The us Congress
All powers given to Congress are enumerated in the Article I of the Constitution. The major powers listed in §8 are: the powers to issue money, to establish a postal system, to create federal courts, to raise an army and navy, to declare war, to collect taxes and spend money for the general welfare, to regulate interstate commerce, and the like. Only Congress is given the right to impose and collect taxes and fund governmental programs. Only the House of Representatives originate revenue bills and appropriations bills, but the Senate has the function of advising and consenting to treaties and to certain nominations by the President.
The Framers agreed to bicameral Congress, where the House of Representatives would have proportional representation, based on population, while the Senate would have equal representation from each state.
The Senate is composed of 100 Members, two from each state, elected by the people in accordance with the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. A Senator must be at least 30 years of age, have been a citizen of the United States for nine years, and, when elected, be a resident of the state for which the Senator is chosen. The term of office is six years and one-third of the total membership of the Senate is elected every second year. If a Senator dies or resigns during the term, the governor of the state must call a special election or he must appoint a successor if he is authorized until the next election.
The House of Representatives is composed of 435 Members elected every two years from among the 50 states, apportioned to their total populations. A Representative must be at least 25 years of age, have been a citizen of the United States for seven years, and, when elected, be a resident of the state in which the Representative is chosen. If a Representative dies or resigns during the term, the executive authority of the state must call a special election.
In the matter of impeachments, the House of Representatives presents charges and the Senate sits as a court to try the impeachment.
The “executive communication” has become a prolific source of legislative proposals. The communication is usually in the form of a message or letter from a member of the President’s Cabinet, the head of an independent agency, or the President himself, transmitting a draft of a proposed bill to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution imposes an obligation on the President to report to Congress from time to time on the “State of the Union” and to recommend for consideration necessary and expedient. The most important of the regular executive communication is the annual message from the President transmitting the proposed budget to Congress.
Perhaps, the most important phase of the legislative process is the action by committees. The committees provide the most intensive consideration to a proposed measure. Each committee’s jurisdiction is divided into certain subject matters. For example, the Committee on the Judiciary in the House has jurisdiction over measures relating to judicial proceedings generally, and other categories, including constitutional amendments, immigration and naturalization, bankruptcy, patents, copyrights and trademarks.