American Government Tiffany Williams
Period 2 October 21, 2012

Chapter 12: Congress in Action

Congress comes together every other January 3to start a new term. Since the 435 seats are up for election every two years there are no sworn in members, rules, or organization until the opening day ceremonies are held. The presiding officers of each house are the Speaker of the House and the president of the Senate. Also the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate. The caucus deals with the party organization, and sometimes takes stands on certain bills. There are also floor leaders who are legislative strategist. They are assisted by party whips. There two types of bills public bills and private bills. There are different types of resolutions: joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions. Resolutions deal with things pertaining to either house the Whole House on the State of the Union, alone and are taken up only by that house. There are five calendars in the House: The Calendar of the Committee of The House Calendar, The Private Calendar, The Corrections Calendar, and The Discharge Calendar. Different committee chairmen can each call up one bill from the House or Union calendars that have cleared their committees. A bill may be subject to a few votes