Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process
How Congress really works: in practice, not in theory.

If your job requires you to understand, follow, and impact legislation, or if you're new to government affairs, here's your chance to get up to speed in one information-packed day.

 This course shows you:

• How the House and Senate differ

• Where ideas for bills really come from, and how bills are introduced and referred

• How committee hearings, markups and reports work

• How legislation reaches the floor

• Rules and procedures that help or hurt legislation

• Floor action in the House and Senate

• How the two chambers reach agreements

• The President's options and Congress' recourse

This seminar provides an in-depth examination of congressional operations, House and Senate legislative procedures, the dynamics of Congress, the work of committees, floor procedures, reconciliation of differences between houses and presidential action.

Variations of this course, Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process, and Understanding Congress and Capitol Hill Workshop, have been taught in Washington, DC, for more than 30 years by TheCapitol.Net and its predecessor, Congressional Quarterly Executive Conferences.

More Information
Agenda	When	Where	Related Training	Policies	Related Resources

 

The leadership competencies for this course include:

• Accountability
• External Awareness
• Strategic Thinking
• Partnering
• Political Savvy

Bring this course to your site. This course and any combination of its topics are available as custom on-site training for your organization. We have tailored this course for attorneys, program analysts, administrative assistants, scientists, and others.  For more information about how this training can help your members and staff, please contact our client liaison.

This is a required course for the Certificate in Congressional Operations.

Space is limited.

Course materials include the Training Edition of the Congressional Deskbook "The Congressional Deskbook is perfect for anyone who wants to understand how Congress works. It is concise, clarion clear and comprehensive all at once. It is spare and crisp -- but it never oversimplifies. It is written in lay language, but it never 'dumbs it down.' The Congressional Deskbook is a unique tool, one that I use regularly." -- David Hawkings, Senior Editor, Congressional Quarterly

