Essay Example on United States Congress Explanation

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United States Congress US Congress derives all it power from Constitution of United States of America Article I section 1 describes as All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives US Congress is composed of two houses Bicameral legislature House of representative and Senate The House and Senate equally participate in the legislative process It means that any legislation cannot be enacted with the approval of both houses The House of Representative The House passes federal legislation for the whole USA In addition the bill becomes a law when it must be passed by the Senate and the President sign it Representation in the House is in proportion to the population but is entitled to at least one representative from each State Number of voting representative in the House is 435 fixed California State is the most populous state and has 53 representatives in the House Representatives and Delegates of the House serve for two year while the Resident Commissioner serves for four years The Constitution permits the House to expel a member with a two thirds majority vote Members of the House elect the Speaker who presides over the chamber The House uses committees and subcommittees for different purposes e g review of bills and oversight of administration Political parties nominate the committee members and The House appoints them The House is empowered to impeach the federal officials while the Senate tries the impeachment The Senate The Senate is upper house of the congress that is comprised of 100 senators Two senators from each state regardless of the population represent in the Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress Senators serve for six year terms

The chamber of the United States Senate is located in the north wing of the Capitol in Washington D C The Senate has several more exclusive powers as compared to the House for example the power to consent to treaties as a precondition to their ratification The Senate may also consent to or confirm the appointment of cabinet secretaries federal judges other federal executive officials military officers regulatory officials ambassadors and other federal uniformed officers The Senate may also trying federal officials impeached by the House The Constitution guarantees the equal suffrage of each state in the Senate through not allowing any amendment in this regard Senators serve for six years each term and one third of the sears up for election after every two years Congressional Committees Congress seeks help from its committees for legislative administrative and oversight tasks which involves more than 200 committees and subcommittees These Committees gather information evaluate alternatives and identify problems in their specific area of responsibilities The 1946 Legislative Reorganization Act established modern committee system in the congress In the 115th Congress there are 20 standing committees in the House with 97 subcommittees and one select committee The Senate has 16 standing committees with 68 subcommittees3 as well as four select or special committees and also four joint committees There are four main types of committees in the congress Standing Special or Select Joint and Conference Committees Standing committees Standing Committees are permanent panels according to chamber rules House Rule X Senate Rule XXV

The Committees have legislative jurisdiction that is why consider bills and issues and send recommended measures for consideration to their respective houses Standing Committees also have oversight responsibility for monitoring agencies programs and other activities under their responsibilities and in some cases cut across the committees jurisdictions In most cases standing committees authorize funds for governmental operations for new and existing programs While some have other function, for example, the Appropriations Committees recommend legislation to provide budget authority for federal agencies and programs The Budget Committees establish aggregate levels for total spending and revenue via the annual budget resolution that serve as guidelines for the work of the authorizing and appropriating panels Select or Special Committees Select or Special Committees are established by a separate resolution of the chamber The Committees conduct investigations and studies and also consider measures Often select committees examine emerging issues that do not fit clearly within existing standing committee jurisdictions or cut across jurisdictional boundaries A select committee may be permanent or temporary Select committees may have certain restrictions on member tenure or may include certain specified representatives e g party leaders or certain standing committee chairs as ex officio members Senate sometimes uses the term special committee instead of select committees, for example, Special Committee on Aging Joint committees Joint Committees are made up of Members of both the House and Senate Today s permanent joint committees conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks rather than consider measures

For instance, the Joint Committee on Printing oversees the functions of the Government Printing Office and general printing procedures of the federal government The chairmanship of joint committees usually alternates between the House and Senate Conference committee Conference committee is a temporary joint committee formed to resolve differences between competing House and Senate versions of a measure Conference committees draft compromises between the positions of the two chambers which are then submitted to the full House and Senate for approval


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