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. United States Constitution Webquest
4. Voting Rights Act of 1965
5. Voting Rights Injustices
6. Join The Dirksen Center Friends!
7. Women Suffrage & Trivia
8. Postscript Information
1. PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives
John Boehner. Boehner (Bay-ner), elected to represent
the eighth congressional district of Ohio for a ninth term in
November 2006, holds the position of Minority Leader in the U.S.
House of Representatives. Born in Cincinnati in November 1949
as one of 12 brothers and sisters, Boehner has lived in Southwest
Ohio his entire life. He and his wife Debbie have been married
for 33 years. They have two daughters – Lindsay and Tricia – and
live in the northern Cincinnati suburb of West Chester. After
graduating from Cincinnati’s Moeller High School in 1968,
Boehner earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Xavier
University in Cincinnati in 1977.
Upon his graduation, he accepted a position with Nucite Sales,
a small sales business in the packaging and plastics industry,
and eventually became president of the firm. While working in
the private sector, Boehner entered the political arena – first
serving as Union Township trustee from 1982 to 1984 and then
as a representative to the Ohio state legislature from 1984 to
1990.
In 1990, he was elected to represent Ohio’s Eighth Congressional
District in the United States House of Representatives. According
to his Web site, his time in Congress has been highlighted by
several government reform initiatives. His efforts include providing
accountability and choice in education, ensuring workers’ pension
benefits are there when they retire, and fighting to rein in
worthless pork barrel spending. He has been a vocal advocate
for tax relief and spending restraint, and is an active supporter
of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget.
The success of Boehner’s reform-minded agenda earned him
election to the House Republican leadership after the Republican
election victories in 1994. As House Republican Conference Chairman
in the 104th and 105th Congress, Boehner was a powerful voice
in the fight to force Washington to stick to the strict spending
limits in the Balanced Budget Act. More recently, in 109th Congress,
Boehner led passage of new reforms clamping down on earmarks – special
interest projects quietly inserted into spending bills.
On November 17, 2006, Boehner was elected by his colleagues
to serve as House Republican Leader.
His House site is http://johnboehner.house.gov/.
The URL for his leadership site is http://republicanleader.house.gov/.
Project Vote Smart’s entry for Boehner is located at http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=27015.
2. CONGRESS DEFINED
Words and phrases that describe congressional processes
Minority Leader. The minority leader of the House in
the 110th Congress comes from the Republican party, which has
fewer members than the majority party Democrats. He is the chief
spokesman for the party on the House floor. With the assistance
of other party officials and the ranking minority members of
committees, the minority leader devises the party’s political
and procedural strategies.
Source: Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional
Dictionary, 3rd edition, ed. Walter Kravitz (Washington
DC: CQ Press, 2001):150.
3. UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION WEBQUEST
It's September 17, 1787, the final draft of the United States
Constitution has just been sent to Congress and will now be sent
to the states to be ratified. In this webquest, your students'
job as employees of their home state newspaper (pick one of the
states existing in 1787) is to provide news to the public about
the important event that has just taken place. It's a big job,
but they must communicate this information to their readers!
Help your students learn about the U. S. Constitution by writing
a first–hand journalistic account as if they were there.
Find United States Constitution Webquest at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/ratifyingconstitution/2_ratifyingconstitution.htm.
4. VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
The Voting Rights Act was adopted initially in 1965 and extended
in the 70s and early 80s. It was considered the most successful
piece of civil rights legislation ever adopted by the United
States Congress.
Learn more about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_votingrights_contents.htm.
Read remarks that were originally delivered on January 28, 2005,
at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the passage of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 sponsored by the University
of Tennessee and the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy
at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_votingrights_essay.htm.
5. VOTING RIGHTS INJUSTICES
On January 11, 1965, Everett Dirksen laid out the legislative
agenda for his constituents in a television broadcast. After
explaining the trials of Vietnam, he continued with these words: "Now
when it comes to the domestic scene, all seems to be beer and
skittles, apple pie and honey, and yet it is not quite that sweet." As
examples of the bitters, he enumerated the gold problem, medicare,
aid to education, excise taxes, farm prices and subsidies, and
the public debt - not a word about voting rights.
Listen to a taped conversation between Lyndon Johnson and Martin
Luther King Jr. regarding voting rights injustices. Link to this
conversation at: http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/1965.htm#january.
6. JOIN THE DIRKSEN CENTER FRIENDS!
The Dirksen Congressional Center is pleased to offer an opportunity
for you to join The Dirksen Center Friends. Your $25 annual
dues will support the work of The Dirksen Congressional Center,
a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts educational
and research programs for scholars, teachers, and students.
Join now and enjoy the benefits listed at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_dcc_friends.htm.
Instructions for becoming a Dirksen Center Friend can be found
at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/dcc_friendsmembership.htm.
Thank you for your support!
7. WOMEN SUFFRAGE
& TRIVIA
The campaign of women to win the right to vote began in the
1840s. Find a biographical sketch of the great champion of women's
rights, Susan B. Anthony, and answer the multiple choice questions.
Find Women Suffrage at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Constitution_righttovote/1_righttovote.htm.
Trivia:
Which man put the ideas of the Constitution into actual words?
A. James Madison
B. Gouverneur Morris
C. Roger Sherman
D. Alexander Hamilton
*Find the answer in next month's issue.
Answer to June's Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/classroom%20resources/funfactstrivia_ans0607.htm
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