The First Session of the 112th Congress Kicks Off

Wednesday was the first session of the year of the 112th Congress. And now in the House of Representatives, there is a new power. The Republicans, after winning the majority of seats in the November election, will now control the House. Republican John Boehner, from Ohio, took over the title "Speaker of the House" from Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. The House Minority Leader is now Nancy Pelosi, a neighbor of Hillwood's when she is not in Washington D.C.

Boehner has sworn in 94 House members. The Congress has also been joined by thirteen new senators.

"We gather here today at a time of great challenges. Nearly 1 in 10 of our neighbors are looking for work," Boehner said to the new Congress after taking the Speaker of the House gavel. "Health care costs are still rising for families and small businesses. Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy." 

According to an article written by Kelli Plasket in Time for Kids, "The Speaker of the House leads the House of Represenitives in dealings with the President and the Senate, and often speaks to the public giving the views of his or her party. The Speaker is second in line to take over as president, behind the Vice President. Represenitives elect a new Speaker at the beginning of each new Congress, which occurs every two years. Boehner is the 61st Speaker of the House."

John Boehner has ideas about how to change the House altogether. He has already changed the meetings of the House schedule so that the Represenitives can be given more time to spend in their home districts. He is now asking for smaller committee budgets, and he has also reduced the people on House committees. "Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress. No longer can we fall short." John Boehner says.

The Republicans have decided to use their new power to try to cut government spending, government programs, and taxes. And they're not letting any time go to waste. Today, January 7th, 2011, the Republicans will begin to debate about the repeal of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act. President Obama had signed the health care bill into law last March. President Obama had said that the law would help give the millions of Americans without health insurance good and affordable health care. This law called for more government involment with health care.

The Republican critics have said that this law will only lead to higher taxes and poorer quality in health care services. The House Republicans have decided to, on January 12th, to repeal the act, althought it probably will not go through once it reaches Democrat-controlled Senate.

"Both parties have promised to focus on creating more jobs and reducing the amount of money the U.S government owes during this session of Congress."

Source: Article by Kelli Plasket, Times for Kids

It's a New Year and a New Congressional Session

The United States government has an executive branch, a judicial branch, and a legislative branch. The leaders of the executive branch are the President and Vice President. The executive branch makes sure that our laws are followed. Led by then Supreme Court, the Judaical branch keeps an eye on our laws. The legislative branch which makes laws, is the Congress.

The two parts of Congress are the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. There are two U.S. Senators for each state and "at least one U.S Representative; the more residents a state has, the more U.S. Representatives it is allowed." Usually laws start as bills, and bills start with ideas. It doesn't matter who has the idea as long as its a good one!

Then the idea goes to Congress, and members of Congress think about the idea and if they like it they will make a bill.

"Once the bill is written, it is placed in the hopper, and introduced to the rest of the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives." The Representatives talk about it then if they like it they put it out to the public.

And now John Boehner is becoming speaker of the house. Boehner plans to lower taxes and critics say that this will most probably lead to bad health care systems.

The Week Kicks Off the 112th Congress

Student: Clara and Alysen

Wednesday marked the first session of the 112th Congress. Read this Time for Kids news story, and tell Hillwood Herald readers about what this new session might mean for them.

You will also want to give a great deal of background information about who makes up Congress and what Congress, as an entity, does. Feel free to consult the Kids in the House Website, as well as Wikipedia. Include a run down of the key people involved in the 112th Congress.