Legislative+Branch

__**109th Congress- Legislative Branch**__

__Congressional Climate__
During the 109th Congress, 05-06, the Republicans had the majority in the Senate and the House.

In the Senate, the Republicans had a 55% majority with 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and 1 Independent. The President of the Senate of the Senate was Dick Cheney, as he was Vice President. The President Pro Tempore was Ted Stevens. The President Pro Tempore Emeritus was Robert Byrd. The Majority leader was Bill Frist and the Majority Whip was Mitch McConnell. The Minority leader was Harry Reid and the Minority Whip was Richard Durbin.

In the House, the Republicans held a 53% majority with 229 Republicans, 202 Democrats, 1 Independent, and 3 Vacant spots. The Speaker of the house was Dennis Hastert. The Majority Leaders were: Tom Delay (Beginning of 109th Congress to 9/9/2005), Roy Blunt (Interim Majority Leader from 9/9/2005 to 2/2/2006), and John Boehner (2/2/2006 to end of 109th Congress). The Majority Whip was Roy Blunt. The Minority Leader was Nancy Pelosi and the Minority Whip was Steny Hoyer.

__Important Amendments and Legislation__

 * Important Amendments and Legislation(Chronological Order) || Summary of Bill ||
 * Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 || Increased federal jurisdiction over larger class-action lawsuits ||
 * Palm Sunday Compromise (Act for te Relief of the Parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo) || Moved case of Terri Schiavo to Federal Courts. Important because her case involved a potent mix of ethics and religion. ||
 * Family Entertainment and Copyright Act || Strenghthened laws regarding copyright infringement. ||
 * Energy Policy Act of 2005 || A Bill designed to combat the growing energy problems in the U.S. by changing energy policy to provide tax incentives and loan guarantees for eco-friendly energy production. ||
 * Tha Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act || $286.4 billion designed to improve infrastructure across the U.S. ||
 * Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 || The Bill prevented many tax cuts from expiring in the future. ||
 * Federal Funding Accountablility and Transparency Act of 2006 || Requires full disclosure of government entities and their appropriations to the public. ||
 * Military Commissions Act of 2006 || Allowed for torture of enemy combatants. Section 7 regarding detaining prisoners without charge in Guatanomo Bay was ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court in Al Odah vs. United States. ||


 * [[image:guantanamo-bay_cuba-gate.jpg width="538" height="379" caption="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/images/guantanamo-bay_cuba-gate.jpg"]] ||

__Highlights, Criticisms, and Pitfalls__
__Highlights-__ -The Passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Major step towards eco-friendly production. -The Passage of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. Made all Federal expenditures public information. -The Passage of the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Allowed for the building of 700 miles of double chain link fence.

__Criticisms-__ -Deemed the "Do-Nothing Congress" -Congress met for 242 days. The least since WWII and 12 days fewer than the 80th Congress.

__Pitfalls-__ -Lack of preparedness and untimelyness in reaction to Hurrican Katrina. -Tom DeLay Campaign Finance Scandal -Valerie Plame Wilson's name is leaked causing unknown amuonts of collateral damage due to her CIA relation. -Protests over Immigration Reform -The Iraq War becomes risingly unpopular.


 * [[image:homeland-security.jpg width="256" height="378" caption="http://www.securityglobalnews.com/blog/?p=4"]] ||
 * http://www.securityglobalnews.com/blog/?p=4 ||

__Summary of U.S. Congressional Period__
The 109th congress was a Republican majority in both houses. The Democrats in the house at the time was 206, while the Republicans had 231 members. In the Senate, the Republicans ruled with 55 members, while the Democrats had 44 members. Congress can be described as the oldest congress in history. The average age of the senate was about 60.4 years old, and the house was an average of 55, the overall average age of congress was 56 years old. Since congress was a Republican majority, and the president was Republican most laws were being passed. The congress and President agreed most the time and got along well. Congress and the Supreme Court had a good relationship seeing as there were no conflicts involving congress.
 * __109th Congress Summary__**

The 109th congress (05-06) can be described as the “Do nothing congress” because congress did not do a whole lot. Congress during this time period met the fewest time in history. In the 60’s and 70’s, congress met about 162 days per year, in the 80’s and 90’s they met about 139 days, and in the 109th congress they met only 72 days of the year. Congress took the whole month of January off and for the first time ever took St. Patrick’s Day off. Also, the average work week in Washington D.C was Tuesday thru Thursday. Congress representatives would stumble into Washington Tuesday night, vote Wednesday, and be on their way home Thursday. Because congress met so little, issues were not being solved and were causing Americans to become upset with the government. The war in Iraq, hurricane Katrina, and immigration were not being discussed and voted on enough during this time and people loss faith in Bush and the government and it was an all around bad time in congress.
 * __Era Summary__**

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