The Role of Congress
Essential Question / Understand: How is each house of Congress different from the other?
Congress is a legislative, or law-making, body made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Constitution assigns the Senate and House equal responsibility for declaring war, maintaining the armed forces, assessing taxes, borrowing money, minting currency, regulating commerce, and making all laws necessary for the operation of the government. The Senate holds exclusive authority to advise and consent on treaties and nominations. All bills for raising revenue must begin in the House of Representatives.
Though the Congress carries much weight, it is part of the government's system of checks and balances. Each of the three arms of the government—executive, judicial, and legislative—has some measure of control over the other two. In that way, the Constitution ensures that no person or small group can enact laws or make decisions against the will of the people.
The House of Representatives
The House has a larger chamber because it has more members. Each state is divided into congressional districts. Each district contains approximately the same number of people. The residents of each of the nation's 435 districts elect a representative to the House of Representatives. The Constitution guarantees that each state always has at least one seat in the House. The U.S. census is used to apportion or reapportion congressional districts, ensuring that the population in all districts remains essentially even.
Representatives in the House serve two-year terms. For that reason, every two years, much of the House turns over. To be eligible to serve as a representative, a person must meet these qualifications:
be at least 25 years old
be a U.S. citizen for at least seven years
be a resident of the state from which the candidate seeks election
Roles within the House
The party that has the majority in the House elects the speaker of the House. This individual is considered the most important member of Congress. He or she names members to special committees, refers bills to committees, breaks tied votes, and grants representatives the right to speak during debates. In addition, each party elects a floor leader and a whip that function much as their counterparts in the Senate.
The Senate
The Senate consists of two senators from each state. Once elected, a senator serves a six-year term. About one-third of the senators come up for election every two years (in even-numbered years). A person must meet these qualifications to be eligible for a seat in the Senate:
be at least 30 years old
be a U.S. citizen for at least nine years
be a resident of the state from which the candidate seeks election
Roles within the Senate
The vice president of the United States is considered the head of the Senate. He is not, however, a member of the Senate and rarely appears there unless a tie vote requires his decision.
Each senator is a member of a political party. For decades, the only parties represented in the Senate have been Republican and Democrat. (Today, there is also one Independent, who votes with the Democrats.) Each party selects a chief officer, called a floor leader. If Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Senate, the Democratic floor leader is called the majority leader, the Republican the minority leader. To assist each floor leader, each party elects an officer called a whip. These officers attend to such issues as the Senate schedules and passing their party's legislative programs.
The Work of Congress
During a two-year Congress, as many as 10,000 bills may be introduced by senators and representatives. Congress passes—and the president signs—about 600 of those bills, making them laws.
Not every congressperson can be an expert on every bill that is up for debate. For that reason, both bodies of Congress rely on the work of standing committees. Senators and representatives serve on these committees, which screen the bills introduced. Many bills never make it "out of committee." Committee members promote only those bills that they feel best serve the interests of their constituents or the general public.
Each standing committee represents a special area. Senators typically serve on about four committees. Representatives are limited to serving on two standing committees.
Questions to Ponder:
1.) Why is the Speaker of the House (of Representatives) considered the most powerful member of Congress? Explain your answer.
2.) How is having more population in your state guarantee that the state is more powerful within the House of Representatives (and therefore the nation)? Explain.
3.) What is a standing committee? And why do you think that many (or most) bills never make it “out of committee?”
4.) A few years ago, former Vice-President Dick Cheney (who as vice-President was the President of the Senate) said he was a part of the legislative branch. How could this belief throw off the whole idea of our governments’ workings?