FOR CLASSROOM DISCUSSION
19. Direct versus indirect election of Senators.
20. To what extent, if to any, should Congressmen consider the needs of their local district as of more importance than the needs of the nation as a whole?
21. Should the interval between the election of Representatives and the meeting of Congress be shortened?
22. Should we retain equal representation of states in the Senate, or should this principle be discarded as "undemocratic"?
CHAPTER XLIII
CONGRESS IN ACTION
A. ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS
548. CONGRESSIONAL SESSIONS.—The Federal Constitution requires Congress to assemble at least once a year, and Congress has provided that the date of meeting shall be the first Monday in December. In addition to such special sessions as may be called either by the President or by Congress itself, there are two regular sessions. One of these is the long session, from December of each odd year until Congress adjourns, generally sometime during the following summer. The other is the short session, beginning when Congress assembles in December of each even year, and ending at noon on the 4th of March following.
The two houses of Congress jointly fix the time for adjournment, but in case they cannot agree upon this point, the President has the right to adjourn them to such time as he thinks fit. During the congressional session, neither house may, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses are sitting. Since 1800 congressional sessions have regularly been held at Washington, D. C., the National capital.