Profile of a Member of Congress
Text Reference: OpenStax, American Government, Chapter 11
Each student has been assigned a different member of the U.S. House. To find the name
of the member assigned to you, click on the student assignment file posted below.
We can learn a great deal about the operation of Congress and its role in the
policymaking process by focusing on individual members of the body. You can learn
about the member of Congress assigned to you from a number of library resources as
well as on the Internet. The best library resource is the most recent edition of Almanac of
American Politics. It is an excellent reference book with information about current
members of Congress.
The Internet will provide you with a great deal of useful material. The information at
www.house.gov will be particularly helpful because it will direct you to the website for
the member of Congress that you are researching. That site will include biographical data
and information about committee assignments. It will probably also tell you something
about the member’s pet issues and viewpoints. Keep in mind that the member’s office
provides the content of his or her website, so don’t expect anything critical or negative to
appear. (If you rely solely on a member’s website for information, you may be
subsequently embarrassed to discover that the member has been involved in a serious or
at least interesting scandal that was not reported on the website.) The House website will
also have links to the homepages for each House committee, which will describe the
policy issues each committee addresses. Ballotpedia (https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page)
is an online encyclopedia of American politics. It contains a wealth of current
information.
The website for Project Vote Smart will be useful as well. It is located at
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/. The search box at the top of the page allows users to
search for a member of Congress by name. The site includes information about
campaign finances, issue positions, voting records, public statements, and interest group
ratings. The interest group websites include issue scorecards in which the groups evaluate
members of Congress based on their voting records. Keep in mind that the scorecards
reveal how interest groups feel about the member of Congress, not vice versa. Groups
concerned with abortion are at the top, but you can use the drop down menu to find other
types of groups. Keep in mind that interest groups are not objective in their evaluations.
If you aren’t sure about a particular group’s bias, you can go to its website for more
information or research it online.
The website of the Federal Election Commission (https://www.fec.gov/) shows how
much money candidates for Congress have raised. Candidates are required by law to
report fundraising data to the FEC. If a candidate doesn’t report raising any money, it’s
because the candidate has not raised any money.
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The Center for Responsive Politics has an excellent website providing information about
members of Congress. It is located at www.opensecrets.org. You can use it to find
detailed information about the campaign finances and election results for the
representative you are researching. Click on “Congressional Elections” under the
“Politicians and Elections” tab to find information about fundraising in the 2018 election
campaigns. The website also has biographical information on members of Congress.
CNN, New York Times, and other news outlets will have the results of the 2018 election
available online. You can visit the New York Times site at the following address:
http://elections.nytimes.com/2018/results/house
You will also want to use an Internet search engine to look for recent stories involving
the member of Congress you are researching. Go to www.google.com and type in the
name of the member of Congress assigned to you. It will help you learn about recent
events involving the member, including issues not covered on the member’s own website.
Other sites with useful information include the following:
www.govtrack.us
www.congress.org
http://thomas.loc.gov/
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/
Good Advice:
Do not wait until the day the assignment is due to begin work. That is a
prescription for a very poor grade.
Read the questions closely before answering them. Students frequently lose
points for failing to fully answer. In particular, if the question asks you to write a
paragraph, that means you need to write several sentences. A paragraph is not a
single sentence. As you recall from your English class, paragraphs have topic
sentences, several sentences in the body that develop the topic sentence, and a
concluding sentence that ties the paragraph together.
My expectation is that your project submission will be three-to-five pages long
depending on whether you include the questions. If your submission is only one
or two pages, be sure that you have completely answered each question. If your
submission is longer than five pages, you will probably lose points for being too
wordy or being repetitious.
Never, never, never copy and paste from a website. The purpose of this
assignment is for you to learn to do research. That involves finding information,
reporting it, and interpreting it. Copying and pasting from a website is the
opposite of research. It is the opposite of critical thinking. It is the opposite of
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what any self-respecting college student should do. When I detect that a student
has copied and pasted from a source (and it is always obvious), I immediately go
into overdrive looking for opportunities to take off points. Nothing irritates me
more because it shows me that the student has no interest in learning how to
think critically and write about his or her ideas.
Write and submit your answers in English. Do not write in another language and
then use a translation program to create a document to submit. College policy
requires that instruction be in English. The use of translation apps violates that
policy. It also undermines your efforts to improve your English skills. Projects
completed with translation apps will be given a grade of zero.
