The Powers of Congress

The Congress of the USA

Governmental power and functions in the United States rest in three branches of government: the legislative, judicial, and executive. Article I of the Constitution defines the legislative branch and vests наделяет power to legislate in the Congress of the United States.

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

Division

This two house system is known as a bicameral 2х-палатн legislature законодат власть.

Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election. There are 535 voting Members of Congress, of which, the House of Representatives has a membership of 435 and the Senate has a membership 100.

TheSenate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature. Each state is represented by two senators, regardless of population.

Senators are chosen for six years. Every two years, approximately one-third of the Senate is elected at a time. The presiding officer председатель of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States.

Each of the 435 members of the House of Representatives represents a district and serves a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population. Each state is guaranteed at least one seat. Members, elected for two-year terms, must be 25 years old, a citizen for at least seven years, and a resident of the state from which they are elected

The House has special jobs that only it can perform. Only it can:

· Initiate bills imposing taxes.

· Decide if a government official служащий should be put on trial before the Senate if s/he commits a crime against the country.

The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process (legislation cannot be enacted without the consent согласие of both chambers); however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers.

The Senate is empowered to ratify treaties and to approve одобрять top presidential appointments назначения. Revenue-raising bills must originate in the House of Representatives, which also has the only power of impeachment, while the Senate has the only power to try impeachment cases.

The Senate is more deliberative совещательн and more prestigious body than the House of Representatives, due to its longer terms and smaller size. The Senate is sometimes called the "world's greatest deliberative body."

The chamber of the United States Congress is located in the Capitol, Washington.

The Powers of Congress

The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate обсужд, and pass bills, which are then sent to the president for his signature.

The Constitution grants Congress "all legislative powers" in the national government. Congress also controls federal taxing and spending policies - one of the most important sources of power in the government. Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution lists a wide range of congressional powers, including:

· Coining money.

· Maintaining содерж a military.

· Declaring war on other countries.

· Regulating interstate and foreign commerce торговля

· Supervising надзор the executive and judicial branches

. The Constitution also grants Congress exclusively исключит the power to appropriate назнач funds. Other powers granted to Congress include the authority to borrow money on the credit of the United States.

The Congress also has the power to establish post offices, issue patents and copyrights, fix standards of weights and measures, establish courts inferior младше to the Supreme Court.

History

The First Continental Congress was a meeting of Representatives from twelve of the thirteen British Colonies. In 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, referring to the new nation. The Articles of Confederation in 1781 created a one-chamber body with equal representation among the states in which each state had a veto over most decisions. With no executive or judiciary, and minimal authority, this government was weak and lacked authority to collect taxes, regulate commerce, or enforce laws.

Government powerlessness led to the Convention of 1787 which proposed a constitution with a two–chamber or bicameral congress. The ratified constitution created a federal structure with two power centers so that each citizen as an individual was subjected to both the power of state government and the national government. To protect against abuse of power, each branch of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—had a separate sphere of authority and could check other branches.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 800