Language practice and comprehension check

USEFUL INFORMATION

Senator Joseph McCarthy (1909-1957) was a US politician in the Republican Party and became famous in the early 1960s by saying officially that many well-known people, important politicians and military officers were Communists, and therefore enemies of the United States. Many of these people were blacklisted or imprisoned.

Watergate Affair - a famous political scandal in the USA in the early 1970s that caused President Richard Nixon to leave his job before the Congress could impeach him.

TERMS AND NOTIONS

Subpoena n - (Latin "under penalty").A writ commanding a person to appear before the court or other tribunal subject to a penalty for failing to comply.

Abuse of process – The improper and tortuous use of a legitimately issued court process to obtain a result that is either unlawful or beyond the process’s scope.

TASK I a) Study the following words from the text:

Active Vocabulary

oversee v. – watch sb./sth. and make sure that a job or an activity is done correctly.

oversight n.- 1. mistake caused by not noticing something; 2.supervision

take on phr.v.– 1 undertake (work etc.). 2 engage (an employee). 3 be willing or ready to meet (an opponent etc.). 4 acquire (new meaning etc.).

cover-up n. – concealment of facts.

cover up phr. v. – try to stop people from knowing the truth about a mistake, crime, etc.

coverage n. - 1 area or amount covered. 2 amount of publicity received by an event etc.

scrutiny n. – 1 critical gaze. 2 close investigation.

scrutinize v. – (also -ise) (-zing or -sing) examine thoroughly.

expose v. – 1. reveal the identity or fact. 2. exhibit, display.

laudatory adj. – praising.

abuse n. - 1.a departure from legal or reasonable use; misuse; 2.physical or mental maltreatment resulting in physical, mental or emotional injury (child abuse, sexual abuse).

b) Use the active vocabulary to complete the sentences:

1. The whole affair was very well ... … and never reached newspapers.

2. The Senate committee was ... the work of the executive agencies.

11.This Police department deals with different kinds of family ...

3. The specialist ... the painting very carefully.

4. This Police department deals with different kinds of family ...

5. Close ... of the document showed that it was a forgery.

6. The Head of the Planning Committee will have general ... of the project.

7. The committees have ... ... the more general task of overseeing the operation of the government.

8. The head teacher threatened to ... the offender to the police.

9. Some investigations did not have ... results which had been expected.

10. The affair received massive media ... .

TASK II a) Match the adjectives on the left with their synonyms on the right:

relevant	a. first
standing	b. connected
original	c. examining
investigative	d. solid
laudatory	e. permanent
substantial	f. evident
select	g. present
modern	h. praising
obvious	i. chosen

b) Match the nouns on the left with their synonyms on the right.

scrutiny	a. business
floor	examination
concern	incompetence
inadequacy	meeting
contempt	attention
coverage	fault
publicity	disrespect
shortcoming	report
involvement	proof
evidence	participation
oversight	ill-treatment
abuse	control

3. Make up sentences with the words on the left.

TASK III Use the following phrases in your own sentences:

To survive intensive scrutiny, to bring forward a proposal, to deal with the complexity of legislation, to take on the task, to expose inadequacy, to issue subpoenas, to punish disregard, to cover up a burglary.

TASK IV Find the meanings of the following derivatives in a dictionary. Make up sentences with them:

1. to laud – laudatory

2. to inform – information – informative

3. to involve – involved – involvement

4. complex – complexity – complexion

5. to cover – coverage

6. public – to publicize – publicity

7. to abuse – abusive

8. to commit – committee – commission

9. to allege – allegedly – allegation

10. to govern – governance – governor - government

TASK V Complete each sentence with one of the following expressions:

a) to chair a committee; b) on the floor; c) legislative business; d) contempt of Congress; e) press and TV coverage; f) brewing hysteria; g) areas to concern.

1. Senate business includes …1….. (bills and resolutions) and executive business (nominations and treaties).

2. Both Senators Bond and Carper spoke …2…. about the healthcare proposal that President Bush outlined during the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

3. This checklist is not exhaustive but it sets out the main …3…… yourselves with both before any crisis arises and during the crisis itself.

4. US playwright Arthur Miller is convicted of …4…… after refusing to reveal the names of alleged Communist writers.

5. The difference between the tabloids and the traditional …5…… is so subtle as to be unrecognizable.

6. Many liberal senators, angry with Lieberman for supporting President Bush on Iraq, don't want him to …6….. in a Democratic-controlled Senate.

7. It appears there are two stories developing in Asia. One is the appearance of a new virus and the second is a level of …7… which is difficult to understand.

TASK VI Answer the following questions:

1. Why have Congressional committees become so important nowadays?

2. What subject matters do standing committees scrutinize?

3. Why were committees and Congressional agencies set up?

4. How has the role of committees changed?

5. Are committee investigative hearings mentioned in the Constitution?

6. Why has the Court upheld Congress’s right to investigate?

7. How does intense press and television coverage affect committee investigators and investigations?

8. Can investigations be linked to politics?

9. Give examples of a successful investigation and abuse of the committee investigatory process.

10. Is the Congressional investigatory power effective?

TASK VII Speak about

a) the legislative work of committees.

b) Congress’s role in overseeing government.

c) committee investigations.

TASK VIII Agree or disagree with the following quotations.

1. The more corrupt the state, the more laws.

Cornelius Tacitus (55-120).

2. A public man is a responsible man, and a responsible man is a slave.

Benjamen Disraeli (1804-1881).

TASK IX Read the following passages and entitle them:

1. Bills may originate in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, unless a bill involves raising revenue, in which case it must originate in the House of Representatives. (U.S. Const. art. I, sec. 7). Only Senators and Representatives (also known as Members of Congress) can introduce a bill in their respective chamber. When bills are introduced, they are given a bill number. The numbering system starts over with each session of Congress, and bill numbers run in chronological order according to when the bill is introduced. Bills in the House of Representatives are given the initial H.R., and Senate Bills are given the initial S. Thus, H.R. 1, would be the first bill introduced in a new session of Congress or the House of Representatives (a session of Congress lasts for two years).

2. Once the bill has emerged from committee consideration, it moves to the “floor” of either the House of Representatives or the Senate (again depending on where the bill was introduced). The entire chamber then debates and may amend the bill. The chamber then takes an open vote on the bill. For non-controversial votes, the chamber will take a voice vote, but if any legislator asks for a roll call, then each member’s vote is made separately and publicity.

3. If the bill passes the first chamber, it is sent to the other chamber where the process described above is repeated. If the bill is amended in the second chamber, it must be sent back to the first chamber because both chambers must agree on the amendments. If the two chambers cannot immediately agree on how to pass identical legislation, the bill will be sent to a joint committee (comprised of both House of Representatives and Senate members), which will attempt to work out a compromise among the different versions of the bill. If the joint committee is successful, the bill will be returned to both chambers for a vote.

4. All floor debates and votes are published the following day in the Congressional Record. Legislators can review the Congressional Record before it is published to change or add a statement. The Government Printing Office publishes committee reports for major legislation separately. In recent years, many committee hearings, floor debates and votes have been broadcast live from C-SPAN (Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network), a cable television network that provides twenty-four hour coverage of public affairs.

Text 7. THE ENACTMENT PROCESS