...1) There are 535 members in Congress. 2) The minimum age of House member is 25 years. For Senate, this number is 30 years. 3) The dominant prior occupations of most Congress members are law and business. 4) Women are underrepresented in Congress due to sexism and family burden. Women are not as likely to get nominated from the party as men are and have a harder time getting votes in elections. The majority of them also has to take care of children and therefore do not have time for Congress. Women are also less likely to take risks if the odds are against them. 5) Incumbents are members who are already holding office. In congressional election, these members usually win with the reelection rate of 90%. They provide stability in Congress. 6) The reelection bids for House favor incumbents. Incumbents in House are already well known with financial backing. In Senate, the odds of re-election are not as good as in the House due to a larger base of opposition. Senators also have less personal contact with their constituency. In order to win against incumbents, challengers must take advantage of scandals and the reassignment of incumbents into unfamiliar turfs. 7) Case work is the act of helping constituents by cutting through bureaucratic red tapes. 8) A bicameral legislature is a two house legislature. It applies for every American state except for Nebraska. Each state is guaranteed two senators, and number of representatives is decided based on population. Bicameral legislature...
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...Article 1 section 8 The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and Post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; ...
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...Congress is one of the biggest forces that shapes the country. It derives its power to change the country through its role in the writing, implementation, and oversight of laws. Ideally Congress uses this power to the will of their constituents and to better the country. Unfortunately congress's job isn't that simple there are many mechanisms or other complications that seem to get in the way of this goal. One of congress's main functions is the passage of legislation. When it comes to the creation of laws Congress has a difficult job.The process of turning a bill into a law is both time consuming and difficult. Bills are required to go through a multistage process that can completely kill the bill at any point. In addition to this Congress has many mechanics built into it that creates a system that can be very complicated to navigate through....
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...AGENCIES OF THE CONGRESS 1. Electoral tribunal * Are the persons in charge if there is something wrong about last election * Were created by the Constitution as special tribunals to be the sole judge of all contests relating to election, returns and qualifications of the members of the legislative houses, and, as such, are independent of congress * Was created to function as a nonpartisan court although two-thirds of its members are politician PURPOSE OF THE Constitution * To provide an independent arid impartial tribunal for the determination of the contests to legislative office * Devoid of partisan considerations * To transfer to that tribunal all the powers previously exercised by the legislative in matters pertaining to contested elections of its members Composition of the electoral tribunal Each electoral tribunal shall be composed of nine (9) members: 1. House of the Representative Electoral Tribunal (HRET) * Composed of the three (3) Justices of the Supreme Court * Designated by the Chief of Justice * Six (6) members of the Senate chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system therein 2. Senate Electoral Tribunal * Composed of three (3) justices * Designated by the Chief of Justice * Six (6) members of the House of the Representative * Chosen on the basis of proportional representation * The most...
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...Article I of the Constitution sets forth the powers of Congress in specific language. Section 8 states, "Congress shall have Power … To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." Laws aren't simply conjured out of thin air, of course. Any senator or congressman may introduce a bill, after which it is referred to the appropriate legislative committee for hearings. The committee, in turn, debates the measure, possibly offering amendments, then voting on it. If approved, the bill heads back to the chamber from which it came, where the full body will vote on it. Assuming lawmakers approve the measure, it will be sent to the other chamber for a vote. Once the measure clears Congress, it is ready for the president. If both bodies have approved legislation that differs, it must be resolved in a joint congressional committee before being voted on again by both chambers. The legislation then goes to the White House, where the president may either sign it into law or veto it. Congress, in turn, has the power to override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority in both chambers. In addition, Congress has the power to amend the Constitution, though this is a long and arduous process. Both chambers must approve the proposed constitutional amendment by two-thirds majority, after which the measure...
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...Role of Congress Congress is the Bicameral Legislature of the Federal Government of the United States that includes the two chambers: the Senate and House of Representatives. People are familiar with Congress and its primary role to create and pass new laws. But, most don’t realize how important it is that we have the two chambers. This Legislature was created in 1789, but why? What caused the framers to create two different chambers and what is it that causes them to be so different? Also, and most importantly, what role does Congress and the two chambers play in our Government? The creating of Congress, requirements of Congress, and the role of Congress will all be discussed. There remain two main reasons of how and why Congress was created. Early on, the framers’ envisioned how a singular legislature body could become...
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...The Congress is consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which represents the interest of the citizens of the United States. Congress consists of elected officials that we the people elected. The Senate and House of Representatives both make laws, but the Senate, under the Constitution, has certain granted powers that the House of Representatives do not have. The House of Representatives serves for two terms and the Senate serves six-year terms (Larson, 2015). The Senate is composed of 100 members and each state has two Senators. Only 20 percent of Senators are females per the 113th Congress (2015). The mark-up of the congress does not reflect the demographic of the United States. By the Senate being 80 percent male, this is an over representation of the 49.2 percent males in the United States (Male, 2014). Another example of over representation, the House of Representatives has 82.2 percent of males. As the bible states, “For I know...
