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Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution establishes the rules, conditions, and guidelines for the U.S. Senate, which is considered to be the "Upper" house of the United States Congress.

The Congress of the United States is made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Senate is the smaller house within Congress consisting of 100 members.

Each state elects two Senators to represent it in this house of Congress.

Senators are elected for terms of six years and have no limits on how many times they can be elected.

The Senate is also considered to be the Upper House of Congress, due to the fact that most members have experience previously in the House, and that the membership is generally older than that of the House of Representatives.

Senators are elected by popular vote, or in other words, a vote of the people in their home state.

It was not always done in this manner, however. Until 1913 Senators were chosen by State Legislatures, but passage of the 17th Amendment changed the process.

Senators are paid a salary of $133,600 per year. The ability to set their own salaries is given to the Congress by the Constitution, but if they do vote for a salary increase, it cannot go into effect until an election has been held (Twenty-seventh Amendment).

This was one of the original Amendments to the Constitution that was submitted to the States on September 25, 1789. This Amendment modified Section 6, Clause 1, which states that Senator and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services to be ascertained by law and paid out of the treasury of the United States.

This Amendment prevents members of Congress from giving themselves a pay raise during the current session of Congress. In other words, if the members pass a law that raises their pay, they will have to wait until the beginning of the next Congress to get the extra money.

While the Senate is part of the legislative branch of the federal government, it does have some special powers all its own.

They can approve or reject proposed members of the President's cabinet (this is considered an advise and consent role).

The Senators can approve or reject the appointment of Federal judges and Justices to the Supreme Court (once again, advise and consent roles).

They can also approve or reject military or trade treaties made by the Executive Branch with foreign nations.

Senators also have a lot of power when it comes to the system of checks and balances. They are the house that acts as the court if a member of the Executive or Judicial branches is impeached.

Impeachment is basically accusations of wrongdoing made against a member of either of the other two branches.

If the House of Representatives finds enough evidence, they vote for impeachment. The Senate then acts as the court to determine guilt or innocence on the part of the accused.

In order for the Senate to accomplish the work expected of them, they have set up a system of committees to speed up the process.

There are four basic types of committees which are used in Congress. Both houses use essentially the same structure for committee work.

These are the permanent committees used in Congress. They are given a broad title, such as Senate Banking Committee, and are in charge of all business that deals with that particular subject. At present there are 17 standing committees in the Senate.

This type of committee is set up for a specific purpose, and is usually limited in how long it will exist. For example, the Senate Select committee on the Watergate affair of the 1970s existed only until the President of the U.S. had resigned, thus ending the need for the committee.

This is a committee made up of members from both houses of Congress. Some of these committees are set up as select committees, while others are established as standing committees. For instance, during the Civil War, the most powerful committee in Congress was the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which basically decreed who would command the Union armies.

This type of committee is a temporary joint body which is created to help solve differences between the two houses over proposed legislation. This helps the two to come to an understanding, and reach compromises in many cases.

• Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
• Appropriations
• Armed Services
• Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
• Budget
• Commerce, Science, and Transportation
• Energy and Natural Resources
• Environment and Public Works
• Governmental Affairs
• Finance
• Foreign Relations
• Indian Affairs
• Judiciary
• Labor and Human Resources
• Rules and Administration
• Small Business
• Veterans' Affairs

Who is actually in charge of the Senate?

Much of the power is held by the political party that maintains a majority in the Senate. The majority party has more Senators that the minority party. The majority party gets to choose the leadership positions.

What are the leadership positions?

Titles relate mostly to the majority party status. Check the next screen to examine some of these positions.

1. President of the Senate - Actually, this is a fancy name for the Vice-President of the United States. He/she is really only there in case of a possible tie vote on important legislation. Why only then?

Because he/she can only vote in case of a tie. At no other time can he/she vote on any piece of legislation.

2. President Pro-Tempore - This is pretty much an honorary position, which limits it usually to the longest serving member of the Senate of the Majority party. They run the meetings (or are supposed to) when the President of the Senate is absent.

There are also positions based entirely upon the Majority and Minority party status. These include:

3. Senate Majority Leader - This is generally a very powerful Senator who is elected by the other Senators of his or her party to this position. This person is in charge of trying to get legislation which the party wants passed through the Senate, with help from other Senators, of course.

Senate Majority Whip - This is the person who literally "whips the troops" in order to convince them to vote for or against certain legislation. They are like the "Enforcer" for the party, and hold great influence over other members of the Senate.

So what about the minority party leadership positions?

The party with fewer members, or the "Minority Party," does indeed have members who hold high positions within the Senate leadership. They have as their duty the job of voicing their party's opinions on proposed legislation, and either trying to get it passed or defeated, depending on their viewpoint.

1. Senate Minority Leader - Sound familiar? This is generally a well-known Senator who has great persuasive powers and will probably be the Senate Majority leader if they win a majority in the Senate elections.
2. Senate Minority Whip -This is the minority Senator who is in charge of "persuading" his fellow Senators to vote in certain ways on proposed legislation. This Senator would also be in line as a "higher-up" in the party, and is usually a very persuasive type of person as well.

How does the Senate pass legislation?

A bill is introduced in the Senate by a member. After the bill is introduced, it is numbered and referred to the appropriate standing committee.

The standing committee refers the bill to a subcommittee for study and public hearings where interested individuals may speak to the members.

The bill is sent back to the standing committee for more hearings and possible changes.

The standing committee can either vote for or against moving the bill to the full House for debate by all of the membership.

If the vote is favorable (a majority), the bill is sent to the full Senate.

The bill is debated and amended (changed), and then is either passed or defeated.

If the bill is passed, it is sent to the House where it goes through the same process.

If the Senate and House bill are the same, it is sent to the President. If the bills are different, it is sent to a conference committee.

If the members of the conference committee cannot agree, the bill is sent back to a conference committee in each house.

The bill is then sent from the conference committee to both houses for a debate and a vote to send the bill to the President.

The President may either sign the bill into law or veto the bill, sending it back to the House and the Senate.

Both houses can vote to override the President's veto with a two-thirds vote of the membership. If this happens, the bill becomes a law.

As discussed in the Legislative Branch lesson, the Senate is seen as the more "prestigious" of the two houses of Congress. They are considered to be the more thoughtful, and as a result may be the more powerful of the two houses of Congress.