United States Congress House of Representatives Last Election

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Us Congress

Blazon	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
President of the Senate	Dick Cheney, R, since Jan 20, 2001
Speaker of the House	Dennis Hastert, R, since January 6, 1999
Members	535
Political groups (as of January 4, 2005 elections)	Democratic Party Republican Party
Meeting identify	United States Capitol

The U.s.a. Congress is the legislature of the Us federal government. Information technology is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members (plus non-voting delegates from American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands), each representing a congressional district and serving a two-year term. The Northern Mariana Islands are not represented. House seats are apportioned amongst the states on the basis of population. Each country has ii Senators, regardless of population. There are 100 senators, serving staggered six-yr terms. Both Senators and Representatives are chosen through direct election.

The United States Constitution vests all legislative powers of the federal authorities in the Congress. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to usa and the people. Through Acts of Congress, Congress may regulate interstate and strange commerce, levy taxes, organize the federal courts, maintain the armed services, declare war, and exercise certain other " necessary and proper" powers.

The Business firm and Senate are coequal houses. Yet, there are some special powers granted to one sleeping room but. The Senate'south communication and consent is required to confirm presidential nominations to high-level executive and judicial positions, and for the ratification of treaties. Bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives, too as any impeachment proceedings.

Congress meets in the U.Southward. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The term, "Congress" may as well refer to a detail meeting of the Congress, reckoned according to the terms of Representatives. Thus, as of 2006, the 109th Congress is in session.

The United States

Capitol building

History

The Congress of the United States has its roots from the First Continental Congress, a meeting of representatives of twelve of Cracking U.k.'s xviii North American colonies, in the fall of 1774. On 4 July 1776, the Second Continental Congress declared thirteen onetime colonies contained states, referring to them as the "United states." Nether the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a unicameral torso in which each state was every bit represented, and in which each state had a veto over virtually action. The ineffectiveness of the federal government under the Articles led Congress to summon the Convention of 1787. Originally intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, it ended up writing a completely new constitution.

James Madison called for a bicameral Congress: the lower house elected directly by the people, and the upper house elected by the lower house. The smaller states, however, favored a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. Eventually, a compromise was reached; the House of Representatives to provide representation proportional by population, whereas the Senate would provide equal representation past states. In club to preserve further the authority of the states, it was provided that country legislatures, rather than the people, would elect senators.

The post Civil State of war Gilded Historic period was marked by Republican dominance of Congress. Senate elections were tainted by corruption, bribery and gridlock preventing the election of a senator. These issues were addressed by the Seventeenth Subpoena (ratified in 1913), which provided for the direct election of senators.

The early twentieth century witnessed the rise of party leadership in both houses of Congress. In the House of Representatives, the part of Speaker became extremely powerful. Leaders in the Senate were somewhat less powerful; private senators still retained much of their influence. In particular, commission chairmen remained particularly strong in both houses until the reforms of the 1970s.

During the long administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–45), the Autonomous Party controlled both houses of Congress. Both the Republicans and the Democrats were in control at various points during the next decade. However, after winning the elections of 1954, the Democratic Party was the bulk party in both houses of Congress for about of the adjacent forty years. The Republicans returned to a majority position, in both houses of Congress, in the ballot of 1994. The Republicans controlled both houses until 2006 except from 2001 to 2003 when the Democrats held the Senate. In 2006, the Democratic Party regained control of the House of Representatives, and the results of the Senate elections yielded a Senate makeup of 49 Republicans, 49 Democrats, and 2 independents. It is noted that in the 110th Congress, the Democratic voting bloc will take a 51-49 Senate majority because the ii Senators who ran and were elected as Independents, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernard Sanders of Vermont, have pledged to align themselves with the Autonomous Political party.

Composition

Congress in Joint Session.

The House of Representatives consists of 435 members representing the l states. Seats are apportioned among the states on the ground of population, merely every state, regardless of size, is guaranteed at to the lowest degree one seat. Representatives are direct elected past single-member constituencies known equally congressional districts. Each land may describe the boundaries of its districts, discipline to sure legal requirements; for instance, districts must have approximately equal populations. Representatives serve for two-twelvemonth terms.