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...The main role of congress is legislating laws, and these laws go through several stages. Some of these laws are for show or meant to help certain people, and other laws originate to really benefit all Americans. Therefore, the laws making in congress is a combination between functions of process, and politics. The process of functions is what congress does to satisfy most of the citizens. Back in the beginning of the sixties, there was something called the great society, which were laws issued to flourish the country. These laws helped citizen to gain economic opportunity and get out of poverty, and also encouraged students to continue college by making facilities for them. Additionally, it allowed elderly people who over sixty-five to obtain...
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...legislators since 1990. Inevitably, this shift has raised an important question on whether similar limits should apply in Congress. However, based on the effects of limits on state governments, both chambers of Congress should remain free from term limits. In a New York Times article, B. Drummond Ayres wrote that the average member of the California Assembly “now has three years of experience, less than half the average before term limits.” Eliminating term limits excuses the most experienced members from state legislatures. Less experience and expertise make it more difficult to efficiently pass legislation. Congress needs experienced legislators...
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...In the United States Congress is tasked with the role of creating laws and regulation that control the way citizens live their lives. Due to this role Congress is given incredible control over the country and how it runs. Members of Congress work together in order to create these laws in order to benefit the people of the country. Factors such as the political affliction and party of each Congressman or the president at the time can have a great influence over Congress. Due to these factors the true power of congress lies within the majority party in charge of Congress. Having a majority party can be incredibly inflectional in passing the ideas and standards of a certain political party (McClenaghan, 2003, p.123). Congress has the power to...
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...In the basic framework of the congress, the constitution grants the congress the rights to establish any budgetary legislation that contributes to the Federal budgetary process. The Budgetary and Accounting Act of 1921 has a statutory basis whereby the executive budget process demands that the President submits to the Congress a proposed budget for running the business of the Federal government annually (United States, 2017). This helps the president in doing his projects e.g. medical care and other responsibilities in the financial year. The General Accounting Office (agency in government accountability) is responsible for the budget allocation after approval by the Congress. The General Accounting Office is also responsible for provision...
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...Congress has gone through three models since its creation. The 1st Model of Congress from 1790-1840 was informal and floor centered. The 2nd Congress from 1850’s-1910 had centralized leadership, especially in the House of Representatives. Beginning in 1910 to, arguably, the present is the 3rd Congress, which is Committee based and decentralized. Though the Speaker of the House is identified in the Constitution, his job description was not. The role of Speaker is constantly evolving. From 1861-1910, it was the most important leadership position in government. Various Speakers during this time period were able to centralize their power. Speaker Blain successfully appointed members to committees that would manipulate legislation according to his interests. The Rules Committee was elevated to a standing committee, then as a “steering committee” allowing the Speaker to control the business of the house (CP 95). Other Speakers built on the precedent of recognition, using it to block legislation or legislations he didn’t like (CP 181, 95). Under Speaker Reed’s powerful influence, the democratic minority were unable to stall legislation. Rules named after him in 1890 established the role of the Speaker in naming members and chairs of all house committees. This ability was used by strong speakers to reward supporters...
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...After completing the mock Congress simulation, I obtained a greater understanding in how a bill becomes a law in addition to the factors that may prevent its passage. The diversity of roles that students were assigned as representatives offered a glimpse into how complex the legislative process really is. Bills are passed with the near universal intent of positively impacting the American people. However, this impact may not be universally distributed across demographics and in some cases it can hurt the constituents that one represents. With so many agendas, public and private, clashing and coinciding with each other in Congress, even the smallest of bills require a massive collective effort to become law. During the simulation, I was a Republican that represented a suburban community whose primary economic interest resided in business. Since both Republicans and the suburban community tended to be more conservative economically, I decided to create a bill that coincided with both of our interests by decreasing the ad valorem tariff levied on imported automobiles. In addition, my Republican background presented issues with the demographic I was representing due to the fact that I generally favored less government intervention...
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...There is a definite need for Congress in the United States. It serves many roles such as making laws, implementing national policy and watching over the other two branches of government. These are just a few of the duties of our U.S. Congress. Although they are essential to our government, there are potential problems. People are not always satisfied with the length of time involved in passing a law as well as the deadlock Congress can experience on an issue. Another potential problem people see with Congress is representation. Not all Americans feel that they are equally represented. The Congress of the United States is viewed by many as the largest branch in government. Some people might even say it is the most important. This is due to the roles Congress pays in our government. Congress is responsible for the lawmaking in our country as well as implementing national policy. The power to make laws was given to Congress by our forefathers when they constructed our constitution. Passing laws is very important to our country because without them we would be living in chaos. Of course, all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good job at keeping this country under control. The problems with lawmaking that most people see is the time involved in getting a law passed. In order for a bill to become a law it must first be "introduced to the House or Senate, or both, then referred to a committee." (Cummings / Wise 479). This can be a very...
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...The U.S Congress is the branch of government concerned mainly with making the laws. The U.S congress is bicameral, this means that it is made up of two separate bodies. These are the House of Representative and the Senate. The House of Representatives has four hundred and thirty five (435) members from every state based on the population and is adjusted every ten years after the census. These officials are elected by the people in each congressional district. The Senate has one hundred (100) members from every state based on equal representation. These officials are elected by the people statewide. The House of Representatives and The Senate work together in the law making process as well as other responsibilities. The U.S congress is broken down into...
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