The 20 Most Important Things About Congress



The Most Important Things About Congress…but certainly not the only things!

Structure of Congress

*The Senate = 100 members

*The House of Representatives = 435 members

*Senators serve for 6 years, Representatives serve for 2 years.

*Senators serve an entire state, Representatives serve only one Congressional district.

*Vice President Joseph Biden is the President of the Senate, Representative John Boehner is the Speaker of the House.

The Powers of Congress

*Congress has A) Expressed Powers and B) Implied Powers.

*Congress is responsible for making laws.

*There are three categories of laws: military, money and commerce.

*Congress uses the Elastic Clause to do things that are not written in the Constitution.

*Congress may not take certain rights away from states or the people.

The Work Congress Does

*The main work done by Congress involves making laws.

*The Congress works to help its constituents (people who have elected them)

*Congressmen/women triy to bring as much money as possible to their home states from the “pork barrel” or federal treasury.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

*A bill is a proposal for a new law.

*There are two types of bills: A) private bills and B) public bills.

*Bills are proposed in both the House and Senate, then they go through committees, then they go through conferences, and finally the President either signs the bill or vetoes the bill.

*Veto is when a bill is denied passage by the President.

A Review Outline for the ConQuest!

1. Structure of the Legislative Branch.

Reading Packet: pages 158-162

Vocabulary: page 67 of review packet

Value = 20 points

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2. The Powers of the United States Congress.

Reading Packet: pages 165-169, 174-176

Vocabulary: page 71 of review packet

Value = 15 points

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3. The Process of making and enacting legislation- How a bill becomes a law.

Reading Packet: pages 177-181

Vocabulary: page 77 of review packet

*Make sure you understand the process of how a bill becomes a law!

Value = 15 points

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