The Senate consists of 100 members, two representing each land regardless of population. A senator is elected not by a commune, merely by a state as a whole. Senators serve for terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the Senate seats are up for ballot every two years and so that both seats from a given state are never contested in the same general election (except for the first election of Senators upon access of a new country, or when a senator leaves role before their term expires). The Commune of Columbia and the territories are not represented in the Senate in any style.

The Constitution makes no provision for representation in Congress for citizens of the Commune of Columbia or the territories. Attempts to change the situation, regarding lack of District of Columbia voting rights, including the proposed District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, have been unsuccessful. Currently, the District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are represented by a single delegate each, while Puerto Rico elects a Resident Commissioner. Delegates and Resident Commissioners may participate in debates and vote in committees, just may not vote on the floor of the full House. Delegates serve for two-twelvemonth terms; the Resident Commissioner serves for a 4-yr term.

Generally, the Republican and Democratic parties cull their candidates in main elections. Ballot admission rules for contained and third political party candidates vary from state to state. General elections are held every even-numbered yr, on the Tuesday that follows the first Monday in November ( Ballot Day). Special elections are held whenever vacancies arise; in the case of the Senate, notwithstanding, the Governor of a state normally holds the ability to temporarily engage a senator until a special election can be held. In about all cases, full general and special elections are conducted by the plurality voting system. Louisiana, however, uses runoff voting for congressional elections.

Officers

The Constitution authorizes the House of Representatives to elect its own Speaker. The Speaker'south powers equally presiding officer are extensive; he or she controls the course of fence and enforces the rules of the Firm. Normally, the Speaker does not personally preside over debates; instead, the job is delegated to other members. The Speaker is besides the head of his/her party (which has always been the majority party) in the Business firm, outranking the Majority Leader (or the Minority Leader if a member of the minority political party, but this has never been the instance).

The Vice President of the United States is ex officio the President of the Senate; he or she has no vote except in the case of a tie. The Senate also elects a President pro tempore, or "temporary President", to preside when the Vice President is absent. The President pro tempore, by custom, is the most senior senator of the bulk political party. Neither the Vice President nor the President pro tempore regularly presides; instead, the duty is performed by other senators. The powers of the President pro tempore are much less all-encompassing than those of the Speaker. He or she does not head the majority political party in the Senate; rather, the Bulk Leader is the full caput of the Senate majority party.

Women, indigenous and racial minorities

Women

While the Constitution has never explicitly excluded persons from membership in Congress on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sexual activity; country rules on suffrage take varied. A person ineligible to vote is rarely considered eligible for public office. Today, 85% of Congress is male and fifteen% is female. As of 2006, the Us ranks 67th in the globe in the number of women to concur seats in the national legislature. This puts the US merely above Bangladesh and merely below Greatcoat Verde.

Indigenous and racial minorities

African Americans served briefly as congressmen during the Reconstruction (mail-Ceremonious War) era. The ratification and enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments expanded the franchise to include former slaves and prohibited old members of the Confederate States of America from holding part as a congressmen.

Political gains past African Americans were gradually reversed after Reconstruction ended and Southern states began disenfranchising blacks through the passage of the Jim Crow laws. The gains of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s led to the reenfranchisment of African American voters and the ballot of African Americans to serve in elected offices in Congress.

Today the Senate has one African American and the Business firm is roughly 9.2% African American. There are four Asians and Pacific Islanders in the House and two in the Senate. Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma's fourth Congressional District, is the only registered American Indian currently in the House.

Restrictions on part holding

Article I, Section half dozen, Clause 2 of the U.Southward. Constitution prohibits members of Congress from also belongings a federal ceremonious part, thus differentiating the U.S. from parliamentary systems where cabinet members are unremarkably, merely not explicitly, drawn from and continue to sit down in the legislature. The same section also prohibits members from being appointed to offices which were created or contradistinct during the time for which they were elected.

