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.

1. People Who Served in Congress
2. Congress Defined
3. Getting Involved: How Can You Participate In Representative Government?
4. The 1960s: A Multi-Media View Of Capitol Hill: Study Questions
5. The Civil Rights Documentation Project: June 29, 1965
6. Strengthening Your Local Political Party
7. The Declaration Of Independence, Part 1
8. Postscript Information

1. PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives

Howard H. Baker, Jr. (1925- ) of Tennessee was first elected to the Senate in 1966 and served until his retirement in 1985. The son-in-law of another Senate leader, Everett Dirksen, Baker was elected Minority Leader in 1977 and served as Majority Leader from 1981 to 1985. After leaving Capitol Hill, he served as President Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff late in Reagan’s second term. President George W. Bush named him Ambassador to Japan in 2001, a post he held until retiring from public service in 2005.

Baker may be most famous for his role in the Watergate Affair which led to President Nixon’s resignation. As vice chairman of the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, Baker posed this famous question to witnesses: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”

Source: http://bakercenter.utk.edu/bakerbio.html

2. CONGRESS DEFINED
Words and phrases that describe congressional processes

Decorum. An elaborate code of proper congressional conduct and appearance, from attire to speech-making. It is improper in the House, for example, to question the motives of a colleague. In 1979, the Speaker of the House refused to recognize a Member to speak until he put on a necktie. Rules of the House discourage “hissing, coughing, spitting, speaking, or whispering to another.”

Source: Dickson, Paul and Paul Clancy, The Congress Dictionary (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1993)

3. GETTING INVOLVED: HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE IN REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT?

In this lesson, students examine the different ways people can participate in representative government through class discussions, group work, and investigation of primary and secondary sources. Students create commercials that inform viewers how to get involved in representative government. Find Getting Involved: How Can You Participate in Representative Government? at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_gettinginvolved.htm.

4. THE 1960S: A MULTI-MEDIA VIEW OF CAPITOL HILL: STUDY QUESTIONS

The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill (http://www.dirksencenter.org/emd_audio/index.htm) allows you to listen to audio recordings and read transcripts of selected Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership Meetings' press conferences, 1963-68, read the minutes of the behind-closed-door meetings of the Republican leadership, and read formal statements by the Republican leaders following their strategy sessions. Now you can introduce your students to study questions based on the leadership meetings! Take a look at the Learning Guide -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/emd_audio/learnguide.htm.

If you would like to contribute lesson plans, study questions, activities, or make suggestions on how to improve The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill, please contact either Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org or Cindy Koeppel at ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org. We always appreciate your input!

5. THE CIVIL RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION PROJECT: July 29, 1965

On this date, the House and Senate conferees agreed on a final form for the voting rights bill, resolving a debate over a ban on the pool tax. The compromise included a "finding" that poll taxes were used to discriminate in some areas and that the constitutional right to vote was "denied or abridged" by payment of the taxes as a pre-condition for voting. This language established the presumption of discrimination in places using the poll tax, signaling to the Supreme Court congressional support for a decision banning the device.

What else happened in 1965? Read more about the landmark civil rights law that still affects us today by visiting The Civil Rights Documentation Project: http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/1965.htm.

6. STRENGTHENING YOUR LOCAL POLITICAL PARTY

Local political parties are the backbone of the American political system. Get involved in a local campaign and use this article as a resource to better understand what it takes to strengthen a local political party.

Find Strengthening Your Local Political Party at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_politicalparties.htm.

7. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, PART 1

Print the word search and circle the first and last names of the five men who created the Declaration of Independence. Write them on the lines below the puzzle.

The Declaration of Independence, Part 1: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/declofindep_1/1_wordsearch.htm

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