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LESSON 23

The Congress of the United States was established under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, and is made up of two Houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Senate is the smaller house within Congress, and consists 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 two houses are often termed as the "Upper" house (Senate) and the "Lower" house (House of Representatives).

Each of them have basically the same duties, which is to write laws. But the two houses do have some differences in regard to structure and powers.

What are these differences?

The House of Representatives consists of 435 members who are elected by the people within their particular district. Each member is elected for a two-year term and has no limit on how many times he or she may run for office.

While the Senate has two members from each state, the House bases its membership on population. At present, there are roughly 575,000 people for each member of the house, and each state is guaranteed at least one Representative.

How do we determine the number of Representatives for each state?

The number of representatives of each state is determined by the state's population. The population is calculated every ten years through the taking of a census, a counting of all of the people in the United States.

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution mandates that this census be taken to determine the apportionment of the membership in the House of Representatives. In other words, the census determines how many representatives a state has in the House.

Please note the changes in the number of representatives from one decade to another.

The census was taken in 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990.

The changes in the number of representatives begins with the first general election. For example, the changes from the 1980 census went into effect for the 1982 election.

As you can see, some states have gained a number of representatives. Please remember that the total number of representatives is always 435.

Members of the House of Representatives must meet the following election qualifications:

Representatives serve terms of two years, and at present have no limits on how many times they can be elected.

If a member of the House chooses to resign, then the Governor of the Representative's home state can call a special election to fill the post.

Members of the House are paid a salary of $133,600.00 per year. The Twenty-seventh Amendment addressed the issue of Congressional pay.

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 Senators 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.

The leadership of the House of Representatives is made up of members of both parties. The structure is as follows:

Other leadership positions include:

All of these positions relate to political party power. For example, The Speaker of the House is usually a longtime member of the House who has moved up in stature and has great influence within the majority party.

Of these positions, the most important is undoubtedly the Speaker of the House, or as we will call him/her, "The Speaker."

Not only is he/she elected as the presiding officer of the House, he/she is also the acknowledged leader of his/her party.

The Speaker also presides over all sessions of the House of Representatives, or appoints a temporary presiding officer.

Aside from all of this, the Speaker interprets and applies rules, rules on points of order, and decides the outcome of most votes taken.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is also third in line in the Presidential Order of Succession!

In other words, The Speaker of the House of Representatives is a pretty powerful figure.

The other officers of the House are essentially political officers working for their respective parties.

The Majority Floor Leader and Minority Floor leader are actually the strategists for their parties.

The Majority and Minority Whips act in a "watchdog" fashion, making sure that party members are present to vote, and that they vote with the party.

This is generally a very powerful Representative who is elected by the other Representatives 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 House, with help from other Representatives, of course.

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 House of Representatives.

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 House of Representatives 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.

This is generally a well-known Representative who has great persuasive powers and will probably be the House Majority leader if their party wins a majority in the House elections.

This is the minority Representative who is in charge of "persuading" his fellow Representatives to vote in certain ways on proposed legislation. He/she would also be in line as a "higher-up" in the party, and is usually a very persuasive type of person as well.

The House conducts business using a committee system, much like that used in the Senate. Each of the standing committees has a specific area of business, and there are the usual Select Committees, Joint Committees, and Conference Committees which are assigned to topics within the Standing Committees.

The House of Representatives has one committee that the Senate does not.

It is called the House Rules Committee, and it acts as a screening committee for proposed legislation. Basically it "weeds out" the bills that will be presented to the Standing Committees.

The Chairmen of these committees hold a fair degree of power and should be considered as a part of the house leadership. They oversee committees made up of members of both parties, with the majority party holding more seats on each committee.

There are 22 Standing Committees at present in the House of representatives. Their titles are as follows :

1. Agriculture
2. Armed Services
3. Appropriations
4. Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs
5. Budget
6. District of Columbia
7. Education and Labor
8. Energy and Commerce
9. Foreign Affairs
10. Government Operations
11. House Administration
12. Judiciary
13. Foreign Affairs
14. Merchant Marine and Fisheries
15. Natural Resources
16. Post Office and Civil Service
17. Public Works and Transportation
18. Merchant Marine and Fisheries
19. Rules
20. Science, Space and Technology
21. Small Business
22. Standards of Official Conduct
23. Veterans Affairs
24. Ways and Means

Why so many committees?

The House requires all twenty-two committees for two reasons:

There are more members in the

House of Representatives (435) than the Senate (100).

To conduct business as efficiently as possible.

In addition to the powers given to Congress in

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, the House of Representatives also has some exclusive powers:

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.

The House of Representatives also has the power to select the President if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes. (270 out of 538).

The House of Representatives also has a lot of power when it comes to the system of checks and balances. They are the house that has the power to impeach, (impeach means to bring the charges against someone) a member of the Executive or Judicial branches.

PICTURE: usgovt

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, then they vote for impeachment. The Senate then acts as the court to determine guilt or innocence on the part of the accused.

The House of Representatives has much the same power as the Senate. Since our national legislature is bicameral, all legislation must pass both houses of Congress.

The influence of the House is indeed significant, even if it is called the "Lower" house of The United States Congress.