The Congress

The Congress of the United States grants all the legislative powers of the federal government to the Congress, which consists of two Houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its residence is on Capitol Hill, in the center of Washington. The authors of the Constitution expected that the legislature (the Congress) would be the strongest branch of the new government. Though the role of the President and the executive branch of power has become greater today, Congress still plays a very important part in the country's representative government.

The Senate, the smaller House, is composed of two members from each state, as provided by the Constitution. Membership in the House of Representatives is based on the number of population; therefore its size is not mentioned in the Constitution.

Until 1913 Senators were not elected directly by the people, but were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were looked on as representatives of their home states. Their duty was to ensure that their states were treated equally in all legislation. The 17th

Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1913, provided for direct election of the Senate. To be elected to the Senate a person must be at least 30 years of age, a citizen of the United States for at least nine years, and a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. To become a member of the House of Representatives a person must be at least 25, a citizen for seven years, and a resident of the state which he represents. As has been mentioned above, each state, regardless of population, has two Senators. Thus, there are 100 Senators in the Senate from fifty states. The number of members of the House of Representatives is 435. This number was finally determined by Congress in 1913 and has never changed since that time. While a Senator represents his home state, each member of the House of Representatives represents a district in his home state. The size of a district or a constituency today is 530,000 persons. Regardless population, every state is constitutionally guaranteed at least one member in the House of Representatives. At present, six states — Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming — have only one representative. On the other hand, six states have more than 20 representatives, and California alone has 53 according to the 2004 elections. Senators are elected for a term of six years, but one third of the Senate is elected every two years. So, two Senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time. Hence, two-thirds of the Senators are always persons with some legislative experience. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years. But in

practice most members are reelected several times, and the House, like the Senate, may rely on a group of experienced legislators.

Congress meets in regular sessions, beginning with January 3, almost all the year round. The President may call a special session when he thinks it necessary. Sessions are held in the Capitol in Washington, D. C. The presiding officer of the House of Representatives is the Speaker, who, as a member of the House, is elected by its members at the start of each Congress. His prestige

is rather high; he is second to the Vice President in the line of presidential succession. By Constitution the presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President. The Senate chooses a President pro tempore to preside when the Vice President is absent. The

Speaker and the President pro tempore are always members of the political party which has the majority in each House.

At the beginning of each new Congress, members of the political parties select their political leaders in both Houses (the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties).

These majority party leaders together with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Vice President constitute the "Big Four". They maintain close contacts with the

President, exercise strong influence over the making of laws and have a direct hand in the consideration of current home and foreign policy. The legislative work of Congress is done mostly in standing (permanent) committees. Today there are 22 standing committees in the House of Representatives and 16 in the Senate, plus four joint permanent committees with members from both Houses. With the increase in the amount of work, the standing committees have over 300 subcommitees to study specific problems. Each standing committee specializes in certain spheres

of lawmaking: foreign affairs, defence, finance, agriculture, commerce and other fields.

The committees are headed by influential chairpersons. The majority party in each House controls the committee work. Minority parties are proportionally represented in the committees

according to their numbers in each House.

The Congress is the supreme legislative organ. The Senate and the House of Representatives have equal constitutional rights. Each House has the power to introduce bills on any subject. Important bills may be suggested by the President or other executive officials. After introduction all bills are sent to certain committees. When a committee is in favour of a bill, it is sent to the Congress for open debate. When the debate is over, members vote to approve the bill or to defeat it. A bill passed by one House, is sent to the other. After the bill is passed by both Houses, it is sent to the President for his approval.

However, the President has the right to veto the bill. The bill vetoed by the President must be re-approved by a two-thirds vote in both Houses to become law, an Act of Congress.

The bills, proposed by the White House or the Cabinet, usually pass all the stages without any difficulty.

As part of its legislative role, Congress has great investigative power. Members of the government can be called to a Congress committee to account for their administrative work.

The Congress exercises some other important influences on the other two branches of power (executive and judicial). For example, the Senate must approve treaties made with foreign countries by the President before they come into force. Only the Congress has the power to declare war against a foreign nation. The Senate has the power to approve or reject the President's candidates for the Supreme Court, other federal judges, cabinet ministers (in the USA they are known as Secretaries), ambassadors, etc. Congress is empowered by the Constitution to remove federal officials for crimes. In such cases an official is first impeached by the House of Representatives, then tried by the Senate, which finds him guilty or not guilty. If this official (he may be a President) is found guilty he is removed from public office.