The Constitution does not prohibit Representatives or Senators from simultaneously holding a state mail service. During the eighteenth century, some members of Congress did also serve equally state legislators and other state officials. Such cross-federal dual office holding is at present prohibited by land constitutions or statutes, or by full general custom. It also does not explicitly prohibit a item person from serving in both the House and Senate at the same fourth dimension or, for that matter, from simultaneously holding 2 or more seats in the Firm of Representatives. However, no person has ever washed so; a member belongings a seat in ane house has always resigned that seat earlier being seated in the other house.

Powers

Department 8 of Commodity One of the Us Constitution sets forth the powers of Congress. The most important powers are the powers to levy and collect taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce with foreign nations and among u.s., money money, establish post offices and mail service roads, event patents and copyrights, ready standards of weights and measures, constitute courts junior to the Supreme Court, enhance and maintain the armed forces, declare state of war, and "make all laws which shall exist necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers".

There are boosted powers other parts of the Constitution grant. For example, Congress has the power to admit new states to the Union ( Commodity 4). Other powers take been granted, or confirmed, by constitutional amendments.

Congress has the power to break deadlocks in the electoral higher. If no presidential candidate achieves an electoral bulk, the House may elect the President from the three candidates with the highest numbers of balloter votes. Similarly, if no vice presidential candidate achieves an balloter majority, the Senate may elect the Vice President from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. Several of the members of the Constitutional Convention expected that, while George Washington would be overwhelmingly elected as first President nether the Constitution, selection past the House would be the normal method afterwards him.

The "necessary-and-proper" clause of the Constitution permits Congress to brand "all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution" its other powers and the rest of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has interpreted the necessary-and-proper clause broadly, which has permitted the Congress wide potency.

Ane of the foremost non-legislative functions of the Congress is the power to investigate and to oversee the executive branch. This ability is usually delegated to committees—standing committees, special committees, select committees, or articulation committees equanimous of members of both houses. Investigations are conducted to gather information on the need for hereafter legislation, to test the effectiveness of laws already passed, and to inquire into the qualifications and performance of members and officials of the other branches. Committees may hold hearings, and, if necessary, compel individuals to testify by issuing subpoenas. Witnesses who pass up to testify may exist cited for contempt of Congress, and those who prove falsely may be charged with perjury. Well-nigh committee hearings are open to the public; important hearings are widely reported in the mass media.

Commodity I, Section ix of the U.Southward. Constitution places certain limits of congressional authority. For instance, Congress may not suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus (except in farthermost cases of rebellion or invasion), pass bills of attainder or ex post facto laws, or grant titles of nobility. Several other restrictions are specified by constitutional amendments, especially the Neb of Rights. The terminal clause of the Bill of Rights, the Tenth Subpoena, provides that "The powers not delegated to the The states past the Constitution, nor prohibited past information technology to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Checks and balances

The constitution provides sure checks and balances among the three branches of the federal authorities. The influence of Congress on the presidency has varied from one period to another; it depends largely on the leadership and the political influence of the President. The authors of the Constitution expected the greater power to prevarication with Congress and that is one reason they are described in Article Ane. Nether the get-go one-half-dozen Presidents, power seems to have been evenly divided between the President and Congress, in function because early Presidents largely restricted their vetoes to claims of unconstitutionality.

Andrew Jackson (1829–37) dominated his Congresses; his successors were weaker men (excluding Abraham Lincoln (1861–65), and perhaps James K. Polk (1845–49) and Martin van Buren (1837–41)). Senators ruled, including Henry Dirt, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Thomas Hart Benton, Stephen Douglas, and Thaddeus Stevens. The impeachment of Andrew Johnson completed this tendency, making the presidency much less powerful than Congress. During the tardily nineteenth century, President Grover Cleveland aggressively attempted to restore the executive co-operative's ability, vetoing over 4 hundred bills during his first term. The twentieth and twenty-starting time centuries take seen the ascent of the power of the Presidency under Theodore Roosevelt (1901–09), Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–45), Richard Nixon (1969–74), Ronald Reagan (1981–89), and George W. Bush (2001–) (run across Regal Presidency). In recent years, Congress has restricted the powers of the President with laws such as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Deed of 1974 and the War Powers Resolution; nevertheless, the Presidency remains considerably more than powerful than during the nineteenth century.

