Legislative Branch Review

What is the best summary of this quotation?

“Congress has a split personality. On the one hand, it is a lawmaking institution and makes policy for the entire nation. In this capacity, all the members are expected to set aside their personal ambitions and perhaps even the concerns of their constituencies. Yet Congress is also a representative assembly, made up of 535 elected officials who serve as links between their constituents and the National Government. The dual roles of making laws and responding to constituents’ demands forces members to balance national concerns against the specific interests of their States or districts."—James M. Burns, et al., Government by the People

• Representatives and senators should spend most of their time drafting and passing new laws.

• Members of Congress must balance the interests of their constituencies along with national concerns.

• The primary purpose of Congress is to serve the interests of the American people.

• It is impossible for representatives and senators to balance their roles at work along with their home lives.

Which statement best explains the oversight function of congressional committees?

• It protects the President from overreach by the Senate and the House.

• It is one of the checks the legislative branch holds over the executive branch.

• It prevents members of the majority party from steamrolling members of the minority party.

• It ensures that the judicial branch interprets laws as the members of Congress intended.

Read this quotation from President Wilson and then answer the question.

“'It is indispensable that besides the House of Representatives which runs on all fours with popular sentiment, we should have a body like the Senate which may refuse to run with it at all when it seems to be wrong—a body which has time and security enough to keep its head, if only now and then and but for a little while, till other people have had time to think."—Woodrow Wilson, Congressional Government

According to President Wilson, how should the Senate function?

• The Senate should be more measured in its thinking than the House.

• The Senate should be swayed by the immediate impact of current events.

• The Senate should always stand in opposition to the concerns of House members.

• The Senate should primarily work to address the short-term concerns of constituents.

How does the commerce power differ from the currency power?

• The commerce power relates to trade, both interstate and international, while the currency power relates to creating laws about bankruptcy.

• The commerce power relates to trade, both interstate and international, while the currency power relates to providing a stable monetary system.

• The commerce power relates to the ability to borrow money against the credit of the United States, while the currency power relates to creating laws about bankruptcy.

• The commerce power relates to the ability to borrow money against the credit of the United States, while the currency power relates to providing a stable monetary system.

Read this excerpt from the United States Constitution.

“To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;” —Article I, Section 8

This section of the Constitution relates to

• the implied powers of the executive branch.

• the expressed powers of the executive branch.

• the implied powers of the legislative branch.

• the expressed powers of the legislative branch.

Read this excerpt from the text about foreign policy in the United States.

“The Constitution gives the President primary responsibility for the conduct of American foreign policy. As the Supreme Court put that point in a leading case, United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. in 1936, the Chief Executive is ‘the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations.'"

The Constitution provides the President with this power because

• the executive branch best understands how to handle foreign policy

• the fifty States are not sovereign and, therefore, have no standing in international law.

• it is nearly impossible to gain consensus in Congress in matters related to foreign affairs.

• senators and representatives are too focused on domestic issues to address international policy.

What is one way the Speaker of the House differs from the president of the Senate?

• The Speaker of the House is not a member of his or her chamber, while the president of the Senate is a member of his or her chamber.

• The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the upper chamber, while the president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the lower chamber.

• The Speaker of the House is voted into the position by colleagues, while the Vice President of the United States serves as president of the Senate.

• The Speaker of the House is typically from the minority party, while the president of the Senate is typically from the majority party.

Read this quotation from the United States Senate website.

“The chair of each committee and a majority of its members represent the majority party. The chair primarily controls a committee’s business. Each party assigns its own members to committees, and each committee distributes its members among its subcommittees. The Senate places limits on the number and types of panels any one senator may serve on and chair.”—The United States Senate

What would most likely happen in the wake of the Democrats taking over the Senate from the Republicans after an election?

• The chairs would be replaced by Democratic senators while most of the committee members would remain Republican.

• Both the chairs and most of the Democratic committee members would be replaced by Republicans.

• Both the chairs and most of the Republican committee members would be replaced by Democrats.

• The chairs would be replaced by Republican senators while most of the committee members would remain Democratic.

Why does the House impose severe limits on floor debates?

• It allows the Speaker to better control the contents of a bill.

• Bills mainly are debated in subcommittees, not on the floor.

• Most debates take place in the Senate rather than the House.

• The House is so big that long debate is extremely time-consuming.

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.

This political cartoon from the past probably comments on problems caused by

• congressional terms

• reapportionment

• off-year elections

• gerrymandering