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. Supreme Court Nominations, 1789-2005
2. In The Shadow of Watergate: Bob Michel Becomes A Congressional Leader
3. Effective Citizen Advocacy: Knowing Who You're Talking To
4. Congress in the Classroom® 2006/Congressional Research Awards
5. Here Comes the Judge
6. Postscript Information

1. SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS, 1789-2005

Do your students know when Supreme Court nominees began testifying routinely before the Senate Judiciary Committee and what explains that development? Was it the emergence of the nominee testimony that generated the public confirmation hearing, or were such hearings held prior to nominee testimony?

The Congressional Research Service published a report in January 2006 that lists and describes actions taken by the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the President on all Supreme Court nominations, from 1789 to 2005. This report also includes a terrific table giving an overview of the Senate Judiciary Committee's actions, hearing dates, votes, and more.

Find Supreme Court Nominations, 1789-2005 at: http://www.congresslink.org/index5.htm.

Learn more about the members, committees and subcommittees, hearings, nominations, business meetings, and press releases. Find U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_usgov_jud_supreme.htm.

2. IN THE SHADOW OF WATERGATE: BOB MICHEL BECOMES A CONGRESSIONAL LEADER

Frank Mackaman of The Dirksen Center authored this 8,000-word essay divided into eight sections. This article draws upon the Robert H. Michel Papers to describe his first contest for a formal leadership post in the House of Representatives, the chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in 1973.

Find In the Shadow of Watergate: Bob Michel Becomes a Congressional Leader at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_michel_nrcc.htm.

The Robert H. Michel Collection, first acquired by The Center in 1989 and supplemented over the years, is currently being processed. The digitized finding aids to the Robert H. Michel Collection are posted online. Find the Robert H. Michel Papers Collection at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/findingaids/index.htm.

3. EFFECTIVE CITIZEN ADVOCACY: KNOWING WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO

Knowing your audience is critical to communicating your views effectively. When dealing with elected officials, it is important to understand a few key things about the context in which they work as well as the factors that influence them in making a decision. Understanding these factors will ensure that an advocate's message is relevant, timely, and well-received by the elected officials in question.

One of our Congress in the Classroom® Online assignments will help your students identify the three most important things to know about Members of Congress before approaching them, specifically: district connections, party affiliation, and committee assignment. Your students will also learn more about a Congress Member's perspective on particular policy issues of interest to an advocate.

You will want to take a look at this lesson if you are interested in understanding how to relate policy issues of interest to the issues Members of Congress care about. Find Effective Citizen Advocacy: Knowing Who You're Talking To at: http://www.congressclass.org/print_assignment16.htm.

One of our Congress in the Classroom® Online participants, Tony D'Lallo, had the students in his American Government class use a WebQuest to find the information about their federal representative. Take a look at Tony's work product to learn what else his students discovered while completing this lesson -- http://www.congressclass.org/print_workproduct16.htm.

4.CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM® 2006/CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS

** Call For Participation: Congress in the Classroom® 2006**

LAST WEEK TO APPLY! -- DEADLINE: March 30, 2006

Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm -- to learn more about the program, scheduled sessions, and presenters.

Registration: If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2006 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm.

**Congressional Research Awards**

The Center selected ten research projects in March 2006 to receive a total of $29,779 in Congressional Research Awards funding.

Congratulations to the following recipients:

1) James Louis Gibson, Washington University in St. Louis, $3,500 -- Re-conceptualizing the Legitimacy of the United States Congress: New Evidence, New Approaches

2) Shelley Conroy Hirsekorn, Cornell University, $3,340 -- Interest Group Behavior and the Institutional Development of Congress: Health Insurance Policy from 1991 to 1998

3) James D. King, University of Wyoming, $3,898 -- Running Against the President: Creating Presidential Referenda in Midterm Congressional Elections

4) Gregory Koger, University of Montana, and Matthew Lebo, Stony Brook University, $3,283 -- Choosing Party Leaders

5) Douglas L. Kriner, Harvard University, $2,850 -- Hollow Rhetoric or Hidden Influence? Congressional Constraints on the Presidential Use of Force

6) Paul Martin, Miller Center, University of Virginia, $3,500 -- Congressional Responses to Citizen Participation

7) Patrick Sellers, Davidson College, $2,423 -- Constructing the News: Strategic Communication in Congress

8) Douglas J. Smith, Other, $2,000 -- Everett Dirksen and Article V: Congress, the Courts, and the Political Thicket

9) Jennifer Steen, Boston College, $3,000 -- Congressional Delegation to Independent Commissions

10) Richard Valelly, Swarthmore College, $1,985 -- Why the Reed Rules? Party, Race, and the Foundations of the U.S. House’s Governability

5. HERE COMES THE JUDGE

Introduce your students to an interactive web-based lesson plan for learning about the Supreme Court, the Justices, and landmark decisions. Find Here Comes the Judge at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/judicialbranch/2_judicialbranch.htm.

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