Essay. Congress of the USA

Everybody knows, that the Congress plays an important part in ruling country in the USA. Powers, procedure and the most crucial aspects of this body are expected to be discussed in the following essay.

In the time of establishing legislative body in the USA it was decided by the Framers, that the Congress would have an enumerated list of powers and would “legislate in all cases to which the separate states are incompetent, or in which the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the exercise of individual legislation”. It has been made to bind the states together and keep balance between interests of the country and states.

The major powers of the Congress are: 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, and the like. As it has developed, the most important of the powers granted is the one empowering Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

The Framers also had to reach compromises in some difficult questions to preserve the country. These were: Compromise on Representation (a dual system of representation in a bicameral Congress was agreed, the House of Representatives, would have proportional representation based on population, while the other house, the Senate, would have equal representation from each state), Compromise on Slavery ( despite viewing slaves as property, southern delegates insisted that they would be counted the same as citizens in determining the number of representatives in Congress, a compromise was reached to count slaves as three-fifths of a free person),Supremacy of Federal Law ( all Treaties made under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land), "Power of the Purse"(the sole power to decide whether and to what extent to tax and fund governmental programs must be lodged in Congress, and the main principle- "no taxation without representation").

Also the question of composition and qualifications of the body was important. The Congress by the United States Constitution consists of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The Senateis composed of 100 Members - two from each state, regardless of population or area, elected by the people. 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.

The House of Representativesis composed of 435 Members elected every two years from among the 50 states ( minimum 1 Representative from a state), 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.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have equal legislative functions and powers with certain exceptions.

The chief function of Congress is the making of laws. In addition, the Senate has the function of advising to treaties and to certain nominations by the President. In the matter of impeachments, the House of Representatives presents the charges and the Senate sits as a court to try the impeachment.

The Congress also plays a role in presidential elections. Both Houses meet after presidential election to count the electoral votes. If no candidate receives a majority of the total electoral votes, the House of Representatives, each state delegation having one vote, chooses the President from among the three candidates having the largest number of electoral votes. The Senate chooses the Vice President by the similar procedure.

As making laws is the main function of the Congress, we should describe the process of creating laws.

Sources of ideas for legislation are unlimited. Ideas and drafts can be presented by a Member of Congress, citizen groups (they may write a petition to the Member), a member of the President's Cabinet, or by the President himself. The President is also obligated to report to the Congress the "State of the Union" and to recommend such measures as the President considers necessary. These measures must be realized by the Congress in the laws. Most of the bills are drafted by the legislative counsels.

The procedure of creating laws is quite difficult and different in the chambers. In the House of Representatives the Member introducing the bill is known as theprimary sponsor. An unlimited number of Members may cosponsor a bill. Only a small percentage of bills become law.

After the bill was represented it is given to the appropriate committee or committees. The most important phase of the legislative process is the action by committees. As legislating has become more complex, there has been need for professional assistance of these bodyes. The original purpose of committees and Congressional agencies is to deal with the increased complexity and specialized nature of legislation in the modern world. The primary product of many such committee is investigations in publicity, which can form policy.

Membership on the various committees is divided between the two major political parties. Membership on a standing committee is contingent on continuing membership in the party caucus that nominated a Member for election to the committee. If a Member ceases to be a Member of the party caucus, a Member automatically ceases to be a member of the standing committee. A Member usually seeks election to the committee that has jurisdiction over a field in which the Member is most qualified and interested.

Each committee is provided with a professional staff to assist it in the administrative details involved in the consideration of bills and its oversight responsibilities. Two-thirds of the committee staff are selected by a majority vote of the majority committee members and one-third of the committee staff are selected by a majority vote of minority committee members.

The rules of procedure in the Senate differ to a large extent from those in the House. The Senate relies heavily on the practice of obtaining unanimous consent for actions to be taken. If the bill is of a non-controversial nature, the Senate may pass the bill with little or no debate and with only a brief explanation of its purpose and effect. A simple majority vote is necessary to carry an amendment as well as to pass the bill. If there is any objection, the bill is placed on the calendar. A unanimous consent agreement, sometimes referred to as a "time agreement", makes the consideration of a measure in order to limit the amount of debate that will take place on the measure and lists of the amendments that will be considered.

In the Senate, there is a term "legislative day" means the period of time from when the Senate adjourns until the next time the Senate adjourns. The legislative day usually does not correspond to the 24-hour period comprising a calendar day, a legislative day may cover a long period of time from days to weeks, or even months.

On any day any Senator obtaining recognition may move to take up any bill out of its regular order on the calendar. Once a Senator is recognized by the Presiding Officer, the Senator may speak for as long as the Senator wishes and loses the floor only when the Senator yields it or takes certain parliamentary actions that forfeit the Senator's right to the floor. Debate ends when a Senator yields the floor and no other Senator seeks recognition, or when a unanimous consent agreement limiting the time of debate is operating.

After final action on the amendments in committees the bill is ready for engrossment and the third reading, which is by title only. A simple majority is necessary for passage.

Discussing the Congress of the USA we must also describe the party organization. Legislators run for office as Democrats or Republicans and organize themselves according to these labels. In each house of Congress, and in each house of most state legislatures, each party has a caucus. The caucuses also establish committees to aid in the performance of their functions. National and state parties are dominated by presidential and gubernatorial politics. Power for these parties is achieved through successful executive elections. Power, for legislative caucuses comes from having as large a membership as possible.

The legislative party system serves two functions; legislative governance and legislative consensus. As an institution of governance, the party system determines legislative, committee, and subcommittee leadership. As a consensus builder, the caucus provides for a unified front to the opposite party on the floor of the chamber.

The mechanism of two-party system helps to keep balance between different forces in the Congress and to represent interests of ordinary people.

To sum up, the role of the Congress of the USA is crucial. It has a lot of functions, which provide policy of the country during centuries and help to bind the states together.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 588