Don’t provide information that has not been requested. Don’t include information
relevant to question 3 when answering question 2. Don’t stray off topic.
Be sure to use correct grammar and punctuation. One of the reasons you are in
college is to learn to write correctly. Here are some common writing errors and
websites that briefly explain correct usage:
–Differentiating between possessives and plurals and using apostrophes
correctly: http://www.meredith.edu/grammar/plural.htm
–Using apostrophes correctly: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe
–Avoiding run-on sentences:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm
–Avoiding sentence fragments:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/fragments.htm
–Using semicolons correctly: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon
–Matching pronouns with their antecedents:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm
–Using commas correctly:
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
Grading criteria:
Following directions. Please read the directions for each question carefully and
follow them closely. Be sure to address all parts of each question.
Using correct English grammar. Write in complete sentences, avoiding the sort of
shortcut constructions that people use in text messages. Because you have the
opportunity to submit your project to an English tutor for assistance, I expect
good writing and I will take off points for grammatical errors. I especially watch
for sentence fragments, run-on sentences, confusing plural with possessive,
pronoun-antecedent agreement errors, and misuse of the semi-colon.
Providing accurate and timely information. You should have up-do-date
information on the member of Congress you are researching. Keep in mind that
Democrats captured a majority of seats in the House in the 2018 election. Be
careful that your information is current in light of the change of power in the
House.
Thinking clearly. Many of the questions require you to apply course concepts to
real world situations. I will sometimes also ask you to explain the reasoning
process you followed in deriving your answer.
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Doing your own work. Write in your own words. If you copy and paste from a
website, I will spot it easily and you will lose points.
You are not required to submit a works cited page, but you may if you wish. You
should especially include a works cited if you use sources other than those
referenced in this assignment.
You should treat this assignment as a series of numbered short
answer questions. DO NOT write a unified essay. The project
you submit should have the answers numbered one through
ten.
If you fail to follow the instructions above, you will earn a
ZERO!
A good way to complete the exercise is to copy and paste the questions into an RTF or
Word file. (Do not submit a PDF file.) Then, supply answers after the questions, being
careful to address all parts of the question.
Please Note: For best success, carefully read the instructions above before you
begin work on the questions below.
1. Write a paragraph describing the personal, professional, and educational
background of the representative before he or she entered Congress. Focus on
the non-political aspects of the member’s life. In what ways is the
representative you are studying typical of other members of the U.S. House?
In what ways is he or she atypical? (The word atypical means not typical.)
Base your judgment on the online profile of the membership of Congress
found at the following Internet site: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45583.pdf.
Keep in mind that this question focuses on the demographic, occupational,
educational, religious, and career background of the member. It does NOT
ask about issue positions, character, or motivations. (10 pts.)
2. Write a paragraph describing the representative’s political background.
Identify the elected and appointed positions in government the person you are
studying held before being elected to Congress. Identify the year the
representative first won election to the U.S. House. Is he or she a career
politician? What is the basis of your judgment? A career politician is someone
who wishes to earn his or her living in the political arena for an extended
period of time. (10 pts.)
3. Write a paragraph describing the district the member represents. Where is it
located in the state? Does it include any towns? Is it part of a major city? Is it
inner-city urban, suburban, small town, or rural? What issue or issues would
you expect to be particularly important to the residents and interest groups
found in the member’s district because of the nature of the district? Identify at
least one issue and explain why it is particularly important in this
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congressional district, whereas it might not be as important in other districts.
(10 pts.)
4. Write a paragraph discussing the representative’s committee assignments. On
which standing congressional committees does the member serve? [Look up
the term “standing committee.”] Is the representative the chair or ranking
minority member of a committee? [Look up “ranking minority member.”]
What sorts of policy issues does each of the standing committees address? Is
the representative a member of any subcommittees? Does he/she play a
leadership role by serving as a chair or ranking member of any committees or
subcommittees? [Please note: Do NOT give me information about the
member’s participation in congressional caucuses.] (10 pts.)
5. How much money did the representative raise for the 2018 election? How
much did his or her main opponent raise? (If the database indicates that a
challenger raised no money, it means just that—the challenger raised no
money.) The Center for Responsive Politics presents data on this issue at the
following Internet address: www.opensecrets.org. Data can also be found at
FEC.gov. What were the most important sources of the representative’s
campaign funds? Identify two or three important sources of funding. Did the
candidate self-fund? (Click on the representative’s name at the website and it
opens up to provide detailed data. Also, you may find FEC.gov easier to use.)
