Congress in a Nutshell 
Understanding Congress

A half-day crash course about Congress.

Our Washington insiders provide an exceptional overview of the process, the leadership and the politics of Congress for those who need to know more than the basics about the legislative branch.

This course explores:

• The Constitutional powers granted to Congress
• Legislative branch structure
• House and Senate formal and informal leadership
• How power politics play in the hallways and cloakrooms
• How a bill becomes law from introduction and referral of legislation through presidential action

Our basic Congressional primer is an intensive half-day session covering the House and Senate, their differences, congressional leadership and more. This class is an excellent introduction to Congress for anyone new to government affairs or needing a refresher.

Variations of this course, Understanding Congress, and Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process 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:

• External Awareness
• Strategic Thinking
• 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 budget and program analysts, staff new to legislative affairs, administrative assistants, and others in federal agencies, law firms, and Fortune 500 companies. For more information about how this training can help your staff, please contact our client liaison.

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

Space is limited.

Agenda	Congress in a Nutshell: Understanding Congress 9:00 am to 1:00 pm   Introduction to Congress and Capitol Hill Nature of and differences between the House and Senate Why Congress behaves the way it does The many responsibilities of members A look at the current Congress The Path of Legislation Introduction and referral Committee action, hearings, and reports Scheduling; amending; and floor action Conference committees--reconciling differences between the houses Final passage and presidential action Politics and Leadership in Congress The current political environment Types of leadership in Congress Majority and minority leadership structure in the House and Senate Committee assignments, the seniority system, party organizational meetings Leadership in the Congress   For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  PDF This course is also available as a custom program.  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	None. 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 1:00 pm W, June 6, 2012 Th, September 13, 2012 Th, February 7, 2013
Location	June 6, 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 Chapter 8 from 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 .4 CEUs from George Mason University.
Related Training	Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process Capitol Hill Workshop Advanced Legislative Strategies How to Find, Track, and Monitor Congressional Documents Understanding Congressional Budgeting and Appropriations
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	$395 Payment methods we accept include checks, EFT/ACH, and Intuit Payment Network (IPN).     For a printable course description, agenda with dates, and registration form, click here.  PDF 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 Strategies for Working with Congress
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/CongressInANutshell.html
uc.html
TCNBCC.com
TCNCBC.com
BootCampForCitizens.com
UnderstandingCongress.com
CongressInaNutshell.com
TCNUC.com

Next Course
June 6, 2012
9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Location (below)
$395 

   
Approved for .4 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

"Impressed with depth of knowledge. An overall better understanding of how Congress works and who the major players will be in the 112th." 
-- Course Attendee

"Useful background for understanding some of US political mechanisms." 
-- Assistant Naval Attache, British Defence Staff, British Embassy

"Excellent overview of the government and the legislative process." 
-- Workshop Attendee, Sandia National Laboratories

"Excellent synopsis in a short period of time - good coverage of the technical and the political." 
-- Course Attendee

"I would encourage people with the same work experience [5 years] to attend this program.  It has enhanced my understanding, cleared confusion, and dusted off previous knowledge." 
-- Manager, Food Distributors International

"Would recommend to someone with little or no previous congressional experience."   
-- Program Analyst, DEA

"A good, thorough introduction. Materials are helpful reference."
-- Course Attendee

"Program provides attendee a broad understanding of all facets of Congress. Excellent!"  
-- Captain, Air Combat Command, Financial Analysis

"Very useful program....  The speakers brought out points that aren't usually discussed."   
-- Paralegal

"Good general info for foreign diplomat." 
-- Attaché, foreign embassy

See more testimonials about this course.

Martha Angle

Ron Elving

Karen Foerstel

David Hawkings

Robert Healy

Jackie Koszczuk

Gebe Martinez

Paul Rundquist