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Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator–a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress: http://www.webcommunicator.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- People Who Served in Congress
- Congress Defined
- *New* Lesson Plan: Mock Senate Simulation
- *New* Congressional Research Service Reports: House Rules Committee List
- Congressional Research Award Winners
- *New* Editorial Cartoons
- *New* Things to Think About
- *New* Leadership in Congress & Trivia
- Postscript Information
- PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives
Robert Young Hayne (1791-1839) (brother of Arthur Peronneau Hayne), a Senator from South Carolina; born on Pon Pon plantation, St. Paul’s Parish, Colleton District, S.C., November 10, 1791; attended private schools in Charleston; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1812 and commenced practice in Charleston, S.C.; served in the War of 1812, becoming captain of the Charleston Cadet Riflemen in 1814; appointed quartermaster general of the State in December 1814; member, State house of representatives 1814-1818, and served as speaker in 1818; State attorney general 1818-1822; elected to the United States Senate in 1822; reelected in 1828 as a Jacksonian and served from March 4, 1823, to December 13, 1832, when he resigned to become Governor; participated in January and February 1830 in a notable exchange with Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts upon the principles of the Constitution, the authority of the general government, and the rights of the States; chairman, Committee on Naval Affairs (Nineteenth through Twenty-second Congresses); member of the South Carolina nullification convention in 1832; Governor of South Carolina 1832-1834; mayor of Charleston 1835-1837; promoter and president of the Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad 1836-1839; died in Asheville, N.C., September 24, 1839; interment in St. Michael’s Churchyard, Charleston, S.C.
Sources:
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000398
African-Americans in Congress: Benjamin Sterling Turner (1825-1894). a Representative from Alabama; born near Weldon, Halifax County, N.C., March 17, 1825; raised as a slave; received no early education; moved to Alabama in 1830 and by clandestine study obtained a fair education; engaged in mercantile pursuits; elected tax collector of Dallas County in 1867; councilman of the city of Selma in 1869; elected as a Republican to the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1873); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1872 to the Forty-third Congress; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880; engaged in agricultural pursuits in Alabama; died in Selma, Dallas County, Ala., March 21, 1894; interment in Live Oak Cemetery.
Sources:
Black Americans in Congress at http://baic.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=4
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000414
Women in Congress: Katherine Gudger Langley (1888-1948). (wife of John Wesley Langley and daughter of James Madison Gudger, Jr.), a Representative from Kentucky; born near Marshall in Madison County, N.C., February 14, 1888; attended the common schools; was graduated from the Woman’s College, Richmond, Va.; attended Emerson College of Oratory, Boston, Mass.; taught expression at the Virginia Institute at Bristol, Tenn.; moved to Pikeville, Ky., in 1905; vice chairman of the Republican State Central Committee of Kentucky 1920-1922; served as the first chairman of the Kentucky Woman’s Republican State Committee in 1920; alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1920 and delegate in 1924; chairman of the Pike County Red Cross Society during the First World War; elected as a Republican to the Seventieth and Seventy-first Congresses (March 4, 1927-March 3, 1931); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1930 to the Seventy-second Congress; railroad commissioner, third Kentucky district, 1939-1942; died in Pikeville, Ky., on August 15, 1948; interment in Johnson Memorial Cemetery.
Sources:
Women in Congress at http://womenincongress.house.gov/
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000073
- CONGRESS DEFINED
Words and phrases that describe congressional processes
Insist. A motion by either the House or Senate to reiterate its previous position during the process of considering amendments between the two chambers. A house may insist on its amendment after the other body has disagreed to it, or a house may insist on its previous disagreement to an amendment of the other house. In the sequence of motions permitted during amendments between the House and Senate, insistence comes before adherence. Unlike adherence, inisistence is not an uncompromising position, and it may be accompanied by a request for a conference.
Source: Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional Dictionary, 3rd edition (2001):124
- * NEW LESSON PLAN * MOCK SENATE SIMULATION
During our annual Congress in the Classroom® workshop –– http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm –– participants are asked to introduce the lesson plans, resources, and techniques that have proven successful in teaching about Congress in their classrooms. A 2003 participant, Martha McIntosh, Dana Hills High School, Dana Point CA, presented a lesson entitled, Mock Senate Simulation.
