Comparing The House of Representatives and the Senate
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Transcript of Comparing The House of Representatives and the Senate
Comparing The House of Representatives and the
Senate
Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask…
Background/General Info
• Which is considered the lower/upper house?• Why?
– Which is considered “closest to the American people”…why?
• Which is designed to give more power to states with larger/smaller populations?– The House = The more people in your state, the
more representatives your state gets– More people = louder “voice” or more “weight”
– The Senate = no matter what, every state gets same #
Qualifications for House Members• What are the 3 Constitutional requirements for
House/Senate members?• Term Length?
• Every 2 years, each and every member of the House must run for re-election
• Every 2 years, 1/3rd of the Senate runs for re-election; **never both Senators from the same state…
• There is a Congressional election every even-numbered year in the month of November.
• e.g., 11/2008, 11/2010, 11/2012, 11/2014
Members of Congress (MoC’s) • How many members in the House of
Representatives/Senate?• House members referred to as “US Representatives”,
“Representative” or “Congressman”• Senate members as “Senator”.
• What is the name of the geographical area they are elected from and represent?
• What is the minimum # of Reps or Senators a state can have?
**Most Reps in any state?
California has 53, Texas has 36
How many Reps does PA have?• PA currently has 18 members of the House of Reps
**Number has decreased by 5 over the past 30 years: used to have 23 Reps…
Who is our US Representative?• Tim Murphy (R – PA) represents us here in the 18th
Congressional district of PA
Our 2 US Senators
• Pat Toomey • Robert Casey, Jr.
Party Division in The House
• Current party division:– Republicans– 234– Democrats– 201
• 6 non-voting delegates…
201
234
Party Division in the Senate
• Current party breakdown:– 53 Democrats (55 total)
• 2 Independents caucus with Dems– Angus King (I – ME), Bernie Sanders (I – VT)
• 45 Republicans
45
53
2
RepublicansDemocratsIndependents