Congress - The

Committee
System
Cause otherwise Congress
would do even less than it
already does.
Activity - Phase 1
President and Vice-President to the front!

Congratulations! You are all now representatives serving in the United

States Congress!

Today you will be voting on a number of Bills to send to the Presidents

desk.

The President will have the duty today of presiding over Congress and
introducing the Bills. The VP will tally the votes!
Activity - Phase 2
Well representatives, youve voted on all the Bills, but Im sorry to say
that it took a while to get through each issue.

For Phase 2, each of your tables will be a committee. You will be

responsible for voting on three specific issues within your groups.
So why?
We have a committee system today, but we havent always.

Why is it necessary for today?

1.In a two-year term more than 25,000 bills are introduced into
Congress.
a. As many as 700 will end up passing both Houses of Congress.

2.Congress cant possibly handle the workload

a. Imagine if Mr. Vanderzee gave you over a thousand homework assignments in a
year.
So why?
1. They compensate by dividing the work among
committees that specialize in various
topics/subjects.areas
a. Its like tiny legislatures making up the bigger legislature.

2. After a Bill is introduced into the House or the

Senate, it is assigned to a committee to study.
a. For example, the Obamacare repeal bill was passed through the
House Ways and Means Committee. Ultimately it was never
voted on when Republicans chose to kill it due to party
disagreements.
What does a committee even do?
A committee can do a number of different things with proposed
legislation. After studying and reading it, a committee can:

Pass it! Propose

Alternatives
Amend it Kill it
Remember, 25,000 bills come through COngress

only about 700 bills will actually

pass.
What does a committee even do?

Only After the committee passes a bill can it be

voted on by the full House or Senate
Committees are also in charge of

Investigation.
Dun, Dun, Dun
Types of Committees:
Party Caucuses
They develop party strategy and schedule
legislation
They assign party members to legislative
committees
Standing
Definition - These are permanent committees
specializing in Different types of legislation
Types of Committees:
Select/Special
Definition - Established for a special purpose & a
limited period of time.
Example: Senate Watergate Committee - called to
conduct 73 hearings.
Types of Committees:
Joint
Definition - A committee composed of a member
from both houses acting as a single body which
is primarily investigative in nature
They study, report their findings, and then make
recommendations for public policy
They do not deal directly with bills or proposed
legislation
Types of Committees:
Conference
Definition - When the House and Senate pass
different versions of a bill, they must come
to some agreement. Conference committees
(composed of both House and Senate members)
are called to work out the differences.
Only one bill can be sent to the President.
A large percentage of bills pass through
conference committee.