I heard that there is a Congressional
PH Caucus. What does this mean?
Members of Congress create and join into special groups with certain
interests. These groups are called caucuses. Caucuses can include
representatives, senators, or a mix or both. Caucuses are named
for the common interest of its members. For example, the Congressional
Women’s Caucus is concerned with issues affecting women. Caucuses
meet to discuss ways to promote the issue of common interest in
Congress and to outside parties such as the President or executive
branch agencies.
Reps. Lantos
and Brady
have founded the Congressional PH Caucus. Several representatives
have joined the group. The Congressional PH Caucus works to further
PH causes.
I hear people refer to majority and minority parties.
What are they talking about?
Both of the country’s two major political parties – the Democrats
and Republicans – are represented in each chamber of Congress.
Each chamber of Congress identifies the political party with the
most members in that chamber as the majority party and the one
with the least members in that chamber as the minority party.
Currently, there are 44 Democratic senators, 55 Republican senators,
and 1 Independent senator. In the House of Representatives there
are 202 Democrats, 232 Republicans, and 1 Independent. Therefore,
the Republicans are both the Senate Majority Party and the House
Majority Party.
I have seen people refer to Congress in numbers like
107th. What do these numbers mean?
The term ‘Congress’ can mean two things: (1) the people and processes
that work to make laws; or (2) the time in which that work is
done. There is a period of time lasting two calendar years that
is called a Congress. Every time a Congress passes, it is counted
and often referred to when describing legislative activity. In
January 2005, the 109th Congress began.
What happens after a bill dies?
If a bill does not pass, it is considered ‘dead’ for the rest
of that Congress (Here ‘Congress’ is referred to as a period
of time.) It can be introduced in the next Congress. It will
get a new number and previous co-sponsors are not automatically
listed as supporters. They must co-sponsor the bill again to have
their support recognized for the new bill. The bill must go through
the same legislative process in order to potentially become law.
My congressman co-sponsored the PH Research Act over
two years ago. How come I don’t see him listed as a co-sponsor?
If your congressman does not resubmit himself as a co-sponsor
each time the PH Research Act is introduced, he will not be considered
a co-sponsor of the legislation. What happened is that he co-sponsored
the bill, but the bill died, and he did not co-sponsor it again
after it was reintroduced.
What is a companion bill?
Sometimes a Senate bill and a House bill have the same content.
These are called ‘companion bills.’ Companion bills allow legislation
to move through both chambers at the same time.
Is the PH Research Act the same as H.R. 1316?
No. Each time a bill is introduced, it gets a new number. When
the PH Research Act was introduced in the House during the 108th
Congress, it was given the number H.R. 1316. However, that bill
died. Now the PH Research Act has been introduced in the 109th
Congress. The new house bill is numbered H.R. 3005.
The Senate companion bill was introduced
in the 108th Congress with the number S.2922. It will be reintroduced
in the 109th Congress with a new number.
What is a discharge petition?
Bills often die in committee. In order to get a bill to move out
of committee and to further action, a discharge petition may be
submitted within 30 days after the bill was first referred to
committee. In the House, this requires that at least 218 representatives
sign on to a petition to move the bill out of committee. In the
senate, all senators must sign a discharge petition and it is
very rarely used.