The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials (both executive and judicial) for "Treason, Bribery, or other loftier Crimes and Misdemeanors." The Senate is constitutionally empowered to try all impeachments. A simple bulk in the House is required to impeach an official; nevertheless, a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required for conviction. A convicted official is automatically removed from role; in improver, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant be banned from belongings office in the future. Impeachment proceedings may not inflict more than this; still, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of constabulary. In the history of the The states, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (Another resigned before the Senate could complete the trial). But two Presidents of the United States have e'er been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Beak Clinton in 1999. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson'southward case, the Senate savage one vote brusque of the 2-thirds bulk required for conviction. In 1974, Richard Nixon resigned from office after impeachment proceedings in the Firm Judiciary Committee indicated he would eventually be removed from function.

The Constitution entrusts sure powers to the Senate solitary. The President may only appoint Cabinet officials, judges, and other high officers with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. The Senate confirms most presidential nominees, but rejections are not uncommon. Furthermore, treaties negotiated by the President must be ratified by a ii-thirds majority vote in the Senate to take result. The House of Representatives has no formal role in either the appointment of federal officials or the ratification of treaties.

In 1803, the Supreme Courtroom established judicial review of Federal legislation in Marbury 5. Madison, holding, even so, that Congress could non grant unconstitutional ability to the Court itself. The Constitution does not explicitly country that the courts may practice judicial review; however, the notion that courts could declare laws unconstitutional was envisioned by the founding fathers. Alexander Hamilton, for case, mentioned and expounded upon the doctrine in Federalist No. 78.

Legislative procedure

Term

Under the Twentieth Amendment, congressional terms begin at noon on January 3 of every odd-numbered year. Information technology is conventional to refer to each Congress by the ordinal number of its term. Thus, the current Congress (whose term lasts from 2005 to 2007) is known every bit the " 109th Congress"; the previous Congress (whose term lasted from 2003 to 2005) was the " 108th Congress," and and so along. Each Congress has a term of two years.

At the outset of each new term, the unabridged House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate (those who were chosen in the ballot the previous November) are sworn in. The oath taken is provided by statute: "I practise solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will back up and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true organized religion and allegiance to the aforementioned; that I take this obligation freely, without whatsoever mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am almost to enter: So assistance me God." The House of Representatives also elects a Speaker to preside over debates. The President pro tempore of the Senate, by contrast, holds part continuously; normally, a new President pro tempore is only elected if the previous ane retires, or if at that place is a change in the bulk party.

A term of Congress is divided into ii "sessions," i for each year; Congress has occasionally also been called into an actress, (or special) session. (The Constitution requires Congress to meet at to the lowest degree in one case each twelvemonth.) A new session commences on Jan 3 (or another date, if Congress so chooses) each yr. Before the Twentieth Amendment, Congress met from the kickoff Monday in December to April or May in the offset session of their term (the "long session"); and from December to March iv in the 2nd "short session". (The new Congress would then meet for some days, for the inauguration, swearing in new members, and organization.)

The Constitution forbids either house from coming together any identify outside the Capitol, or from adjourning for more than than 3 days, without the consent of the other house. The provision was intended to foreclose one business firm from thwarting legislative business but past refusing to see. To avoid obtaining consent during long recesses, the House or Senate may sometimes agree pro forma meetings, sometimes simply minutes long, every three days. The consent of both bodies is required for Congress's final adjournment, or banishment sine die, at the end of each congressional session. If the 2 houses cannot agree on a date, the Constitution permits the President to settle the dispute.

Joint sessions

Joint Sessions of the The states Congress occur on special occasions that require a concurrent resolution from both Firm and Senate. These sessions include the counting of electoral votes following a Presidential election and the President'due south Land of the Spousal relationship address. Other meetings of both Firm and Senate are chosen Joint Meetings of Congress, held after unanimous consent agreements to recess and meet. Meetings of Congress for Presidential Inaugurations may also exist Joint Sessions, if both House and Senate are in session at the time, otherwise they are formal joint gatherings.

