CongressDays.1

Congress Day 1, February 3, 2010
Thanks for great work today, everyone! Here's what we did in class:

Committees discussed their charge, scope, and history. Committees generated a short mission statement and posted it to their wikipage. Committee members introduced themselves and their committee to the rest of the Congress. Committees discussed current agenda for each committee, including any ongoing hearings or pending legislation. Committees brainstormed about what issues, legislation, or controversies their committee might have faced from 1945-1960.

The entire Congress debated one proposed bill:


 * "Shall Presidents be limited to two terms?"**

In Section 01, this bill passed with a majority vote in the affirmative. In Section 06, where debate ran longer, the vote taken right at the end of class was too close to call with a hand vote. A counted vote is needed when the Congressional session resumes on 2/10/10.


 * Historic note:** In July 1947, [|President Truman appointed] a Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, informally called the [|Hoover Commission] because it was chaired by former president Herbert Hoover, to look into various ways to make government more efficient. The [|Hoover Archives] notes that the purpose of the Commission was to "trim the size and influence of the executive... and to restore the balance of power between the two branches that had been weakened by the conferral of vast presidential war powers." Among its recommendations was to limit presidents to two terms, although that had already been passed by Congress in March 1947 as the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment then went to the states for ratification, and went into effect in February 1951.


 * Between now and the next Congress:**

Clean up your wikipage - check for spelling, formatting, etc Make sure that your section's committee "charge" or "mission statement" is posted. Post anything relevant from Congress Day 1 which would show me what your committee did in class Prepare for our next Congress Day.