Congressional Deskbook

This comprehensive guide to Congress is ideal for anyone who wants to know how Congress really works, including federal executives, attorneys, lobbyists, media and public affairs staff, government affairs, policy and budget analysts, congressional office staff and students. - Clear explanation of the legislative process, budget process, and House and Senate business - Flowcharts for legislative and budget processes - Explanation of the electoral college and votes by states - Glossary of legislative terms - Relationship between budget resolutions and appropriation and authorization bills - Amendment tree and amendment procedures - How members are assigned to committees - Agenda for early organization meetings (after election, before adjournment) - Sample legislative documents with explanatory annotations - Bibliographic references throughout.

The Congressional Deskbook is the comprehensive guide to Congress, now in its Fifth Edition. This 15 chapter publication explains the legislative and congressional budget processes along with all aspects of Congress. This comprehensive guide to Congress is ideal for anyone who wants to know how Congress really works, including federal executives, attorneys, lobbyists, media and public affairs staff, government affairs, policy and budget analysts, congressional office staff and students.

Now in its 4th edition, the Congressional Deskbook is the complete guide to Congress for anyone who wants to know how Congress really works: federal executives, government affairs, policy and budget analysts, lawyers, lobbyists, media and public affairs staff, congressional offices, and students of Congress. The Congressional Deskbook clearly describes the legislative and congressional budget processes in 15 chapters that discuss all aspects of Congress.The Congressional Deskbook is included in these courses from TheCapitol.Net: * Understanding Congress * Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process * Advanced Legislative Procedure * Capitol Hill Workshop * White House Workshop"A valuable, detailed, and highly functional synthesis of information about the legislative branch. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections." -- CHOICE (click for full review)"The Deskbook is a highly readable, timely and comprehensive resource on Congressional operations and procedures. It is a consistently reliable tool for any student of Congress and any legislative practitioner, regardless of their level of experience."-- Martin B. Gold, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC "The Congressional Deskbook is perfect for anyone who wants to understand how Congress works. It is concise, clarion clear and comprehensive all at once. It is spare and crisp -- but it never oversimplifies. It is written in lay language, but it never 'dumbs it down.' The Congressional Deskbook is a unique tool, one that I use regularly."-- David Hawkings, Senior Editor, Congressional Quarterly"The Congressional Deskbook is a treasure trove of practical information on the U.S. Congress. It can be used effectively as a basic text on the operations of the legislative branch and as a reference guide for answers to simple and complex questions about the first branch of government. An essential resource for those working within, reporting on, lobbying, or just trying to understand our very complicated and essential national legislature."-- Thomas E. Mann, W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution"The Congressional Deskbook puts between two covers what would take most people hundreds of hours to track down separately (let alone decipher). It pulls it all together by using concrete examples and documents to make things easily understandable--no mean feat given the labyrinthine ways of Congress."-- Don Wolfensberger, Former staff director, House Rules CommitteeMore information at CongressionalDeskbook.com

The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook offers practical advice and insight for those engaged in legislative drafting, those more interested in policy than drafting itself, or those interested in reading and interpreting the law. The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook helps anyone understand why laws are drafted the way they are. This book explains why laws are drafted the way they are. Legislative drafting is - to the extent it is writing at all - the form of writing used for legislative measures, a category that covers original bills and resolutions as well as amendments. Ultimately, legislative drafting is the form of writing used for enacted law. The focus of this book is on legislative drafting for the Congress of the United States, but many, if not most, of the principles described here apply just as well to drafting for other legislatures. As forms of writing go, drafting is not freewheeling like poetry, nor showy like rhetoric, nor personal like a novel. Drafting is disciplined, rigorous, and analytical. Done well, drafting can also be creative, elegant, and clever. (Unfortunately, drafting is not always done well.) The purpose of this book is to provide practical advice on drafting to anyone who does, or may, engage in drafting, and indirectly to provide insight into the drafting process to other interested people. For example, this book is for people who are more interested in policy than in drafting, but want to understand why drafters operate the way they do. It is also for people who are more interested in reading and interpreting the law than in drafting, but want to understand why laws are drafted the way they are. It is hoped that this book will be accessible to beginners while remaining valuable to veterans. The traditional method of training drafters is to train them on the job; the consensus is that drafting is best learned holistically, on a case-by-case basis. For that reason this book is best used as a resource, not a course. It is a supplement to, not a substitute for, the learning that comes from experience. The author designed this book to answer the variety of questions about drafting that arise daily in the work of individuals with a professional interest in how bills, resolutions, and laws are drafted. The approach used here is pragmatic: You will find no linguistic theories or esoteric conundrums discussed here. What you will find is solid advice for everyday drafting projects. "A masterful work. It is comprehensive and exceptionally well written. It is an essential tool for anyone who drafts legislation or interprets the law." -- William K. Suter, Clerk of the United States Supreme Court "An essential and indispensable book, both as a reference work and as a thorough introduction to Federal legislative drafting." -- Frank Burk, Legislative Counsel of the United States Senate 1991-1998 "The succinct and thorough assessment of good legislative drafting techniques provides a set of 'best practices' for drafters at all levels of government." -- Elizabeth Garrett, Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, University of Southern California "State legislative drafters will also greatly appreciate this work." -- Bruce Feustel, Senior Fellow, NCSL Summary of Contents 1. Being a Drafter 2. Understanding How Laws Are Made 3. Considering the Courts: Statutory Interpretation 4. Thinking Through the Policy 5. Choosing the Right Measure 6. Writing Effectively 7. Organizing and Arranging 8. Using the Right Style 9. Affecting and Amending Other Laws 10. Working in, and Working with, the Executive Branch Appendices Back of the Book Table of Cases Table of Constitutional Provisions Table of Statutes at Large Table of Public Laws Table of U.S. Code Sections Index Complete Table of Contents online at www.LegislativeDraftersDeskbook.com

Gibson presents a comprehensive look at the reasons that Congress does not work well and real solutions that can make Congress work better. He has worked in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government, including serving as chief antitrust counsel and chief minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.

"A valuable, detailed, and highly functional synthesis of information about the legislative branch. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections." CHOICE, DEc. 2003. The complete guide to congress, clearly describing the legislative and congressional budget processes. Includes 15 chapters that discuss all aspects of congress, including: legislative process flowchart; congressional budget process flowchart; clear description of the legislative process; how to research members and committees; research guidelines and resources (print and online); sample legislative documents with explanatory annotations; bibliographic references throughout; how members are assigned to committees; explanation of the electoral college and votes by states; compendium of web-based resources; and how to track legislation. See www.CongressionalDeskbook.com for more details.