At some fourth dimension during the commencement 2 months of each session, the President customarily delivers the State of the Union Address, a spoken communication in which he or she assesses the situation of the land and outlines his or her legislative proposals for the congressional session. The speech is modeled on the Speech from the Throne given past the British monarch, and is mandated by the Constitution of the United States--though it is not necessarily required to exist delivered each year or in the customary manner. Thomas Jefferson discontinued the original practice of delivering the speech communication in person earlier both houses of Congress, deeming information technology as well monarchical. Instead, Jefferson and his successors sent a written message to Congress each year. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson reestablished the practice of personally attention to deliver the speech; few Presidents take deviated from this custom since.

Joint Sessions and Joint Meetings are traditionally presided over past the Speaker of the House. However, the Constitution requires the President of the Senate to preside over the counting of electoral votes.

Bills and resolutions

A proposal may be introduced in Congress as a bill, a joint resolution, a concurrent resolution, or a simple resolution. Well-nigh legislative proposals are introduced equally bills, simply some are introduced as joint resolutions. There is little practical difference between the two, except that joint resolutions may include preambles but bills may not. Joint resolutions are the normal method used to propose a constitutional amendment or to declare war. On the other hand, concurrent resolutions (passed by both houses) and unproblematic resolutions (passed by merely one house) do not have the force of police. Instead, they serve to express the stance of Congress, or to regulate process.

Members of Congress often innovate legislation at the behest of lobbyists. Lobbyists abet the passage (or rejection) of bills affecting the involvement of a item group (such equally a corporation or a labor union). In many cases, the lobbyists write legislation and submit information technology to a fellow member for introduction. Congressional lobbyists are legally required to be registered in a primal database, and are employed by political organizations, corporations, state governments, foreign governments, and numerous other groups. In 2005, there are almost 35,000 registered Congressional lobbyists, representing a doubling since 2000. Some of the most prominent lobbyists are ex-members of Congress, others are family unit members of sitting members. Equally an instance, Harry Reid, Dennis Hastert, Tom DeLay, and Roy Blunt all have immediate family members who are (or were) lobbyists.

Bills (and other proposals) may be introduced by any fellow member of either house. Notwithstanding, the Constitution provides that: "All bills for raising Acquirement shall originate in the House of Representatives." Equally a result, the Senate does not have the ability to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the Business firm of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the ability to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds. Historically, the Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House. Nevertheless, whenever the Senate originates an appropriations bill, the House but refuses to consider it, thereby settling the dispute in practice. Although it cannot originate revenue and appropriation bills, the Senate retains the ability to ameliorate or reject them.

Each bill goes through several stages in each house. The offset stage involves consideration by a committee. Most legislation is considered by standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a item subject matter, such every bit Agronomics or Appropriations. The House has twenty standing committees; the Senate has sixteen. In some cases, bills may exist sent to select committees (which tend to have more narrow jurisdictions than continuing committees. Each standing and select committee is led by a chair (who belongs to the bulk party) and a ranking fellow member (who belongs to the minority political party). Committees are permitted to hold hearings and collect evidence when considering bills. They may also ameliorate the beak, but the full house holds the power to have or pass up committee amendments. After considering and debating a measure, the committee votes on whether information technology wishes to report the measure out to the total house.

A decision not to written report a bill amounts to a rejection of the proposal. Both houses provide for procedures under which the commission can be bypassed or overruled, but they are rarely used. If reported past the committee, the bill reaches the floor of the full house. The house may contend and improve the pecker; the precise procedures used past the Firm of Representatives and the Senate differ. A final vote on the pecker follows.

Key party bailiwick is not equally strong in Congress as it is in parliamentary systems, and in the Senate information technology is weaker than in the Firm. Nonetheless, the leadership does have certain powers to sway reluctant legislators to vote with the party. Party leaders derive most of their powers from the ability to fundraise, to control the flow of legislation, and to assign desirable positions; a rebel Congressman may be threatened with a cutoff of funds for his/her entrada, a reduction of pork for his/her commune, thwarting of his/her pet legislation, and/or denial of a future committee chairmanship.

