111th Congress, Second Session (2010-2011)
U.S. House of Representatives (two year terms)
Number of Men: 361 (83%)
(200 D / 161 R)
Number of Women: 73 (17%) 256 Democrats (59%)
(56 D / 17 R) 178 Republicans (41%)
1 Vacant seat (FL 11th)
Number of Caucasians 360 / 82.7% (189 D / 171 R)
Number of African-Americans 39 / 8.96% (All Democrats)
Number of Hispanics 26 / 5.98% (22 D / 4 R)
Number of Asian-Pacific Islanders 8 / 1.84% (6 D / 2 R)
Number of Native Americans 1 / .02% (Republican)
Openly Gay Members 3 / .07% (2 D / 1 R)
Born outside of the United States 12 (2.75%) / Served in the Armed Forces 94 (21.6%)
Religious Groups
Protestant 269 (61.84%)[1] LDS 9 (2.07%) Muslim 2 (0.50%)
Catholic 135 (31.03%) Orthodox 6 (1.38%) Atheist 1 (0.23%)
Jewish 32 (7.36%) Buddhists 2 (0.50%) Hindu 0
Average Age 57.2 (oldest ever) / Average Length in Office 11.0
Youngest Rep. Aaron Schock (28) / Oldest Representative Ralph Hall (86)
High Education Level by Degree
High School Diploma 27 (6.21%) Associates Degree 5 (1.15%)
Nursing Degree 1 (0.23%) Bachelors Degree 112 (25.7%)
Masters Degree 83 (19.1%) Law Degree 169 (38.9%)
Doctoral Degrees 24 (5.51%) Medical Degree 13 (2.99%)
Salaries Longest Current Serving Member
Speaker of the House $212,100 John Dingle (since 12/13/1955)
House Majority/Minority Leaders $183,500
House Members/Delegates $165,200
Special Notes
Ø Six non-voting Members of the House (1 Resident Commissioner and 5 Delegates)[2]
111th Congress, Second Session (2010-2011)
U.S. Senate (six year terms)
Number of Men: 83
(44 D / 37 R / 2 I)
Number of Women: 17 57 Democrats (57%)
(13 D / 4 R) 41 Republicans (41%)
2 Independents (2%)[3]
Number of Caucasians 94 (53 D / 41 R / 2 I)
Number of African-Americans 1 (Democrat)
Number of Hispanics 1 (Democrat)
Number of Asians 2 (Both Democrats)
Number of Native Americans 0
Openly Gay Members 0
Born outside of the United States 1 / Served in the Armed Forces 25
Religious Groups
Protestant 54[4] Jewish 13 Orthodox 1
Catholic 26 LDS 5 Other 1
Average Age 63.1 / Average Length in Office 12.9
Youngest Kirsten Gillibrand (42) / Oldest Senator Robert Byrd (92)
Education Level
No education past H.S. 1 Associates Degree 0
Nursing Degree 0 Bachelors Degree 22
Masters Degree 17 Law Degree 57
Doctoral Degrees 0 Medical Degree 3
Salaries Current Longest Serving Member
President of Senate (V.P.) $212,100 Robert Byrd (since 1/3/1959)
Senate Majority/Minority Leaders $183,500 – President pro tempore of Senate
Senate Members $165,200
Special Notes
Ø 60 Votes are needed to avoid a filibuster
Ø President of the Senate is Joe Biden (D) who can only vote in cases of a tie
Base U.S. Demographic Figures from 2000 Census (out of 284,800,000)
Number of Men: 139,267,200 (48.9%)
Number of Women: 145,532,800 (51.1%)
Number of Caucasians 223,965,009 (75.1%)
Number of African-Americans 34,658,190 (12.3%)
Number of Hispanics 35,305,818 (12.5%)
Number of Asian / Pacific Is. 10,242,998 (3.6%) / 398,835 (0.1%)
Number of Native Americans 2,475,956 (0.9%) Democrats (2009) 34%
Republicans (2009) 28%
Number of GLBT 4,300,000 (1.51%) Independents (2009) 38%
Born outside of the United States 7.9% / Served in the Armed Forces 23,600,000 (10.83%)
Religious Groups
Protestant 150,944,000 (53%) LDS 5,503,192 (1.93%) Muslim 1,424,000 (0.5%)
Catholic 69,776,000 (24.5%) Orthodox 2,756,170 (1.00%) Atheist 1,139,200 (0.4%)
Jewish 3,702,400 (1.3%) Buddhists 2,400,000 (0.87%) Hindu 1,000,000 (0.36%)
Average Age (2008) 36.7 years old / Immigration (2008) 4.31 migrants per 1,000
Birth Rate (2008) 13.82 births per 1,000 / Death Rate (2008) 8.38 deaths per 1,000
