America Government-25.2The House of Representatives SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 
Drill: Census  & Incumbent 
Census – counts the US population once every ten years  
Incumbent – a political candidate that is currently in office

LESSON OBJECTIVE
Students will be able to describe the rules governing the House of Representatives, House leadership, and the House’s role in the lawmaking process after reading excerpts from today’s lesson.

I. Rules for Lawmaking 
A. Each house of Congress has complex rules to help members conduct business.
B. Congress carries out most of its work by committees. 
C. Party membership guides Congress in its work
II. House Leadership 
A.	The Speaker of the House is leader of the majority party 
B.	Floor leaders of both the majority and minority parties are party leaders who schedule the work of the House and help steer bills through committees.
C. Party whips assist the floor leaders in persuading party members to support laws the party favors.
III. Lawmaking in the House 
A. Members attend House floor sessions to vote on legislation.
B. All laws begin as bills introduced in the House, then go to committee. If approved there, they are put on the proper calendar, listing the order in which they will be considered on the House floor.
C.	The House Rules Committee receives all bills approved by the various committees of the House.
D.	The Rules Committee determines which bills will be considered. 
Odds & Ends
A. The main task of each house of Congress is to make laws.
B. The flow of legislative work in Congress is controlled by the majority party. 
C. Many procedures in Congress are organized around party affiliation.
D. Before both houses of Congress pass it and the president signs it, a proposed law is a bill. 	
E. A quorum is required number of members to be present for a legislative body to take official action.
F. constituents are represented by members of the House
G. majority leader is the speaker’s top assistant
H. A caucus is a closed meeting

America Government -25.2The House of Representatives SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
1. B 		6. D
2. A 		7. A
3. E 		8. D
4. D 		9. B
5. C 		10. C	11. Constituents: people who are represented by members of the House
12. Caucus: a closed meeting
13. Quorum: required number of members to be present for a legislative body to take official action.	

14. Committees divide up the tasks and make them manageable.

Critical Thinking
1. Record Deficit
a. The federal deficit—the whale
b. Proponents of a balanced budget amendment—the occupants of the boat
c. The attitude of the government toward budget matters—noisemakers and threatening speeches by government officials 
2. Government “noise” and posturing is unlikely to have much effect on the deficit. The cartoonist portrays the deficit as massive; further, the whale symbolizing the deficit is oblivious to the noise being made above him.
Students might argue that the sassy flip of the whale’s tale indicates not only that the deficit is unmanageable, but also disdains being “preached to.” 
3. The Reagan figure in the cartoon is shaking rattles more often associated with mere noisemaking than a serious attempt at being effective. The president is standing up in a boat that could be easily toppled by the whale, but seems oblivious to the danger. 
4. The cartoonist seems to believe that all the noise about a balanced budget amendment is just  “showboating,” or giving the audience what they want to hear, rather than making serious efforts to bring the record deficit under control. 
5. The whale seems unaffected or perhaps annoyed by the spectacle. He clearly is not heading in the direction indicated by the pointing finger. 
BCR. 6. I think that as more people become aware of the problems created by deficit spending, they will make their wishes known to Congress, which will act rather than be held accountable for the deficit. Others may think that spending pressures are too great for Congress to respond by reducing spending. 

Summary: In today’s lesson, we described the rules governing the House of Representatives, House leadership, and the House’s role in the lawmaking process.

HOMEWORK: Party Whip & Quorum
(Party) Whips: help the floor leaders in persuading party members to support laws the party favors.
Quorum- is required number of members to be present for a legislative body to take official action.

Name ____________________________________________Class ___________ Date______________
America Government  5.2The House of Representatives SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Match each item in Column A with the items in Column B. Write the correct letters in the blanks. 
Column A
_____1. represented by members of the House
_____2. presiding officer of the House
_____3. closed meeting
_____4. speaker’s top assistant
_____5. assist the floor leader
	Column B
A. Speaker
B. constituents
C. whips
D. majority leader
E. caucus
	
In the blank at the left, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
_____6. The main task of each house of Congress is to
A. legislate the executive branch. 			C. get reelected.
B. write procedures. 					D. make laws.
_____7. The flow of legislative work in Congress is controlled by the
A. majority party. 					C. Democratic Party.
B. minority party. 					D. Republican Party.
_____8. Many procedures in Congress are organized around
A. a quorum. 						C. constituents.
B. the majority leader. 					D. party affiliation.
_____9. Before both houses of Congress pass it and the president signs it, a proposed law is a
A. quorum. 						C. filibuster.
B. bill. 							D. rule.
_____10. This is required number of members to be present for a legislative body to take official action.
A. a censure 						C. a quorum
B. a calendar 						D. a caucus

Terms to know, write a definition for each:
11. Constituents

12. Caucus

13.Quorum

14. Why is so much of the work of Congress done in committees? 

Interpreting Political Cartoons The Organization of Congress
The gross federal debt in 1996 was $5,207 billion; interest alone on the public debt amounted to $345 billion. Federal debt, more often called the federal deficit, occurs because past and present Congresses have authorized spending measures exceeding federal government revenues. Proponents of a balanced budget amendment argue that Congress has too many pressures from the general public, lobbyists, constituents, and interest groups to exercise the restraint necessary for a balanced budget. 
These proponents would amend the Constitution to require lawmakers to balance the budget. Opponents of such an amendment argue that if Congress did its job effectively, an amendment would not be necessary; further, such an amendment would actually hamper the government’s ability to respond to fiscal emergencies.
The cartoon on the next page gives one view of the call for a balanced budget amendment.
5.2 American Government Study the cartoon and answer the questions that follow:

Analyzing the Cartoon
1. What is the title of this cartoon?
Identify the item or items the cartoonist uses to symbolize each of the following:
a. The federal deficit 
b. Proponents of a balanced budget amendment 
c. The attitude of the government toward budget matters 
2. How effective does the cartoonist think that government measures are likely to be?
How do you know? 

3. The federal debt grew to its highest level during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Examine the caricature of Reagan, who is standing in the center of the boat. Based on the actions portrayed in the cartoon, how do you think the cartoonist feels about the president’s efforts? 

4. How does the name of the boat reveal the cartoonist’s opinion about the balanced budget amendment?

5. How threatened do you think the whale is by the speech? Explain. 

BCR 6. Do you think that “making noise” about the budget will result in further spending reductions?
Why or why not? 

In your own words summarize today’s lesson.