US Congressional study

Essay by Bradley M. WebbCollege, UndergraduateA+, October 1996

download word file, 3 pages 3.3

Congress is the largest governing body in the federal government. Congress makes up the legislative branch, along with the executive and judicial branches. Opinions differ, but some say that Congress is the most powerful of the three. The Congress is defined by Article One of the Constitution. Briefly, this article creates the Congress, and gives them the power to, among other things, levy and set tax rates, create and run government corporations, such as the Post Office. The Congress also has the power to create the nations courts, support the armed forces and mmaintain a state militia. Article one of the Constitution alos gives Congress the power to do anything necessary and proper to do all of the above and conduct national affairs.

Congress is divided into two sections, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. These sections are composed of elected officials from each of the fifty states.

In the House of Representatives, the states are represented in proportion to the population of the individual state. In the Senate, the states have two representatives each. Currently, the House of Representatives has 435 members, and the Senate has, of course, 100 members. In the House, there is no upper cap limit on the number of members that can be elected, but the limiting factor is simply room to fit them in. House members serve a term of two years each, so that means they are always up for re-election. Senate members serve a term of six years, and there is no limit on the number of terms a senate member can serve.

There are approximatly twenty-five thousand people employed in Congressional service. In addition to the five-hundred and thirty-five congressional members, there are about seven thousand personal aides, where the average representative has sixteen aides, and the average senator...