High Education Level by Degree (2008)
Less than High School 15.5% Bachelors Degree 17.3%
High School Diploma 29.6% Masters or Doctorate 10.1%
Associates Degree 27.5%
Salaries (2008) Poverty Line (2008)
Per capita income (individual) $27,466 For individual under 65 $11,201
Per capita income (family) $63,211 For family of four $21,834
Per capita income (household) $52,175 Americans under line for 58.5% a for year during lifetime
Housing (2008)
Average Home cost $192,400 Percentage owning home 67.1%
Average Rent $819 Percentage renting 32.9%
Relationships (2008)
Married, not separated 50.2% Average household size 2.61
Widowed 2.5% Nonfamily households 33.4%
Divorced 9.3%
Separated 2.5% Average family size 3.20
Never married 27.6% Family households 66.6%
AP Short Answer Practice – Examining information tables for meaning
- Between the House of Representatives and the Senate, which house of U.S. Congress best matches the demographic make-up of the country? Give three examples why.
- Between the House of Representatives and the Senate, which house of U.S. Congress least matches the demographic make-up of the country? Give three examples why.
- If the House of Representatives proportionally divided up seats based on the Census data, how many seats should go to…
- Men
- Women
- Caucasians
- African-Americans
- Hispanics
- Asians
- Native Americans
- GLBT
- What do you think about the proposal in Question 3? Give me one reason why it a good idea AND a bad idea.
- What religious group is the most overrepresented compared to its actual membership in the House of Representatives? In the Senate? Do you think that affects how the country is governed? Why or why not.
- Given the age and length in office of members of Congress, some argue that limits should be placed on those positions.
- Give two reasons why age and term limits are a bad idea for a democracy.
- Give two reasons why age and term limits are a good idea for a democracy.
- Identify and explain two reasons why the Senate membership is less inclusive than the House of Representatives.
- After examining the demographic data, what three data points where the most surprising to you. Explain why you find them surprising.
- Look through Article I of the Constitution in the back of the textbook under your seat. List the responsibilities given solely to the House of Representatives. Then list the responsibilities given solely to the Senate.
- Look through Article I of the Constitution in the back of the textbook under your seat. List the responsibilities that the House of Representatives and the Senate share.
Interesting Congressional Notes:
Ø Number of times votes in Senate have tied: 244
Ø Longest-serving member of Congress: Robert Byrd (D-WV), 57 years Since 1953
Ø Oldest member of Congress: Strom Thurmond (R-SC), 100 years old 2002
Ø Youngest member of Congress: John H. Eaton (R-TN), 28 years old (appointed) 1818
Ø Longest speech (filibuster): Strom Thurmond, spoke for 24 hrs, 18 min 1957
Ø Longest filibuster: 57 days over Civil Rights Act of 1964 1964
Ø Consecutive roll call votes cast: William Proxmire (D- WI), 10,252 1966-1988
[1] Baptist (58), Methodist (47), Anglican/Episcopal (32), Presbyterian (31), Lutheran (20), Other (81)
[2] Commissioner from Puerto Rico; delegates elected for Washington DC, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands (all of which are Democrats)
[3] The two Independents caucus with the Democrats (Bernie Sanders of VT and Joe Lieberman of CT)
[4] Presbyterian (12), Methodist (10), Baptist (8), Anglican/Episcopal (6), Lutheran (4), Congressionalist (4), Other (10)