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:
1. Monthly Feature -- Setting Course for
the 109th Congress: The House
2. Monthly Theme -- Leaders in the House
3. Featured Grant-funded Project
4. News and Views from The Center
5. Trivia - House History
6. Postscript Information
1. SETTING COURSE FOR THE 109TH CONGRESS:
The House
Last month, we introduced you to the new U.S. senators who took
their seats when the 109th Congress convened on January 4, 2005.
In this issue of Communicator, we'll look briefly at the
new House members - there are 38 of them, a smaller freshman
class than the 52 who won their first elections in 2002.
One thing to notice about the new House members is their youth.
Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is the youngest at 29, but four others
are under 40. The oldest freshman is 67-year-old Joe Schwarz,
a Republican from Michigan.
The House has four new black Members, all Democrats: Emanuel
Cleaver (MO), Al Green (TX), Cynthia McKinney (GA - McKinney
has served before), and Gwen Moore (WS). Two Hispanics joined
the Democrats' ranks in the House, too, John Salazar of Colorado
and Henry Cuellar in Texas. Republicans added the first ever
Indian-American Member, 33-year-old Bobby Jindal (LA). Eight
women will take their seats for the first time, five Democrats
and three Republicans.
In the House as a whole in 2005, there are 42 African Americans,
24 Hispanics, three Asians, 68 women, 109 members with military
service, and 281 members with advanced academic degrees.
2. LEADERS IN THE HOUSE
The new representatives have already traveled to Washington,
been assigned their offices, and attended various orientation
programs. In their respective party meetings, they have selected
their leaders, too. Dennis Hastert will be the Speaker of the
House, with Tom Delay serving as the Majority Leader. Nancy Pelosi
will continue as the Minority Leader. For a roster of these leaders
and the others on their leadership teams, together with links
to their websites, visit: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_currentleaders.htm.
When a new Congress begins is a great time to introduce students
to the basics of serving in Congress. What does a member of Congress
really do? We have a lesson plan on CongressLink entitled The
Job of a Congress Member which is a good place to start.
While the U.S. Constitution outlines the general qualifications
and responsibilities of the office, the tasks accruing to a Congress
member because of duties not expressed in the Constitution make
the job more complex than a casual observer might think. The
United States Constitution, past/current events, and CongressLink resources
will facilitate student understanding of the complex role of
a Congress member. Click here to
reach the lesson.
If you are teaching about the new Congress, you'll need some
patience before CongressLink and other congressionally-oriented
Web sites update information to account for these new members.
For example, only after the new Congress is seated officially
will our Information Center at http://www.congresslink.org/index2.htm include
the names and links to senators' and representatives' websites.
We have updated portions of the site for which we have current
information, but the switchover from Congress to Congress takes
some time to accomplish. We appreciate your understanding!
3. FEATURED GRANT-FUNDED PROJECT
**Congressional Research Awards Announcement**
DEADLINE: Proposals must be postmarked no later than February
1, 2005
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants
totaling $35,000 in 2005 to fund research on congressional leadership
and the U.S. Congress. The competition is open to individuals
with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists,
historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or
American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The
Center encourages graduate students to apply and awards a significant
portion of the funds for dissertation research.
The awards program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D.
study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two
or more individuals are eligible. No institutional overhead or
indirect costs may be claimed against a Congressional Research
Award.
There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible
for showing the relationship between their work and the awards
program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. Incomplete
applications will NOT be forwarded to the screening committee
for consideration.
All application materials must be postmarked on or before
February 1, 2005. Awards will be announced in March 2005.
Complete information about eligibility and application procedures
may be found at The Center's Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm.
Frank Mackaman is the program officer -- fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.
The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett
M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and
educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and
its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly
the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $620,000
to support 325 projects.
4. NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE CENTER
** CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: Congress in the Classroom® 2005
**
DEADLINE: March 15, 2005
The 2005 program theme will be Our New Congress -- the 109th.
Confirmed session titles are:
- A View from Capitol Hill
- The Importance of Teaching Democracy Appreciation
- George W. Bush's Second Term: What's in Store for Congress?
- Congress Has a Humorous Side
- How Congress Members Decide (Hint: It Looks Like a Game of
Billiards)
- Teaching Congress Through Visuals
- The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Using Document Analysis to
Tell the Story
- How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members
- The Dirksen Center Web Suite as a Resource for Teachers
- Congressional Insight: A Computer Simulation of a Member's
First Term in the House of Representatives, and more.
Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm --
to see what participants say about the program and to learn more
about the scheduled sessions and presenters.
If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the
Classroom® 2005 workshop, you can complete an online registration
form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm.
** CONGRESSLINK -- New Feature **
CongressLink -- http://www.congresslink.org --
sports a new feature, Congress Today -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_congresstoday.htm --
which provides news briefs about events in Congress as they happen.
The focus will be on developments within the institution. We
will not attempt to keep up with daily political or public policy
stories -- they are better left to mainstream news sources and
to the two Capitol Hill newspapers (to which we have links
in Congress Today). Instead, we will alert you to changes
in the leadership, reforms of the rules and procedures in the
House and Senate, and significant news related to individual
members.
** Professional Development Workshop Updates **
Congress in the Classroom® Online -- http://www.congressclass.org --
helps participants understand today's Congress and suggest ways
to teach about it. Below are a few recent updates to the self-paced
workshop which is organized around the twin responsibilities
of Congress members: representation and lawmaking.
We invite you to register -- http://www.congressclass.org/print_registration.htm.
-- to participate in Congress in the Classroom® Online to
help you understand today's Congress and discover ways to teach
about it -- with all the convenience and speed of the Internet.
For more information, visit -- http://www.congressclass.org/courseinformation_contents.htm --
for a complete program overview.
** Fresh Ideas Equal High Numbers**
At the beginning of 2004, it became apparent to us that we needed
to come up with some fresh ideas to increase interest in and
drive more traffic to our Web suite -- http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org.
As a result, we redesigned the suite, which debuted in August.
The results are in - the six sites that make up our Web suite
received a combined total of 42,592,169 hits for 2004
compared to 14,863,822 in 2003! Thanks for your support!
5. HOUSE HISTORY
1. Which of the following U.S. representatives slipped and fell
on a bowl of the Senate's famous bean soup?
A) Albert Wynn (D-Maryland)
B) Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
C) John Spratt (D-South Carolina)
D) Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey)
2. Which former U.S. representative famously yelled -- "We will
stay here until doomsday!" -- on the House floor?
A) Bob Livingston (R-Louisiana)
B) Bruce Vento (D-Minnesota)
C) Jay Dickey (R-Arkansas)
D) Corrine Brown (D-Florida)
Answers to the December 2004 issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia1204ans.htm.
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