What is the Job of Congress?

When you elect a member of the Congress, do you know what you have elected him/her to do? Congress is the "comptroller" of the United States of America. The United States Congress consists of two chambers or legislative branches, the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives representing a district and serves a 2 year term. House of Representatives seats are allotted among the states by population and are chosen through direct election from their district. The 100 Senators chosen through direct election serve staggered six-year terms with each state having two senators. Every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is elected.

Legislative Powers:

Article 1 of the Constitution gives all legislative powers in the Congress. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process, although revenue-raising bills must originate in the House of Representatives. The house has the sole power of impeachment for executive and judicial positions.

Bills and resolutions:

A proposal may be introduced in Congress as a bill, a joint resolution, a concurrent resolution, or a simple resolution. Most legislative proposals are introduced as bills. Some resolutions simply serve to express opinion from the Congress. Members of Congress often introduce legislation at the command of lobbyists. Lobbyists advocate the passage or rejection of bills affecting the interests of a particular group (such as a corporation or a labor union). In many cases the lobbyists write legislation and submit it to a member for introduction. There are 22,000 registered lobbyists (required to register). Some of the most prominent lobbyists are ex-members. As an example, Harry Reid, Dennis Hastert, former Representative Tom Delay and Roy Blunt all have immediate family members who are (or were) lobbyists.

Financial and budgetary matters:

Congress has authority over financial and budgetary matters, through the power to lay and collect taxes, among other powers:

1-To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
2-To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states and with Indian tribes;
3-To establish a uniform rule of naturalization and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
4-To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
5-To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the Unites States;
6-To establish post offices and post roads;
7-To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
8-To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
9-To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
10-To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
11-To raise and support armies but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
12-To provide and maintain a navy;
13-To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
14-To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
15-To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
16-To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states and the acceptance of Congress become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings.

National Defense and other:

The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war, raise and maintain the armed forces and make rules for the military. Congress has the power to issue patents and copyrights, fix standards, weights and measures, and establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court. Also, to make all laws necessary to carry these out. Congress has the power to admit new states to the Union.

Oversee the Executive Branch:

A non-legislative function of Congress is the power to investigate and oversee the executive branch. This power is usually dedicated to special committees. The House of Representatives has the power of impeachment, while the Senate only can convict and remove a sitting president of judicial member.

The fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments gave Congress authority to enact legislation in order to enforce rights of African Americans, including voting rights, due process and equal protection under the law.

Committees:

Congress divides its legislative, oversight and internal administrative tasks among approximately 200 committees and subcommittees. Within assigned areas these functional sub-units gather information, compare and evaluate legislative alternatives, identify policy problems and propose solutions, select, determine and report measures for full chamber consideration, monitor executive branch performance and investigate allegations of wrongdoing. Members of Congress serve on various committees.

Constituent Services:

A major part of the job for a Congressman/woman and Senator consists of services to his or her constituency. Members receive thousands of letters, phone calls and e-mails with some expressing opinion on an issue or displeasure with a member's position or vote. Other constituents request help with problems or ask questions. Members of Congress want to leave a positive impression on the constituent rather than leave them disgruntled so they often go out of their way to assist the public and guide them through the government bureaucracy.

Privileges:

Under the Constitution, members of both houses enjoy the privilege of being free from arrest in all cases, except for treason, felony and breach of peace. This immunity applies to members during sessions and when traveling to and from sessions. The term "arrest" has been interpreted broadly and includes any detention or delay in the course of law enforcement, including court summons and subpoenas. The Constitution also guarantees absolute freedom of debate in both houses, providing "for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place". So, a member of Congress may not be sued for slander because of remarks made in either house.

Conclusion:

Before you go to the polls to vote on your member of the Congress of the United States of America take time to evaluate the candidates. Pick the candidate you want making the legal and financial decisions of your country. Do they have the same morals and principles you believe to be true? Vote freedom first!