The United States Of America

The Constitution And Democracy

Congress of the United States
Congress of the United States, kong'gr[sch ]s, the legislative branch of the national government. It consists of two houses, a Senate having 100 members (2 from each state) and a House of Representatives having 435 members. The members of the House represent districts that within each state, by requirement of the Supreme Court, must be nearly equal in population.

The Congress was created by Article I, section 1, of the U.S. Constitution (adopted 1787, effective 1789), which enumerates the powers invested in Congress, including the powers to assess and collect taxes, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, coin money, establish post offices, declare war, and maintain the armed forces. Each chamber also has special powers. For example, the Senate must ratify treaties, and the House initiates all revenue bills. 

Congress itself determines the size of the House (the Senate customarily respecting the House's wishes in this matter), and although the House has grown with the admission of new states to the Union and with population increases, an upper limit of 435 has been maintained since 1913 except for a temporary suspension to accommodate the admission of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.

Qualifications and Elections 
Representatives must be at least 25 years old, must be residents of their states (and also, by custom, of the districts they represent), and must have been citizens of the United States for 7 years. They are elected by popular vote for 2-year terms from districts established by the legislatures of their states. Senators must be 30 years old, residents of their states, and citizens of 9 years' standing. Senators are also elected by popular vote; before the adoption of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, they were chosen by their state legislatures or according to provisions laid down by their legislatures. Senate terms are for six years, one third of the terms expiring every two years. Elections for both houses are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years or on special dates set by state laws to fill seats that become vacant between terms. Political Parties emerged during the First Congress, and members of both houses have customarily been nominated by parties. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, nominees were selected in conventions; now, with few exceptions, they are chosen by popular primary elections.

Sessions 
Under terms of the 20th Amendment, adopted in 1933, both houses meet at noon on the 3d day of January after the November elections (unless Congress fixes a different date) to organize for the forthcoming 2-year period. One session is held each year, extending continuously from January until adjournment. In recent years the length of sessions has increased, until now Congress usually remains in session until fall. Each biennium is designated a Congress, the First Congress meeting in 1789 and 1790, and the 100th in 1987 and 1988. The Constitution permits neither house to adjourn for more than three days without the concurrence of the other. Once a session or a Congress adjourns sine die (indefinitely), it meets again only if the president calls a special session of one or both houses.

Officials and Leaders 
The Constitution provides that the House shall elect a speaker to preside over it; legally he need not be, but by custom he always is, a member. The speaker is the leader of the party having the greater membership in the House, and he commonly attains leadership only after many uninterrupted terms of service. Except, of course, for the first speaker, Frederick Muhlenberg, only Henry Clay in 1811 and William Pennington in 1859 were elected to the speakership in their first terms.

The Constitution designates the Vice President  of the United States as president of the Senate; it permits him to vote only when senators' votes are equally divided. In recent years vice presidents have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions or at meetings of special importance. A president pro tempore, by tradition the senator having the longest continuous service in the majority party, presides or, more typically, rotates the role of presiding officer among new senators of both parties.

In both House and Senate the party with larger membership takes major responsibility for managing formal leadership positions. Usually the same party commands a majority in both houses, and that party, more often than not, occupies the presidency also. The participation of parties is wholly traditional and extralegal; parties are not mentioned in either the Constitution or the rules of either house. Party caucuses in each house elect majority and minority leaders and their deputies, the party whips. The speaker and the leaders enjoy certain emoluments, notably large offices and chauffeured automobiles.

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