Week 4 Overview Congress Essay

Submitted By AlisaTroncoso2
Words: 771
Pages: 4

The congress was intended to be the main center where all the decisions were made. The framers did not want too much power to end up with one person like in the case of the king, they wanted to make a government that was equally powered and that is when the branches were made. There are three branches in the government, their names are the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. They are all separate and have different purposes and responsibilities but are still were made to work together. Within the legislative branch is where the congress takes place basically. The congress than contains two parts as well the house of representative and the senates (U.S. Government Printing Office, 2011).
In congress the basic responsibilities of everyone involved is going through the process of making a new bill, writing it, debating it and getting the bill approved to go to the president for the official approval. Congress last two years and when the two years are up there are elections to bring in new members. In the congress there is a House of Representatives, in the House of Representatives contains a total of 435 representatives and each term they serve is for two years. In the senate office there are 100 and their terms last around 6 years (Key Differences Between the House and the Senate, 1998-2004).
There are a few differences between the house of representative and the senate. Not only in the structures but in power as well. The House of Representatives initiates all revenue bills, they have more power than the senate. The senate’s position gives their advice and consent to treaties (Key Differences Between the House and the Senate, 1998-2004). The senates are also less hierarchically organized than the House of Representatives (Key Differences Between the House and the Senate, 1998-2004). The House of Representatives have at least one speaker but it varies among states because of the population in each state, for a senate there is always two senate per state. These are just a few differences among the House of Representatives and the senates.
Within the House of Representatives of the Speaker of the house and this person’s main role is to represent the House of Representatives (Heitshusen , 2011). Becoming a Speaker of the House of Representatives is done by everyone stating who they would like to become the speaker, the person with the most votes becomes the House of Representatives Speaker. The speakers also create ad hoc committees (Key Differences Between the House and the Senate, 1998-2004).
In order for a bill to be passed there are several steps that come before it can go up for approval. First the thought of the bill must be brought up by either the House of Representatives or the Senates office. Once an ideal for a bill is brought to the table it is given to the committee which fits the potential bills topic. During this process the bill is looked over by the subcommittee and if the bill is approved is brought to full committee. The way that the bill is approved in each the House of Representatives and the senates is a different process. In the House of Representatives there is a debate and then the decision is brought to the floor and with the Senates office the bill is debated than vote is followed (pearson, 2008). If the House of Representatives and the Senates decisions differ it will go to a conference committee to be discussed further. Once everyone on both sides come to an agreement the bill is than sent