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Advanced Legislative Strategies

Advanced Legislative Strategies

This advanced 3-day course in Washington, DC builds on the skills of those who have already learned the legislative process and basic congressional operations. In this course, participants learn how to develop high-level strategies and tactics to help educate Congress and influence legislation.

• August 6-8, 2008
• 9:00 am to 4:00 pm all three days
• More information here

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July 19, 2008 12:27 PM   Link    Comments (0)

Legislating in the U.S. Senate

Legislating in the U.S. Senate

A Telephone Seminar

Martin Gold, a former floor advisor and counsel to Majority Leader Bill Frist will analyze how legislating in the U.S. Senate differs from legislating in the House of Representatives. He will share his personal experience and knowledge of the history of the Senate during this program. Mr. Gold will focus on the four pillars of Senate procedure:

• Rules
  
• Precedents
  
• Rule-Making Statutes
  
• Unanimous Consent Orders

Open Q&A with the faculty included.

• Thursday, June 19, 2008
• 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

Legislating in the U.S. Senate Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

June 15, 2008 09:47 AM   Link    Comments (0)

Senate Privatises Cafeteria

In a story rich with irony the Senate, led by Democrat Diane Feinstein, has voted to privatize its restaurants and food services. The House privatized twenty years ago. The result? Sort of like East and West Berlin.

"Food Fight," by Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution, June 10, 2008

In a masterful bit of understatement, Feinstein blamed "noticeably subpar" food and service. Foot traffic bears that out. Come lunchtime, many Senate staffers trudge across the Capitol and down into the basement cafeteria on the House side. On Wednesdays, the lines can be 30 or 40 people long.

House staffers almost never cross the Capitol to eat in the Senate cafeterias.

"Senate Votes To Privatize Its Failing Restaurants," by Paul Kane, The Washington Post, June 9, 2008

More

• "Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for Fiscal Years 2007 and 2006," GAO Report GAO-08-463, March 7, 2008 (23-page pdf )
• "Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2005," GAO Report GAO-07-462, March 13, 2007 (20-page pdf )
• "Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2003," GAO Report GAO-05-297, March 10, 2005 (also available as a 19-page pdf )
• "Senate Dining Room: Where the elite meet," by The Hill Staff, July 16, 2003
• Senate Bean Soup
• The Members' Dining Room
• Capitol Dining Areas Open to the Public: House | Senate
• Restaurant Associates
• Capitol Hill: Map, Buildings, Hotels, Restaurants - from TheCapitol.Net
  
• Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide
• Some of the places our faculty and authors like in "Faculty Favorites" on Hobnob Blog
• Washington Post restaurant reviews
• Washington City Paper restaurant finder
• Washingtonian magazine restaurant reviews

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June 11, 2008 07:37 AM   Link    Comments (0)

Legislating in the U.S. Senate

Legislating in the U.S. Senate

A Telephone Seminar

Martin Gold (bio), a former floor advisor and counsel to Majority Leader Bill Frist will analyze how legislating in the U.S. Senate differs from legislating in the House of Representatives. He will share his personal experience and knowledge of the history of the Senate during this program. Mr. Gold will focus on the four pillars of Senate procedure:

• Rules
• Precedents
• Rule-Making Statutes
• Unanimous Consent Orders

Open Q&A with the faculty included: Martin Gold.

• Thursday, June 19, 2008
• 90 minutes: 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

Legislating in the U.S. Senate Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

May 29, 2008 12:37 PM   Link    Comments (0)

Parliamentary Procedure of the U.S. Senate: Debate and Amendment

Parliamentary Procedure of the U.S. Senate: Debate and Amendment

A Telephone Seminar

Learn about the two characteristics of the U.S. Senate that set it apart from the House of Representatives: the right to debate and the right to amend. Topics include:

• Recognition
• Non-debatable questions
• Limiting debate
• Cloture
• Amendment process

Open Q&A with the faculty included: Robert Dove.

• Thursday, May 22, 2008
• 90 minutes: 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

Parliamentary Procedure of the U.S. Senate: Debate and Amendment Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

May 15, 2008 09:17 AM   Link    Comments (0)

Sen. Craig Thomas

Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., died Monday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he was undergoing treatment for leukemia. His family announced the death in a statement.

Thomas, 74, was diagnosed with leukemia in November, a day after easily winning re-election to a third term.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, will name a replacement, who would serve until a successor can be chosen in a November 2008 special election. But under Wyoming law, he must choose from a list of three candidates put forward by the Republican State Central Committee because Thomas was a Republican.

Thomas was a member of the Finance Committee as well as the Energy and Natural Resources, Environment and Public Works, and Indian Affairs panels.

Like most Western lawmakers, he was a fiscal conservative who strongly supported oil and gas exploration on public lands, protecting private-property rights and farmers’ issues.

The senator’s wife, Susan, was at his side at the hospital Monday, along with their sons, Patrick and Greg, and daughter, Lexie.

"Wyoming Republican Sen. Thomas Dies of Leukemia," CQ Today, June 4, 2007.

More

• "Remembering Thomas: Quotes from friends and associates," Casper Star Tribune, June 5, 2007
• "Wyoming Sen. Thomas Dead at 74," by Mary Clare Jalonick, The Washington Post, June 5, 2007

June 5, 2007 10:17 AM   Link    Comments (0)

Capitol Hill Workshop

Our next Capitol Hill Workshop, scheduled for September 13-15, 2006, is for anyone whose work requires that they have a broad understanding of Congress and Capitol Hill.

In 3 days, this seminar covers

• Congressional operations and the legislative process
• How public policy and foreign policy become law
• Politics and leadership in Congress
• The role of OMB in the legislative process
• How to communicate effectively with Congress
• The current trends in campaigns and elections
• The work of personal and committee staff and how you can build strong working relationships with staffers

Capitol Hill Workshop materials include the Congressional Directory and the award-winning Congressional Deskbook.

This CQ Executive Conference is approved for 1.6 CEU credits from George Mason University.

For more information, or to register, see www.CapitolHillWorkshop.com

July 24, 2006 07:27 AM   Link    Comments (0)

CRS reports about the confirmation process

Reports about judicial nominations and the confirmation process from the Congressional Research Service (CRS)

• "Types of Committee Hearings," by Richard Sachs, June 24, 2004, 98-317 GOV (pdf)
• "Evolution of the Senate’s Role in the Nomination and Confirmation Process: A Brief History," by Betsy Palmer, March 29, 2005, RL31948 (pdf)
• "Supreme Court Nominations Not Confirmed, 1789-2004," by Henry Hogue, March 21, 2005, RL31171 (pdf)
• "Constitutionality of a Senate Filibuster of a Judicial Nomination," by Jay R. Shampansky, June 14, 2005, RL32102 (pdf)
• "Cloture Attempts on Nominations," by Richard S. Beth and Betsy Palmer, April 22, 2005, RL32878 (pdf)
• "Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure," by Elizabeth Rybicki, July 1, 2003, RL31980 (pdf)

Also See

"CRS reports about presidential nominations," Hobnob Blog, October 12, 2005

"Senate Judiciary Committee, Nominations," a collection, from the Library of Congress, of "floor debates (Senate debate while in Executive Session), votes, hearing transcripts and Senate statements (statements made about the nominees outside of Executive Session) of four Supreme Court nominees which were not confirmed by the U.S. Senate": Robert H. Bork; G. Harrold Carswell, Clement F. Haynsworth; and Homer Thornberry.

October 20, 2005 01:13 PM   Link    Comments (0)