Congressional Procedures and the Policy

Veteran Hill observer Walter J. Oleszek discusses the organizational and political environment of the contemporary Congress and how its rules shape domestic and foreign policy. This book is the definitive work on congressional lawmaking today, providing a detailed look into the interplay of rules, procedures, precedents, and strategies, and focusing on the changes evolving from the 104th Congress.

Walter J. Oleszek is a senior specialist in American national government at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress

Tables, Figures, and Boxes

x

(3)

Preface

xiii

Chapter 1 CONGRESS AND LAWMAKING

1

(24)

The Constitutional Context

1

(3)

Congress: An Independent Policy Maker

4

(1)

Functions of Rules and Procedures

5

(5)

Rules and Policy Making in Congress

10

(7)

Congressional Decision Making

17

(5)

Summary

22

(3)

Chapter 2 THE CONGRESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT

25

(26)

The House and Senate Compared

25

(6)

Leadership Structure of Congress

31

(7)

Pressures on Members

38

(7)

Congress in Flux

45

(3)

Summary

48

(3)

Chapter 3 THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS

51

(40)

Authorization-Appropriations Process

54

(12)

Prelude to Budget Reform

66

(1)

The 1974 Budget Act

67

(10)

Evolution of the Budget Process

77

(10)

Summary

87

(4)

Chapter 4 PRELIMINARY LEGISLATIVE ACTION

91

(34)

Categories of Legislation

92

(4)

Bill Referral Procedure

96

(7)

Consideration in Committee

103

(3)

Committee Chairman's Role

106

(3)

Hearings

109

(3)

The Markup

112

(6)

The Report

118

(3)

Summary

121

(4)

Chapter 5 SCHEDULING LEGISLATION IN THE HOUSE

125

(36)

The House Legislative Calendars

126

(1)

Minor and Noncontroversial Bills

127

(7)

"Privileged" Legislation

134

(1)

Major Legislation

135

(3)

Role of the Rules Committee

138

(13)

Legislation Blocked in Committee

151

(4)

Final Scheduling Steps

155

(2)

Summary

157

(4)

Chapter 6 HOUSE FLOOR PROCEDURE

161

(37)

Adoption of the "Rule"

165

(1)

Committee of the Whole

166

(2)

General Debate

168

(4)

The Amending Process

172

(11)

Voting

183

(5)

Final Procedural Steps

188

(6)

Summary

194

(4)

Chapter 7 SCHEDULING LEGISLATION IN THE SENATE

198

(28)

Flexible Scheduling System

200

(3)

Noncontroversial Bills

203

(2)

Major Legislation

205

(8)

Scheduling Procedures Compared

213

(2)

Senate Leadership and Unanimous Consent

215

(2)

Breakdowns in Scheduling

217

(5)

Summary

222

(4)

Chapter 8 SENATE FLOOR PROCEDURE

226

(45)

"Legislative" and "Calendar" Days

229

(1)

Daily Order of Business

229

(2)

Debate in the Modern Senate

231

(4)

Bills Considered by Unanimous Consent

235

(3)

The Amending Process

238

(10)

Bills Without Unanimous Consent

248

(15)

Procedures to Circumvent Committees

263

(3)

Summary

266

(5)

Chapter 9 RESOLVING HOUSE-SENATE DIFFERENCES

271

(29)

Agreement Without a Conference

272

(2)

Why Conference Committees?

274

(2)

Conference Committee Process

276

(18)

Presidential Approval or Veto

294

(3)

Summary

297

(3)

Chapter 10 LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT

300

(24)

Techniques of Oversight

304

(11)

Oversight Trends

315

(3)

Lack of Consensus on Oversight

318

(2)

Summary

320

(4)

Chapter 11 A DYNAMIC PROCESS

324

(9)

Glossary

333

(16)

Selected Bibliography

349

(8)

Index

357

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Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials