Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a member of Congress?

A: Article I of the Constitution establishes the legislative branch, or Congress, which consists of the House of Representative and the Senate.  The Constitution states, "The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states."   There are 435 U.S. Representative and 100 Senators.

House members, referred to as Congressmen/women or Representatives, serve two-year terms and are up for reelection every even year (2010, 2012, etc.).  Senators serve six-year terms and elections to the Senate are staggered over even years so that only about 1/3 of the Senators are up for reelection in any given even year.

Since the Senate is made up of 100 Senators, each state sends two Senators to represent them in Washington.  In the House of Representatives, a state's representation is based on its population.  States with small populations like North Dakota, Vermont and Delaware send only one representative to Washington, while the most populous state, California, sends 53 representatives to serve in the House. 

Members of the House each represent a section of their state, a Congressional District, which averages about 600,000 people.  Senators represent the entire state.

Q: What does a member of Congress do?

A: Congress has all the legislative powers and its duty is to write laws and to oversee the application of existing laws.  Members of Congress develop, review, and vote on legislation.  Members represent the people and the interests of their districts, meet and talk with the people they represent, and help them with issues and concerns they may have with a federal agency.

Q: How does a bill become a law?

A: Generally, a member will write a bill and introduce it.  The bill then goes to the committee with jurisdiction over the issue addressed in the bill.  Witnesses offer testimony on the bill.  If a Committee approves a bill then it is ready to go to the House floor for consideration.  Once a bill is approved by the House and Senate, it is sent to the President to be signed into law or vetoed.  For more detailed information, please visit our How A Bill Becomes A Law page.

Q: How are the House and Senate different?

A: In the House the majority party rules.  The House conducts most of its important business by passing rules that determine the framework under which a bill will be debated.  Since these rules only require a simple majority, the party with the most votes controls the debate.  In most cases, rules limit debate so that major bills can be passed during one day of legislative business.

In the Senate, the majority still holds a significant advantage when it comes to scheduling which bills come to the floor, but any single senator can stop legislation from moving forward on his or her own.  While debate is limited in the House to the guidelines created by the rule, debate in the Senate does not end until 60 Senators vote for a cloture motion that moves the bill forward for consideration.  Since the majority does not currently bring to the table 60 votes on its own, it must work with the minority to set the rules for debate on important legislation.  Often, this means that major pieces of legislation can be debated for one or two weeks on the Senate floor.