Congress

Congress is made up of two bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate. These two bodies make laws. Only Congress can declare war and make laws about national defense and taxes.

The House and Senate are both representative, which means that people from each state elect them to represent them in government. Members of the Senate are called senators. Members of the House are called representatives. Congress meets in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.

One hundred senators make up the Senate, with two senators from each state. Senators are elected every six years, with 1/3 of them elected every two years. Senators must be at least 30 years old and a U.S. citizen for at least nine years.

Four-hundred thirty-five representatives make up the House. The population of a state determines how many representatives it has. Representatives are elected every two years. House members must be at least 25 years old and a U.S. citizen for at least seven years.

Some of the powers of the House of Representatives and Senate are different. The Constitution, the supreme law of the United States, separates some of their powers.

The House has the sole right to introduce tax bills. It also has the power to start the impeachment process against a president. Impeachment is charging an officeholder with a crime in order to remove the person from office. In its history, the House has started impeachment proceedings against Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and William Clinton.

The Senate has the sole right to accept or decline the hiring of people the president wants to appoint to certain offices. The Senate must approve all the Supreme Court justices, cabinet members and ambassadors that the president chooses. The Senate also tries the president during an impeachment process.

The House and the Senate have some separate powers, but they work together to make laws for the United States. Both can introduce bills that they would like to become laws.

The way a bill becomes a law is complex. So many bills are introduced during a session that it is necessary for them to be assigned to a committee for discussion and hearings. If the committee votes to proceed with the bill, the bill goes to another committee before it is presented for vote in the House or Senate.

Once a bill makes it to the House or Senate floor, representatives or senators debate the bill. If a majority votes to accept the bill, it is then sent to the House or Senate. If the House introduces a bill, it is sent to the Senate. If the Senate introduces a bill, it is sent to the House.

Once the bill is sent to either the House or Senate, the review process starts all over. If the House is reviewing a bill from the Senate or if the Senate is reviewing a bill from the House, it sends it to a committee. If the committee votes to proceed, the bill is presented for debate.

A few things can happen once both the House and Senate have reviewed a bill. If a bill has been sent to the Senate for review, senators can approve the bill as it is or make changes. If the Senate wants to make changes to the bill, it will call for a House-Senate conference to work out a compromise. If the Senate and House both approve, it is then sent to the President for signing.

The President can choose to do several things with the bill. If the President signs the bill, it becomes a law. The President can also veto the bill, which means the bill is rejected. If Congress is still in session 10 days after the bill is sent and the President does nothing with the bill, it becomes a law. If Congress is not in session 10 days after the bill is sent and the President does nothing, it does not become a law. This is called a pocket veto.

Congress can choose to override the President's veto of a bill. Two-thirds of Congress must vote to accept the bill to override the veto. If the President uses the pocket veto and Congress still wants a bill to become law, the bill must be re-introduced and go through both the House and Senate all over again.