e-congress


 * 1) What is the structure of Congress?
 * 2) What are the responsibilities of Members of Congress?
 * 3) How does Congress make laws?



**Phase I: Introduction to e-Congress 2011 ** **Study Guide ** 1) Congress is the law-making, or legislative branch of government.
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2) The U.S. Congress has two houses, the Senate and the _House of Representatives. Another word for a two house legislature is _bicameral legislature.

3) The House of Representatives has 435 members. There are 10_representatives from my state.
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4) This is the _112th session of Congress.

5) The Speaker of the House of Representatives is elected by the __majority_ party.
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6) The _republican_ Party has the most seats in the House of Representatives.

7) The donkey in the political cartoon on this page represents the __republican_ Party.

8) What is the cartoonist’s point about political parties in this session of Congress?  The democratic party has more power because they have more seats in the senate.

9) Permanent committees in Congress are also called __standing committees.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">10) The people that an elected official represents are called _constituents _.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">11) Your personal beliefs about government are known as your __political_ beliefs.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">12) Representatives have many responsibilities. Two examples are: <span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;"> a)
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<span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;"> b)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">13) Members of Congress are less diverse, more likely to be male, richer, older and better educated than the rest of the United States. Should this concern us? Why or why not?
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">14) A bill is a __________________ ________________.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">15) Most bills never make it out of _______________________.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">16) A change to a bill is also called an _______________________.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">17) To become law, a bill must be approved by the House of Representatives, the ___________________, and the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">___________________.
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