Name: ______

Use pages 283-290 to fill in the blanks.

Chapter 12: Congress in Action

Section 1: Congress Organizes

  1. Congress Convenes
  1. Opening Day in the House
  1. The clerk of the House in the preceding term presides, chairs, at the beginning of the first day’s session
  2. The members elect a Speaker of the House
  1. Traditionally, ______
  2. The Speaker then swears in the rest of the body
  1. Other positions are elected
  2. The House adopts the rules that will govern its proceedings
  3. Committee members are appointed by a floor vote
  1. Opening Day in the Senate
  1. A ______body, thus the turnover is smooth
  2. Newly elected and reelected members are sworn in
  1. The President’s State of the Union Message
  1. A ______session of Congress
  2. The President reports on the state of the nation as he sees it, in both ______and ______policy terms
  3. Given in the middle of ______
  1. The Presiding Officers
  1. Speaker of the House
  1. Today, it is Dennis ______(R, Ill.)
  2. The Speaker is both elected presiding officer of the House and the acknowledged leader of its ______party
  3. Duties are to preside and to keep order
  4. No member may speak unless recognized by the Speaker
  5. Speaker may debate and vote, but must appoint a temporary presiding officer to do so
  1. He must vote to break a ______
  1. ______in Presidential succession
  1. President of the Senate
  1. According to the Constitution, the ______of the U.S.
  2. Not a member of the Senate, therefore he:
  1. Cannot ______and can only vote in case of a ______
  1. President Pro Tempore
  1. Serves in the Vice President’s ______
  2. Elected by the Senate itself and is always a leading member of the ______party
  3. Who is the President Pro Tempore today? ______
  1. Floor Leaders and Other Party Officers
  1. The Floor Leaders
  1. Legislative strategists who try to carry out the decisions of their parties’ caucuses and steer floor action to their party’s benefit
  2. Majority Leader
  1. Head of the majority party in the House or Senate
  1. Minority Leader
  1. Leader of the minority party in each House
  2. ______(D. SD) is Senate Minority Leader
  1. Whips
  1. Assist the ______
  2. Job is to check with party members and advise the floor leader of the number of voters that can be counted on in any particular matter
  1. The Party Caucus
  1. A closed meeting of the members of each ______in each house
  1. Committee Chairmen
  1. Those members who head the standing committees in each chamber
  1. Usually experienced members of Congress
  2. Have a background in the issues for which committee they head
  3. Chosen from the ______party
  1. Seniority Rule
  1. An unwritten custom
  2. Provides that the most important posts, in both the formal and the party organization in each chamber, will be held by its ranking members—those party members with the longest records of service in Congress
  1. Criticism of Seniority Rule
  1. Ignores ability and discourages younger members
  2. Little chance it will be eliminated