6. What percentage of the vote did the representative receive in the 2018
election? Based on the results of the 2018 election and the data on fundraising,
does it appear that this representative is firmly entrenched in Congress?
(Entrenched means unlikely to be defeated for reelection anytime soon.) Why
or why not? Is this typical for members of Congress in general? (10 pts.)
7. The Project Vote Smart website includes links to several interest groups that
rate members of Congress based on their voting records. (If you aren’t sure
what an interest group is, you should reread Chapter 10 of the textbook.) The
group identifies a set of votes that it considers important and gives the
member a score depending on whether the member supports the policy
positions favored by the group. [A high score means that the member voted
the way the interest group likes most of the time.] Select one of the groups
(using the pull-down menu) and research its evaluation of the member of
Congress you are studying. What group did you select? (Choose a specific
group rather than a category of groups.) With what sorts of issues is the group
concerned? Be specific. How does the group feel about the member of
Congress you are studying? What score did the group give the member?
Would you expect the group to consider him or her an ally, an enemy, or
something in between? Discuss. (10 pts.)
8. The Project Vote Smart website includes a link to speeches and public
statements of each representative. Review some of the recent speeches and
public statements of the representative you are studying. Identify an issue on
which the representative has recently focused. What is the issue? Why does
the representative think it is important? What position has the representative
taken? Do not just copy the statement of the representative. (10 pts.)
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congressional district, whereas it might not be as important in other districts.
(10 pts.)
4. Write a paragraph discussing the representative’s committee assignments. On
which standing congressional committees does the member serve? [Look up
the term “standing committee.”] Is the representative the chair or ranking
minority member of a committee? [Look up “ranking minority member.”]
What sorts of policy issues does each of the standing committees address? Is
the representative a member of any subcommittees? Does he/she play a
leadership role by serving as a chair or ranking member of any committees or
subcommittees? [Please note: Do NOT give me information about the
member’s participation in congressional caucuses.] (10 pts.)
5. How much money did the representative raise for the 2018 election? How
much did his or her main opponent raise? (If the database indicates that a
challenger raised no money, it means just that—the challenger raised no
money.) The Center for Responsive Politics presents data on this issue at the
following Internet address: www.opensecrets.org. Data can also be found at
FEC.gov. What were the most important sources of the representative’s
campaign funds? Identify two or three important sources of funding. Did the
candidate self-fund? (Click on the representative’s name at the website and it
opens up to provide detailed data. Also, you may find FEC.gov easier to use.)
6. What percentage of the vote did the representative receive in the 2018
election? Based on the results of the 2018 election and the data on fundraising,
does it appear that this representative is firmly entrenched in Congress?
(Entrenched means unlikely to be defeated for reelection anytime soon.) Why
or why not? Is this typical for members of Congress in general? (10 pts.)
7. The Project Vote Smart website includes links to several interest groups that
rate members of Congress based on their voting records. (If you aren’t sure
what an interest group is, you should reread Chapter 10 of the textbook.) The
group identifies a set of votes that it considers important and gives the
member a score depending on whether the member supports the policy
positions favored by the group. [A high score means that the member voted
the way the interest group likes most of the time.] Select one of the groups
(using the pull-down menu) and research its evaluation of the member of
Congress you are studying. What group did you select? (Choose a specific
group rather than a category of groups.) With what sorts of issues is the group
concerned? Be specific. How does the group feel about the member of
Congress you are studying? What score did the group give the member?
Would you expect the group to consider him or her an ally, an enemy, or
something in between? Discuss. (10 pts.)
8. The Project Vote Smart website includes a link to speeches and public
statements of each representative. Review some of the recent speeches and
public statements of the representative you are studying. Identify an issue on
which the representative has recently focused. What is the issue? Why does
the representative think it is important? What position has the representative
taken? Do not just copy the statement of the representative. (10 pts.)
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9. To which political party does the member of Congress belong? Based on his
or her voting record, interest group evaluations, fundraising sources, and issue
positions, would you say that he or she is typical or atypical of members of his
or her party? The textbook discusses political parties in Chapter 9. Explain
the reasoning behind your answer. Be specific. (10 pts.)
10. Do you admire the representative? Why or why not? Be specific. (10 pts.)
REMEMBER: If you wrote an essay instead of
answering the questions by number, you will receive a
zero!
