
A. There are ___________ members of the Senate. There are ________ senators for every state.
- If every state has the same number of senators, then how is the role of senators different than
the role of representatives? What is their role for the state as a whole? ____________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
B. Oregons senators are ____________________ and _______________________.
4. Congressional Leadership
A. The Speaker of the House acts as _____________________________. They are the
________________ officer (they are responsible for managing sessions) and are _______________ in
line to succeed the President if necessary, after the Vice President.
- Our current Speaker of the House is _____________________.
B. The position of President of the Senate is held by the _____________________________. They
have no vote in the Senate unless ______________________.
- Our current President of the Senate is ____________________________.
5. Congress in Action
A. Which committee did you pick? What about it interests you? Does this topic have any influence in
your life, or were you just curious? (Either answer is completely acceptable!)

B. Look at some of the bills that have been introduced to your committee recently. Pick one to examine
a little more. Browse the page, look over the text of the bill (look at introductory material, headings,
practice your skimming!) Which bill did you examine? What about it caught your attention?

C. How much of a chance does it look like your bill has of being passed? Why might that be?

6. Reflection
A. Considering what weve learned in the past few days and your own experiences, what role do you
think Congress has in the lives of young people today?

B. When, if ever, does the activity of the legislative branch catch your attention? Is this a good thing or a
bad thing, and what would you do to change it? If you would like, you could bring in some examples
from the news to support your opinion.

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