Course Details

Agenda	Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (networking lunch at approximately 12 noon)   Welcome and Introduction Overview of the Legislative Process Why Congress behaves the way it does Differences between House and Senate procedures Politics and dynamics of Congress Introduction and Referral of Legislation Where ideas for bills come from Drafting of legislation Introduction and obtaining cosponsors Referral of bills to committees Types of referrals The Work of Committees: Hearings, Markups and Committee Reports Types of committees Membership of committees The work of subcommittees: hearings, markups Committee reports How the Senate Schedules and Votes on Legislation Senate Calendars Scheduling procedures and the amendment process Unanimous consent time agreements; the "hold" Filibusters; cloture motions How Legislation Gets to the House Floor and House Floor Procedures Rules Committee, open, closed, modified rules House Calendars Suspension of the rules House floor procedures and the amendment process Committee of the Whole Reconciling Differences Between the House and Senate Reconciling differences via amendments between the Houses Conference committee procedures and reports Presidential Action Presidential action Veto override This is a sample agenda: the actual topics may differ slightly. This course is available as a custom program.   For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  (pdf)  Do you need a training course we don't offer or coverage of an additional topic in this course? If you have suggestions for courses or topics you would like to see us offer, please contact us or complete our online suggestion form.
Suggested Prerequisites	Basic understanding of congressional operations or a minimum of six-month's experience working with the legislative process, or completion of our Congress in a Nutshell course recommended. If you need help deciding which courses you should take based on your work experience or training, please contact us via email or phone: 703-739-3790.
Time and Dates	9:00 am to 4:30 pm Th, June 7, 2012 F, September 14, 2012 F, December 7, 2012 F, February 8, 2013
Location	June 7, 2012:  Location in Washington, DC will be announced before course. Other dates:  Location in Washington, DC will be announced before course. Our courses are held at these Washington, DC, locations.
Course Materials	Course materials include the Training Edition of the Congressional Deskbook
Certificate of Training and CEUs	A Certificate of Training is available for this course. To get a Certificate of Training, your registration fee must be paid in full, and you must attend the entire course. This is a required course for the Certificate in Congressional Operations. This course is approved for .6 CEUs from George Mason University.
Related Training	Capitol Hill Workshop Advanced Legislative Strategies Drafting Federal Legislation and Amendments How to Research and Compile Legislative Histories How to Find, Track, and Monitor Congressional Documents Congress In A Nutshell Understanding Congressional Budgeting and Appropriations The President's Budget The Defense Budget The New Congress Update on Congress
Policies	For this course, cancellations and transfers must be submitted in writing to us.  Substitutions must be submitted in writing - include substitute's name, phone and email. Our transfer and cancellation fees are outlined below. Transfer and Cancellation Fee Time Before Course Substitutions Allowed Transfer Fee Cancellation Fee More than 4 weeks No charge None None 2 to 4 weeks No charge 10% of tuition 25% of tuition 3 days to 2 weeks No charge 20% of tuition 50% of tuition 1 to 2 days No charge 30% of tuition 75% of tuition day of program (no refunds to no-shows) No charge No refund No refund No refunds for no shows. We reserve the right to change this fee and time period. Cancellation, Substitution and Transfer Policy  Weather Policy TCN reserves the right to cancel any course in the event of insufficient registrations. All statements and discussion at all of our courses, workshops and seminars, public and custom, are off the record and not for attribution, unless specified otherwise. The resulting confidentiality ensures a frank and free exchange of views.
FAQs	FAQs about our training including suggested attire.
Register	$595 Payment methods we accept include checks, EFT/ACH, and Intuit Payment Network (IPN).   Fax or Mail: Print out and complete the registration form (in Adobe pdf) . The completed form should include your method of payment.    Fax the completed form to us at 703-739-1195.    Mail the completed form to us at TheCapitol.Net, Inc., PO Box 25706, Alexandria, VA  22313-5706
Related Resources	Congress - Published Schedules Congress by the Numbers Congressional Deskbook Congressional Directory Congressional Documents Online Congressional Leadership and Committees (listing) Congressional Operations Poster Essential Washington and Hill Web Sites Federal Budget Links and Research Tools Glossary of Congressional and Legislative Terms Legislation and Legislatures, including national, state and local links Quick DC Links - Washington Essentials Resumes of Congressional Activity Capitol Learning Audio Courses TM Congressional Operations Federal Budgeting
Educational Tracks	Congressional Operations Track Strategies for Working with Congress Track Federal Budgeting Track
Available as custom, on-site training?	Yes.  This program can be tailored for on-site agency, association and corporate training.  Please call 703-739-3790 for information.
Need more information?	Phone: 703-739-3790 Email: registrar -at- TheCapitol.Net Complete our online information request.
Non-Partisan	TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm, and the opinions of its faculty, authors, clients and the owners and operators of its vendors are their own and do not represent those of TheCapitol.Net.

 

 

URLs: www.TheCapitol.Net/PublicPrograms/clp.html
HowCongressWorks.com
LegislativeProcess.com
CongressionalDynamics.com
TCNCDLP.com
TCNCLP.com

Next Course
June 7, 2012
9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Location (below)
$595 

   
Approved for .6 CEUs from George Mason University.

All of our courses and workshops include extensive interaction with our faculty, making our courses and workshops both educational and mini-consulting sessions with substantive experts.

Rave Reviews

"Tons of info. Very good program."   
-- Manager State Government Affairs, Eastman Kodak Co.

"Perfect balance of basic historical background and complex procedural info. Strongly recommend."   
-- Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Justice Programs

"Being in the military, I feel all persons who handle Congressional Correspondence should attend this course.  Highly recommended." 
-- Workshop Attendee, Office of the Secretary of the Navy

"Very informative and easy to understand."  
-- Congressional Liaison Specialist, National Park Service

"I have tried to learn this info by watching C-SPAN and reading an old Understanding Congress notebook, but this class is what I needed to bring it all together."

"Very helpful seminar--useful for anyone trying to make sense of the US legislative process."
-- Vice President of Public Affairs, WesCorp

"I now know what my bosses do for a living."
-- Executive Assistant, Fortune 500 company

"Outstanding speakers with impeccable knowledge and experience."

"I now have a better understanding of the working of Congress and I see why the legislative process can be so long. It all was very useful since this is a new area of work for me-I feel better equipped to perform the duties of my job."
-- Attendee, Administrative Office of the US Courts

"Good background and useful printed material to use as a reference."

"Better able to strategize regarding lobbying efforts and better able to inform my members on status of legislation." 
-- Government Affairs staffer, national association

See more testimonials about this course.

Stanley Bach

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