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1 (October 21, 2002)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaaln0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21339 October 21, 2002 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Congress' Early Organization Meetings Judy Schneider Specialist on the Congress Government and Finance Division Summary Since the mid-1970s, the House and Senate have convened early organization meetings in November or December of even-numbered years to prepare for the start of the new Congress in January. The purposes of these meetings are both educational and organizational. Educational sessions range from legislative procedures and staff hiring to current issues. Organizational sessions elect class officers, party leaders, and chamber officers; name committee representatives and other party officials; and select committee chainnen and often committee members. Such actions are officially ratified at the start of the new Congress. Background As the complexities of the problems facing America have increased, Congress has responded the way hundreds of their constituents have, by going back to school. Early organization and orientation have provided Members a leg up in addressing pressing needs. When the first Congress convened over 200 years ago, farmers and soldiers, journalists and scientists, carpenters and statesmen travelled from throughout the colonies to New York to take the oath of office as Members of the first Congress. They adopted rules, organized the structure of their chambers and began legislating, each in accordance with the Member's own individual understanding of just how to do that and how to be both a representative and a legislator, that is, how to be a Member of Congress. There was no specific precedent to follow, no educational institution to attend to explore the intricacies of the legislative process, no classes to take to practice the politics of bicameralism and bipartisanship, no management consultant to teach them how to administer their offices. And so, these Members, and the hundreds who followed them, learned on the job, learned from their predecessors and each other, and learned from their mistakes. As the nation grew and prospered, and the number of Members increased with Congressional Research Service *** The Library of Congress

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