The Congress of the US. Supreme legislative body.

Congress meets in Washington DCconsists of 2 chambers: the Senate&the House of Representatives. The composition of C reflects the historical background of the Constitution. All states are representated equally in the Senate. 2 senators from each state independent of their territory and population, thus 100 members, each elected for a term of 6 years. The elections are held every 2 years and 1/3 of the S is elected. A Senator must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the USA for at least 10 years. The S is presided over by Vice President. He doesn’t vote but does cast a desiding vote in the case of a tie. The S is the only body to try all impeachments– accusations of a public officer for treason or misconduct during the term of office.

The House of Representatives has 435 members+3 for Washington DC who are elected every 2 years. They must be at least 25 years old, citizens of the US for at least 7 years. Repressentation is based on population. The country is divided into congressional districts with equal population in each. Each state, no matter how small its population is, has at least 1 representative. In the USA there are on the whole 538 Congressmen (100+435+3). The presiding person of the HR is the speaker.

The work of both houses is largely done in committees. There are 16 permanent committees in the Senate and 20 in the H of Repr. The main function of the committee is to inquire into each bill and to recommend whether the bill should be accepted or not, or to recommend changes to it. Legislation can originate in either the S or the H of Repr., but before any bill is sent to the President for signature, it must be passed by both houses. Besides the main power of Congress of passing laws, there are some more powers: approve state budget, set federal taxes, approve presidential appointments, overrule presidential vetos, declare war, impeach the president.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1882