Congress Matters

Congress convened on Wednesday, May 20th to discuss a number of things, which is conveniently reported by www.congressmatters.com (thank-you). On first glance, I was confused and overwhelmed with the massive amount of information, but, as with the super cool magic eye books, the longer I stared at it the clearer the picture became.

Let's start by looking at a day in the House. They begin their day at 9:30 a.m., and that's when all the appropriations begin. During the four and a half hours that Congress spends in the session, every committee from the Armed Forces Committee to the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will be begging Congress for money. Each of the appropriation requests (as well as all other Congressional matter) will go through either a full committee or a subcommittee (as reminscent of Tuesday's lecture). It is also interesting to note that under 15 of the 26 headings, it is a type of subcommittee. And, as we know, since subcommittees are where bills go to die it doesn't surprise me that most bills that enter Congress do not make it out alive.

Now lets take a look into the House's ritzy and powerful cousin -- the Senate. They meet for five and a half hours in a day, and begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m.. It appears as though they deal much less with appropriation bills, but, rather, deal more with substantive law-potentials as opposed to the House. The Homeland Security and Government Affairs really sticks out by virtue of its massive amount of text... I bet that's a good importance proxy. Also, there appears to be a high volume of health-care related bills going through the Senate.

This is more of a petty question, but why are all the committees and appropriations typed in all capital letters, but the Senate they are not? It is also interesting to note the "Recognizing May 25, 2009, as National Missing Children's Day" request, which was a "Postponed Suspension Vote." As indicated, this bill was passed in the House yet it is still awaiting Senate approval. This begs the question that we asked in lecture today "Who would vote against this?" It is interesting to be able to see this question in action, and to see the potential voters who may be *against honoring missing children.* The Senate did, however, manage to ammend two things: H.R. 627 and H.R. 2352 , which involve credit cards and job creation, respectively. Nice work Congress!

Overall, I can see how chaotic being in the House and Senate may be. Between all the meetings and casework, no wonder confusion and impassability is an evitable part of our legislative process. However, even through all this mess we still manage to get things accomplished and bills passed; thus, the system works so why try and change it?

Source:
http://www.congressmatters.com/storyonly/2009/5/27/1030/-Today-in-Congress