Activities on the House Floor are updated on-line throughout the legislative day. View the current floor schedule.
"; } if (quotes==1) { title="What is the difference between a term of Congress and a session of Congress?"; body="A term of Congress is two years in duration commencing on January 3rd of each odd-numbered year. A session of Congress is the annual meeting with each term being divided into two sessions. When Congress is actually meeting, it is said to be in session.
"; } if (quotes==2) { title="What is the difference between a joint session and a joint meeting?"; body="Congress holds joint sessions to receive addresses from the President and to count electoral ballots for President and Vice President. Congress also holds joint meetings to receive addresses from such dignitaries as foreign heads of state, heads of government, or from distinguished American citizens.
View the list of Joint Sessions, Joint Meetings and Inaugurations, 1789 to present.
"; } if (quotes==3) { title="How do Representatives introduce bills?"; body="A bill that is to be introduced is typed on a special House form and signed by the Representative who will introduce it. A Representative may introduce a bill any time the House is in session by placing it in a special box known as the hopper, which is located on the Clerk's desk on the House floor.
How Our Laws Are Made at the THOMAS website provides additional information on the legislative process.
"; } if (quotes==4) { title="What happens to a bill after it becomes a law?"; body="The provisions of the law take effect immediately unless the law itself provides for another date. The law will also specify which executive departments or agencies are empowered to carry it out or enforce it. The actual written document is sent to the National Archives and Records Administration NARA, an independent government agency, where it is given a number and published in individual form as a slip law.
At the end of each session of Congress, these are consolidated in a bound volume called U.S. Statutes at Large. In addition, all permanent, general laws currently in force are included in the Code of Laws of the United States of America, commonly called the U.S. Code.
The Office of Law Revision Counsel, part of the institutional structure of the House, is responsible for preparing and issuing annual supplements to keep the Code up to date.
The Office of Law Revision Councel provides information on the U.S. Code.
"; } if (quotes==5) { title="What are the powers of Congress as provided in the Constitution?"; body="The Constitution (Article I, Section 8) empowers the Congress to levy taxes, collect revenue, pay debts and provide for the general welfare; borrow money; regulate interstate and foreign commerce; establish uniform rules of naturalization and bankruptcy; coin money and regulate its value; punish counterfeits; establish a postal system; enact patent and copyright laws; establish Federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court; declare war; provide for Armed Forces; impeach and try Federal officers (Section 2 and 3); and to have exclusive legislative power over the District of Columbia.
In Article II, Section 2, the Senate is given the power to consent to ratification of treaties and confirm the nomination of public officials. Congress is also given the power to enact such laws as may be necessary and proper to implement its mandate in Article I, and in certain amendments to the Constitution.
"; } if (quotes==6) { title="Are the proceedings of the House published?"; body="By Constitutional requirement, the House keeps a journal of its proceedings. The House Journal does not report debates, it only reports the bare parliamentary proceedings of the Chamber. In addition, the House Journal contains minimal information about actions taken by the House when meeting as a Committee of the Whole, because any action taken there is not official unless and until it is ratified by the full House.
The Congressional Record contains a record, taken stenographically, of everything said on the floor of both the House and the Senate, including roll call votes on all questions. Members are permitted to edit and revise the transcripts of their spoken remarks. An appendix contains material not spoken on the floor but inserted by permission - referred to as the extension of remarks. It also carries a brief resume of the congressional activities of the previous day, as well as a future legislative program and a list of scheduled committee hearings.
The House Journal and the Congressional Record are available online via GPO Access.
"; } if (quotes==7) { title="What organizations are included in the legislative branch?"; body="In addition to the U.S. Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, the legislative branch includes the Architect of the Capitol, the Government Printing Office (GPO), the Library of Congress, and the legislative support agencies.
The Architect's principal duties involve the construction, maintenance, and renovation of the Capitol Building as well as the congressional office buildings and other structures in the Capitol complex. The GPO publishes the Congressional Record, congressional committee hearings and reports, and other congressional documents, as well as a substantial portion of executive branch publications. The Library of Congress, in addition to providing library services, research and analysis to the Congress, is also viewed as a national library but is not officially the national library.
The three support agencies include the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress, and the General Accounting Office (GAO).
On occasion, temporary advisory commissions are established and funded by the legislative branch.
"; } if (quotes==8) { title="What is a quorum?"; body="A quorum in the House of Representatives is when a majority of the Members are present. When there are no vacancies in the membership, a quorum is 218. When one or more seats are vacant, because of deaths or resignations, the quorum is reduced accordingly. Because of Members' other duties, a quorum often is not present on the House floor. But any Member may insist that a quorum must participate in any vote that takes place in the House. If a member makes a point of order that a quorum is not present, and the Speaker agrees, a series of bells ring on the House side of the Capitol and in the House office buildings to alert Members to come to the Chamber and record their presence.
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