The political party leadership may use the " catch and release" strategy in guild to ensure the passage of of import legislation with the back up of reluctant members. The leaders "catch" a member, pressuring him or her to vote in favour of the legislation even if it is unpopular in the member'southward constituency. Then, if the bill has sufficient support to laissez passer anyway, the member may exist "released," that is, permitted to vote as he or she pleases. Hence, members may avoid alienating influential special interest groups, while remaining loyal to the party.

Once a bill is approved by one firm, it is sent to the other, which may laissez passer, turn down, or meliorate it. In order for the neb to become law, both houses must agree to identical versions of the bill. If the second house apology the bill, then the differences between the two versions must be reconciled in a conference committee, an ad hoc commission that includes both senators and representatives. In many cases, conference committees have introduced substantial changes to bills and added unrequested spending, significantly departing from both the Business firm and Senate versions. President Ronald Reagan one time quipped, "If an orange and an apple tree went into conference consultations, information technology might come out a pear." If both houses hold to the version reported past the conference committee, the neb passes; otherwise, information technology fails.

Subsequently passage past both houses, a nib is submitted to the President. The President may choose to sign the neb, thereby making information technology law. The President may also choose to veto the bill, returning it to Congress with his or her objections. In such a case, the bill simply becomes constabulary if each house of Congress votes to override the veto with a two-thirds bulk. Finally, the President may choose to take no activity, neither signing nor vetoing the bill. In such a case, the Constitution states that the bill automatically becomes law after 10 days (excluding Sundays). However, if Congress adjourns (ends a legislative session) during the ten day period, then the bill does not become law. Thus, the President may veto legislation passed at the end of a congressional session but by ignoring it; the maneuver is known equally a pocket veto, and cannot be overridden by the adjourned Congress.

Every Act of Congress or joint resolution begins with an enacting formula or resolving formula stipulated by constabulary. These are:

• Deed of Congress: "Be it enacted by the Senate and Business firm of Representatives of the Usa of America in Congress assembled."
• Joint resolution: "Resolved by the Senate and Firm of Representatives of the United states of america of America in Congress assembled."

Quorum and voting

The Constitution specifies that a majority of members constitutes a quorum to do business in each house. The rules of each business firm provide that a quorum is assumed to be present unless a quorum call demonstrates the contrary. Representatives and senators rarely force the presence of a quorum by demanding quorum calls; thus, in most cases, debates proceed fifty-fifty if a majority is not present.

Both houses apply voice voting to decide well-nigh matters; members shout out "aye" or "no," and the presiding officeholder announces the outcome. The Constitution, however, requires a recorded vote on the demand of one-fifth of the members present. If the effect of the voice vote is unclear, or if the matter is controversial, a recorded vote ordinarily ensues. The Senate uses roll phone call votes; a clerk calls out the names of all the senators, each senator stating "yes" or "no" when his or her name is announced. The House reserves roll phone call votes for the well-nigh formal matters; normally, members vote by electronic device. In the instance of a tie, the motility in question fails. In the Senate, the Vice President may (if present) cast the tiebreaking vote.

Privileges

Under the Constitution, members of both houses enjoy the privilege of being free from abort in all cases, except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace. This immunity applies to members "during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same." The term "abort" has been interpreted broadly, and includes any detention or filibuster in the course of law enforcement, including courtroom summons and subpoenas. The rules of the House very strictly guard this privilege; a member may not waive the privilege on his or her own, only must seek the permission of the whole business firm to practice so. Senate rules, on the other mitt, are less strict, and permit individual senators to waive the privilege as they run across fit.

The Constitution likewise guarantees absolute freedom of fence in both houses, providing, "for whatsoever Oral communication or Debate in either Business firm, they shall not be questioned in whatever other Place." Hence, a fellow member of Congress may not be sued for slander because of remarks made in either house. Nonetheless, each business firm has its own rules restricting offensive speeches, and may punish members who transgress them.

