Essay On Bicameral Congress

The Power and Significance of Congress Firstly it is important to look at the power and significance of congress as a legislative body. This includes the creation of law, and the scrutiny of the executive. Because the US federal system is ruled by 'separation of powers', it is important that the legislative - congress - acts as a good check and restraint on the executive - the president.

Most individuals with a general background knowledge of the United States Federal Government system are aware that in order for a bill to become a law, it must first pass a majority vote in Congress. There is, however, a very important step in the legislative process that sometimes goes unnoticed. The committee system of the legislation process ensures that the appropriate attention is given to each bill introduced to Congress. Each member of both chambers are assigned to committees and subcommittees, and are expected to become subject matter experts in their respective roles as committee members.

The legislative branch is the most powerful branch in government. The legislative branch is in charge of making and passing laws. They have the power to override a president’s decision, stop laws from being passed, and basically control all decisions the governments makes. The legislative branch, also called the congress, consists of the House of Representatives and the senate. The reason for two houses of congress is to balance out the concerns of smaller but more populated states against states that are larger but with less population (www.Usgovinfo.com).

Article I Section Eight of the U.S. Constitution provides that the Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the Debts and provide

The main difference between the House and the Senate is that the house puts all responsibility on the national government while the Senate positions the responsibility onto the states when it comes to creating their health insurance exchanges. It seems as though that if a state fails to do it they are then under the hand of the House and not the Senate. While both bills are aiming towards a similar result they go about it in different ways. Exclusivity of the health insurance exchange is one way they differ. , The Senate wants non-group health insurance to be sold outside of the exchange where it will be less regulated. The House calls for all non-group health insurance coverage to be sold through the health insurance exchange.

Members of Congress are voted to office by their electorate as their representatives at the congress level of democracy. In their capacity, they may decide to exercise their powers by the will of the people or according to their personal judgment. When the members of Congress opt to be the people’s delegate, their actions in the House and other congressional engagements are a reflection of the will of their district. As such, the delegate representative does not have or exercise the autonomy to represent and decide for their district. Instead, a strenuous consultation process is required to keep the people in control of all relevant decisions.

“When it came to levying taxes the Articles stated Congress could request states to pay taxes. The Constitution states Congress has the right to levy taxes on individuals” (Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources" http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998). “A federal court the Articles

Our Legislative Branch has two chambers or as some will call it bicameral. The chambers consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives just like the National Legislative Branch. In our Senate we currently have a total of 31

In addition, the federal government should fulfill its obligation in return of citizen’s taxation. Article. I. Section. 8 specifically enumerates the power belonged to the congress, which refers to the federal

The anti-federalists did not feel that federal authority to tax should be authorized because that power would be abused. The anti-federalists also discussed in article 12 about congress being able to tax under the constitution. Alexander Hamilton answers the idea of possible abuse of taxation power by saying in Federalist Paper 30, “If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify.” Hamilton is saying that the government should be held to a higher standard for taxes, and that if there is abuse of power that they would be held accountable for

The president is the foreign policy leader for the United States with an important political, military and economic role in the international arena. If there is collision between the president and congress, can congress restrain the president in foreign policy making?

These 435 seats are divided among the states every ten years. Representatives serve for two years at a time, and every second November there is a new election where they are chosen by the people in a direct election. (1) The House is required to choose a Speaker for itself who is in charge over the proceedings of the House and is the highest position in the House leadership. Other leadership positions are the Majority and Minority Leaders, and the Majority and Minority Whips. The Minority Leader would generally be the Speaker if his party were the majority.(1) The whips act as a median between the leadership and the other House members. The Senate is the Upper House and its members are called Senators. The qualifications for Senators are similar to those of house representatives, he or she must be 30 years old or older, must have been a U.S. citizen for nine years, and must live in the state they plan to represent.There is again no restriction of sex, race, class, social standing, or any other classification, for both a Senator or House representative . Each state has two Senators, no matter what the size of the state happens to be. A Senators term lasts six years and like the other house members every second November there is a new election. The Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate but he is a non-voting member unless a vote of the Senate ends in a tie which causes him to cast the deciding vote. If the Vice President is not available

As stated above in Article VIII, these funds “shall be supplied by the various States in part to the value of every land in each State.” Only the states and not congress had the power to impose taxes and raise revenues. As such, congress had to request to obtain funds from the states. As a result, during the years serving under the Article of Confederation, Congress faced significant revenue deficit; Congress had limited ways to govern the nation such as, enforcing laws, raising revenue and regulating the

During the Constitutional Convention, there were two primary options for the structure of the national legislature. First was the Virginia Plan which called for a stronger national union organized into three governmental branches – the legislative, executive, and judicial. This plan consisted of two houses in the legislature. The lower house created representation according to the population of each state and people would directly vote for this House. The lower house would elect representatives in the upper house. Second was the New Jersey Plan which proposed to amend, not replace, the Old Articles of Confederation. It enhanced the power of the national government, but it did so in a way that left the states’ representation

Congress has many functions to keep it working and functioning. They do many things to make laws, make sure they’re fair, and much more. There are also many committees with important jobs. There are many things that influence congressional elections such as reapportionment, redistricting, much more. There are many people who make up the House and Senate and they have many important jobs to keep things running smoothly.