Building Citizenship
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1. ANALYZING IDEAS As a citizen living in a farming community,
how would it benefit you to have a representative who is on the
House Committee on Agriculture? What could you do to further
influence the work of the committee?
Building History-Social Science Analysis
Skills
2. SUMMARIZING How do committees contribute to the
legislative process?
3. EXPLAINING EFFECTS Explain what happens when the
Senate and House pass different versions of the same bill.
4. ANALYZING CHANGE Choose two changes made in 1970 or
1995 to the rules regarding the committee system and explain
how the changes benefit the general public.
Writing About Government
5. NARRATIVE WRITING If you are a member of the House of
Representatives for your district, to what committees would you
want to be assigned? Why? Think about such things as your
constituents' interests, the power of the committee, and your
own personal interests and expertise. Then write a memo to the
House leadership requesting these committee assignments.
Collaborating
6. SPEAKING AND LISTENING In a small group, divide roles to
form a Senate Committee on Communications and Technology.
The group will be made of a committee chair, committee
members, and expert witnesses and lobbyists both for and
against passage of the bill. The bill the committee is studying will
make it a federal crime to post/publish photographs of other
people online without written permission from the people in the
photograph. Research and discuss the issue before the
committee votes. How does the process help you understand
why only a small percentage of introduced bills makes it through
the committee stage?