This lesson will provide students with an opportunity to research a particular senator and write a bill. They also will select party leaders and learn to strategize in a party caucus. Students will work in a committee, practice reciprocity, and conduct mark-up negotiations. They will learn parliamentary procedure and special Senate rules. Legislative lingo will also be introduced. They will participate in a mock Senate activity where they will assume the identity of their researched senator and use persuasive skills to pass their bill. They will also formally oppose one bill during floor debate. Finally, they will participate in one filibuster, invoke cloture, and attempt a discharge petition.
Find Mock Senate Simulation at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_mocksenatesimulation.htm
- * NEW * CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE REPORTS: HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE LIST
The Rules Committee of the House of Representatives has listed several Congressional Research Service Reports as publicly available. We now have the list posted on CongressLink for your reference.
Find Congressional Research Service Reports: House Rules Committee List at: http://www.congresslink.org/CRSR_houserulescomlist.htm
- CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARD WINNERS
Congratulations to the following Congressional Research Awards winners for the 2009 round of competition:
- *Nicholas W. Carnes, Department of Politics, Princeton University
Social Class and Congressional Leadership, $3,500
- *Marika-Eugenia Dunn, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University
Representation in Majority Minority Congressional Districts through Constituency Casework, $3,310
- *Shennette M. Garrett, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin
The New Deal and African American Banking in the South, $1,251
- *Craig B. Hollander, Department of History, The Johns Hopkins University
Capitol Crime: Congress, Politics, and the African Slave Trade, 1789-1860, $3,260
- *David S. Keenan, Department of History, Northwestern University
Organized Interests and the Process of Government in the Early American Republic, 1783-1800, $3,500
- Douglas L. Kriner, Department of Political Science, Boston University
Can Investigative Oversight Mend the Broken Branch?, $3,500
- Scott R. Meinke, Department of Political Science, Bucknell University
Leadership, Loyalty, and Constituency: Governing and Representation in the House Extended Party Leadership, $2,700
- *Mark J. Oleszek, Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Social Embeddedness and the Contemporary Evolution of the U.S. Senate, $3,500
- *Rachel A. Shapiro, Department of History, University of Virginia
Washington Brotherhood: Friendship and Politics in the Civil War Era, $3,243
- *Zachary C. Smith, Department of History, Boston University
From the Well of the House: The Rise of Conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives, 1978-1994, $3,420
- *Edward H. Stiglitz, Department of Political Science, Stanford University
Congressional Oversight of the Federal Judiciary, $3,500
* PhD candidate
Learn more about these projects and others at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm#Grntrecipient00
For more information about how to submit a Congressional Research Awards grant proposal, please visit: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm.
Since 1978, The Center has awarded $777,449 to support 378 research projects. The Dirksen Congressional Center intends to award grants in 2010, with February 1 the deadline for proposals. If you have questions about the Congressional Research Awards, contact Frank Mackaman.
- * NEW EDITORIAL CARTOONS*
The Dirksen Congressional Center recently announced the completion of the Editorial Cartoon Collection project: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm.
The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans from The Dirksen Center will teach students to identify issues, analyze symbols, acknowledge the need for background knowledge, recognize stereotypes and caricatures, think critically, and appreciate the role of irony and humor.
This month we have posted five new cartoons:
We now have a total of 74 cartoons posted!
- * NEW * THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
See what your students have to say about the following questions:
- Why does the Constitution require that candidates for the Senate live in their home state? Why is it traditional for candidates for the House to live in the districts they wish to represent?
- What are some reasons for and against limiting the number of elected terms that a senator or a representative may serve?
- Are there other minimum qualifications that you would add? For example, would you include level of education?
- What are the advantages of a six-year term compared to a two-year term? What are the disadvantages?
- LEADERSHIP IN CONGRESS HANGMAN & TRIVIA
Student or teacher, you have all played the ubiquitous game of hangman at some point in your life. We’ve added an online twist to let you play that most famous of downtime filler anytime, anywhere. And with our version of online hangman, if you play once and win, you will have the chance to play again with a new game. If you play once and lose, you can refresh the page if you want to play again with a new game. Just click the SHOW HINT button to begin. Read the fill-in-the-blank sentence and click the letters next to the hangman that spell out the word(s) that complete the sentence.
Try out our new way to play a classic game! Find Leadership in Congress Hangman at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Execbranch_pres_congress/2_pres_congress.htm
Trivia: The committee in the House of Representatives responsible for issues such as taxes and international trade is called the Committee on what?
- Finance
- Ways and Means
- Foreign Affairs and Revenues
- Appropriations
*Find the answer in next month's issue.
Answer to March 2009's Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/classroomresources/funfactstrivia_ans0309.htm
- POSTSCRIPT INFORMATION
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