Brief explanation of the United States Congress

Today let’s talk about the United States Congress. As we all know Congress is made up of the Senate and the US House of Representatives. They are the legislative branch of our government. What are the duties of Congress? Congress’ primary duty is to write, debate, and pass laws. After they pass these laws they are then sent onto the office of the President of the United States for his approval and final signature. Sounds like it should be an easy process right? Well it doesn’t always work out that way because like so many other children, some of our elected officials don’t play well with others.

They are voted into office not for their own benefit but for the benefit of the American people. They are there to represent us as a voice of the people and the states. Congress can hold hearings to inform the legislative process and conducts investigations to oversee the executive branch.

Our Constitution gave Congress the power to determine the size of the House of Representatives as well as dividing the representation according to the state’s population. The more heavily populated states have more representatives then the smaller states. Every state is to be represented no matter how small. In other words every state will have at least one representative.

With the population in this country the way it is today this means there will be one representative for every several hundred thousand people. Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming have only one representative. The state with the most representatives is California.

You may be thinking how they go about figuring this out. As required by the Constitution under Article 1, Section 2, a census is taken every ten years to see if a state’s population has increased in size which would then give a state more or less representatives in the Congress depending on the new size of the population of said state. I know we all hate to take the census but as you can see it is the only way for the government to know how many people are in the state and the only way to get the correct number of people to represent your state.

There are currently 435 Representatives in the House with full voting rights, who will serve a term of no less than 2 years. There are 5 delegates representing the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. We also have a resident commissioner of Puerto Rico.

So what is a Delegate? Delegates have served in the House of Representatives since the office of the Delegate was established by the Continental Congress through what is knowns as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This order was a bit sketchy to begin with since it didn’t so much as outline the duties of the position or which Chamber of Congress the Delegates should belong to. As usual there was a debate between the Senate and the House in which it was eventually decided all Delegates should serve the House of Representatives. Like members of the House of Representatives Delegates are elected every two years and they represent incorporated territories I have listed above.

What is a Resident Commissioner? This position was not created until 1900 by Congress but only after securing Puerto Rico and the Philippines as territories. Resident Commissioners are also a part of the House of Representatives as they represent unincorporated territories. At this time the only unincorporated territory we have is Puerto Rico. Resident Commissioners are elected to serve a 4 year term.

There are differences from being a House of Representative Member, a Delegate, or a Resident Commissioner. Delegates and Resident Commissioners do not vote on the House floor. They are able to introduce bills and make amendments to them on the House floor since it will benefit their constituents, plus they can vote on them in Committees but not on the final passage of legislation. The reason for this is stated in Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution where it defines what a Member of the House of Representative is: “shall be…chosen every second Year by the People of the several States.” Since Delegates and the Resident Commissioner do not represent States of the Union they do not have the power to pass or reject legislation.

The House of Representatives have responsibilities only they can perform which are initiating bills imposing taxes and decide if a government official should be on trial before the Senate if they commit a crime against the country.

Of course they can be re-elected again and again since there is no term limits at this time. Currently we have a member serving in the House since 1965, Representative John Conyers, democrat of MI. I mean really folks this was not meant to be a life time position. It’s too bad when they set a term limit on office of President of the United States no one thought it was necessary to set one for Congress.

The requirements to be a member of the House of Representatives is stated in Our Constitution. In order to be a Representative you must be at least 25 years old, a United States citizen for at least 7 years, and you must live in the state in which you will be representing.

Next part of our Legislative Branch is of course the Senate. Regardless of the size of the state each state gets to elect 2 members to Senate. This gives the Senate equal representation from each state. The way the election is set up each Senator holds his office for a term of 6 years. Of course it wouldn’t be smart to have both Senators leaving or coming into office the same time because then it could cause confusion and issues with getting things done for your state so the election is staggered. 

Meaning only one Senate seat is opened every 6 years. Of course we can all do the math and figure out that at any given time there are 100 Senators serving in Congress today since we have 50 States in the Union.

Because of the way the elections are set up this would mean that every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. So that means we then have a chance to make changes or not. Most people tend to keep voting for the same person again and again not because they know their voting record but because they figure let’s not mess with what’s working. But it’s not working folks just look at the shape this country is in today.

The requirements to be a Senator are in accordance with Article 1, Section 3, clause 3 of the Constitution which states “no person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years and been 9 years a citizen of the United States, and who shall, when elected be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.” Remember when Hillary Clinton decided she wanted to run for Senator of New York, she moved there, became a resident, and ran for Senate.

Just like the members of the House of Representatives our Senators can be voted in again and again since there are no term limits. In case you are not aware of this we have a member of the Senate who has been in office since 1975, Patrick Leahy, and Democrat from Vermont along with other members who have been holding office since the late 1970’s. Again way too long in office. If we really want changes then we are the ones who have to make the changes and stop electing again and again the same people. It’s time to make a change and start making demands as an American citizen for the betterment of this country.

Being separate from the House of Representatives the Senate has certain responsibilities the House does not have. Some of their responsibilities include agreeing to treaties and confirming federal officials such as Supreme Court Justices. Right now they are making a decision on the next Supreme Court Justice who will serve the highest court in our land. The person they are trying to make a decision on is Justice Neil Gorsuch. Funny thing about this is they aren’t doing it the way it was meant to be done. They can’t be because we are hearing Democrats ask for their fellow Democrat Senators to vote against Justice Neil Gorsuch even though so many around the country have said he is the best choice for this position in the nation, once again playing politics. They are pitting Republicans against Democrats and playing checkers to see who comes out the winner when they are supposed to be deciding what is best for the nation not their party. We will see just how well this Senate works for the betterment of this nation when all is said and done.

So the House of Representatives and the Senate makes up Congress. Our Constitution grants Congress “all legislative powers” in the national government. This is under Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution which gives Congress control on federal taxing and spending policies, coining money, maintaining military, declaring war on other countries, and regulating interstate and foreign commerce.

So this is a brief description of Congress and some of its responsibilities. There are more but I leave it up to you to finish some research on your own and educate yourself. Of course any member of Congress can introduce a bill but before a bill can become law it must pass both houses of Congress with no changes to the bill.

A bill is introduced in either house and is assigned to a committee in order for the bill to be reviewed. If the committee decides nah this bill isn’t ready yet then it is set aside. If the committee decides the bill is worthy then it is sent to the entire house for debate. If the bill passes it is then sent to the other house where a joint committee works out any differences the two houses have concerning the bill. Once both houses agree on the bill then and only then will the Speaker of the House and the vice president sign it. In order for a bill to get to the President’s office it must be approved by both houses and signed by the Speaker of the House and the Vice President.

Our Constitution gave us a check and balance system but one thing it did not do was put term limits on those who serve in the House and Senate. If we can have term limits on the office of President then we should have them on all branches of our government because as you can see with just this brief explanation of our Congress, they have the power to make changes and improvements or to do damage in the name of their party under the pretense of helping the American people. When people hold an office too long they become too familiar with the system, too comfortable and forget they are there for the American people not for the betterment of the government or their pockets.

I beg each and every one of you to take a look at your Congressmen or Congresswomen and see how long they are in office. Next check their voting history, find out where they stand on the issues that are important to you and the good of this country. If they are not holding up to your standards put the pressure on them. Call their office and let them know what you think of their service but most importantly when it comes time to vote, then if you feel it necessary, vote for a change. Get out there and help the candidate you feel is there for the betterment of this country instead of the same old, same old. The American people have the power to make the changes in their hands every election day. Don’t take your right to vote for granted. Get out there and vote, let your voices be heard.

May God Bless America and guide our leaders towards a better tomorrow.