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 Official House Clerk Mascot, A.Bill.
Our United States Government
The Federal government is made up of three branches: the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch. Each branch is intended to serve as a check on the others. If this system of “check and balances” is working properly, no branch can dominate the other two. Congress makes up the legislative branch of the federal government. More information about the structure and duties of Congress is presented below. If you would like to learn more about the executive branch of government, visit the White House Website. Click here for a listing of Federal Agencies and Commissions. Click here to find out more about the judicial branch. About Congress Congress is made up of two bodies: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each state, regardless of its size or population, elects two senators. In addition, each state elects representatives to serve in the House. House districts are determined by population, so large states elect more House members than small states. Each member in the House of Representatives currently represents approximately 630,000 people. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 Senators.
To learn more please visit the House of Representatives website.
To learn more please visit the Senate website.
What Does Congress Do? Members of Congress are responsible for:
1. voting;
2.writing and amending laws;
3. funding government agencies and programs;
4. overseeing the executive branch;
5. assisting constituents in getting answers from their government.
Voting The highest obligation of a member of Congress is to cast a vote on the floor of the House whenever a vote is called. Votes are cast electronically using a special card issued to each member. Each vote must be cast in person, yea or nay Writing and Amending Laws The first step in making a law is to introduce the idea in the form of a bill (or, occasionally, a joint resolution, concurrent resolution, or simple resolution.) A bill can be introduced in either the House or the Senate or introduced in both Houses simultaneously. Once a bill is introduced, the bill is referred to the appropriate committee for analysis and discussion. (The House has nineteen committees and the Senate has sixteen.) The committee holds hearings during which expert witnesses testify and the members can ask questions about the merits and problems of a particular bill or the issue in general. Then the committee holds a "markup" during which the committee can make changes to the bill. The committee votes on the bill and writes a report to explain the issue, the bill, and their reasons for voting the way they did. If the committee does not take action on a bill before the end of the two-year session of Congress, then the bill "dies" in committee and needs to be re-introduced in the next Congress for consideration. If the bill is reported favorably out of committee, then it is ready for consideration and a vote by the entire House. If a majority of the members of Congress vote in favor of the bill, then the bill is sent to the Senate to be amended and voted on. If the Senate passes the identical bill, it is ready to go to the President for a final signature. But more often, the Senate's version of the bill differs from the House version, so a "conference committee" is formed with selected members from the Senate and the House to work out differences between the two bills. Once the differences are worked out, the consensus "conference report" is presented in both chambers for a final vote. If it passes in both the House and the Senate it then goes to the President. The President can sign the bill into law, veto it and send it back to Congress, or do nothing. If the President does not take any action, then the bill can either become law without the president's signature or, if it is near the end of a session, it can die from a "pocket veto." For more detailed information on how a law is made, please visit this website: How Our Laws Are Made. What is the Role of the State Government? Each state sends its U.S. Representatives (referred to as "Congressman" or "Congresswomen") and U.S. Senators to Washington, D.C. to make federal laws, which apply to the whole country. States have their own legislatures, however, which make laws that apply only in their own state. Our State Representatives and State Senators work in the Massachusetts State House in Boston. According to the Constitution, states can make laws in any area not reserved to the federal government. If you want to learn more, please visit the Massachusetts state government website. For more information about the United States Government, visit The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal
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