Obstructing the work of Congress is a crime under federal law, and is known as contempt of Congress. Each business firm of Congress has the ability to cite individuals for contempt, just may not impose any punishment. Instead, after a house bug a contempt citation, the judicial system pursues the affair similar a normal criminal instance. If convicted in court, an individual institute guilty of antipathy of Congress may be imprisoned for up to one year.

Aside from benefits direct facilitating their legislative work, members enjoy a number of other perks. Every bit of 2005 rank and file Congressmen received a salary of $158,100. Congressional leaders are paid more. Members are granted several costless Capitol parking spaces and are exempt from parking tickets through the use of special license plates. Members of Congress relish such facilities as private gymnasiums, low cost barbers, and subsidized dining areas (although this may not be the instance in the 110th Congress ). They are also able to substitute their signature for postage allowing them to send large quantities of mail at a reduced cost ( franking).

Another privilege is the utilize of the Library of Congress. The Library's primary mission is to serve the Congress and its staff. To do this, the Congressional Research Service provides detailed, up-to-date and non-partisan research for Senators, Representatives, and their staff to help them conduct out their functions equally national servants.

Comparison to Parliamentary system

The vast bulk of the earth'southward democracies and republics operate not on the US Congress model simply rather the Parliamentary arrangement. The largest deviation between a Parliamentary government and the United states of america Congress is that a parliament typically encompasses the entire governmental regime, containing legislative, executive, and judicial branches within its structure (the executive organs are often referred to every bit "The Government"), as well as the monarch, if 1 exists, while the US Congress exercises only legislative powers, and is but 1 of 3 co-equal and contained branches of the larger Federal Government. In Parliament, the executive branch of the government is called from or by the representative co-operative. This more often than not comprises the Prime number Minister and the governing Chiffonier. In Congress, the executive leaders merely administrate the "Parliamentary Functions" of Congress itself, while information technology is in session, and not the functioning of the national government as a whole. Then, while in structure the Speaker of the House of Representatives resembles a Prime Government minister, in substance and practise he only moderates the functioning of Congress, while the wholly dissever executive branch of government administrates the daily functioning of the federal regime.

Parliamentary democracies are generally characterized by a single constructive and representative body: In Republic countries, the Business firm of Commons serves as the equivalent to the unabridged Congress, and the Upper House (U.k. - House of Lords, Canada - Senate, etc.) has generally become subservient to the Lower Business firm, whereas in the US Congress the Senate and Business firm of Representatives have generally equal powers.

In the US Congress, members are generally elected from one of ii parties, just its members are complimentary to vote their ain censor or that of their constituents. This has been less notable in the last few sessions of Congress due to the greater polarization between Republicans and Democrats, but however this trend remains prevalent. In a Parliamentary system, members may be compelled to vote with their party's bloc, and those who vote confronting are oft cast out of their corresponding caucuses and become less influential independents. This allows United states of america Congressmen to more faithfully represent their constituents than members of parliament can. The system may all the same encourage increased spending designed to win votes at dwelling.

One of the advantages of the U.s.a. Congress is that it strikes a balance between giving all areas of the nation a say in government through the Senate, while balancing that with the population-based representative system in the Firm of Representatives. A problem in some parliamentary democracies, especially Canada, is regional alienation, which is generally not present in the United States, equally a Senator from Montana could in fact have more power than a senator from New York.

A major criticism of the Congressional organisation yet is that influence in Congress is courted only over long periods of service. Thus a Senator with 30 years in office has considerably more power than a Senator in his/her first or second term. This causes the electorate to increasingly favour incumbents, as dislodging 1's Congressman or Senator later on xx years, even if one does non back up his/her political party, tin be viewed as hurting one's commune financially, the thought existence that the new freshman would be unable to "bring habitation the bucks."

Member groups

Some, just non all of the self-defined unofficial caucuses of members

• Congressional Black Conclave
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Democratic Freedom Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus

For a full list of caucuses, see primary article at Congressional conclave.

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Source: https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/u/United_States_Congress.htm

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