The American Government
Have you ever wondered what exactly the House of Representatives and the Senate are and
what their roles in government are? The government and branches of the government can be a difficult
subject to comprehend, especially Congress which is a part of the legislative body. However, once taken
into consideration Congress can be simple to understand. A Congress is the part of the government that
writes laws, endorses Presidential appointments, approves treaties, grants money, and declares war
(only Congress is allowed to declare war). One may wonder what the House of Representatives and the
Senate have to do with the Congress. The House represents the people. The population of each state
determines how many representatives each state gets in the House. An example of how many
representatives a state can have is Arizona. Arizona has eight representatives in the House. The Senate
represents the states. Each state has two representatives in the Senate because they represent the
state. Although the House of Representatives and the Senate are part of the same governmental branch,
they have different abilities to offer in their functions, organization, and stature.
Contrary to what many people of America may believe, the House and the Senate have different
functions in what they do for the federal government. Though the House and the Senate are both part
of the Congress, they serve different purposes. Some people of America do not know much about
American government and so they may not know that the House of Representatives and the Senate are
not the same thing and that they do different jobs. The House and the Senate have many powers
divided among them. As stated earlier the House represents the people of the United States and the
Senate represents the states equally, not regarding the population. A few of the Houses powers are: to
act first in impeachment, to elect the President of the United States (this is only done when the electoral
votes are tied), to propose laws regarding taxes and revenue, and to participate in joint committees
alongside Senate members. One power shared by the Senate and the House is the power to disclose law
other than taxes and revenue. The Senate also has a multitude of powers. A few of them are: to review
and provide advice on presidential appointments and nominations, to confirm treaties made by majority
vote, to elect the Vice President (this is only done when the electoral votes are tied), to consider laws
and bills coming from the President, and to "try" any impeachment business started by the House. The
House and the Senate do very different things (sometimes), but the essential purpose of each member
of Congress is to represent a constituency. Both the House and the Senate are part of the Congress and
they have different tasks given to them that they can carry out if necessary. The same goes for the
organization of the House and the Senate.
Just as the functions of the House and the Senate are different, the organizations of both parts
of the government are also different. A running theme throughout this essay is that the House and the
Senate are both part of the Congress but they are different in how they are run. Because the House and
the Senate are different, they have to be organized differently. They are set up differently for a few
reasons, one of them being because they are set up as equally and fairly as possible to please all of the
states. Another reason they are organized the way they are is because they didn't want one branch of
government or part of that branch to be too powerful. The House of Representatives currently holds
435 representatives and they each hold office for a two-year term. There are this many representatives
because representatives of the House are based on the population of each state. The Senate does not
have nearly as many representatives because they have only two from each state. Because there are
two representatives from each state and there are fifty states, we have one hundred representatives in
the Senate and they each hold office for a period of a six-year term. There are only three requirements
to become a House representative or a Senate representative. Although both of them have three
qualifications, they are different. To be a House representative, they must be twenty-five years of age or
older and they must have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years. To be a Senate Senator, they must
be thirty years of age or older and the must have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years. The House
and the Senate share one qualification, when they are elected, they must be an Inhabitant of the district
they are chosen for. In the House and the Senate, there are chamber committees set up. These
committees are there because it helps to further organize Congress. They are put into these committees
so that they can easily debate, change, and pass laws. An example of a House committee is Education
and the Work Force. An example of a Senate committee is Finance. Although the House and the Senate
are organized a little differently, there are some similarities and differences between them. Not only are
the organization rules easy to follow but there are only three of them. Now that the functions and the
organization of the House and the Senate have been covered, it is time to go over the statures of each.
Up until now, there has been a pattern in the topics of these paragraphs. The House and the
Senate always do different things for the government. Are the statures of each the same way? Albeit
they are two different parts of the congress and they have so far been different in their functions and
organization, it does not mean that their stature is the same way. Stature is a level of development or
achievement that has been obtained. Both chambers are supposed to be balanced in their power, but at
this moment, the Senate has become first in their power. The terms and qualifications of the House and
the Senate are different because they were modeled after the state government at that current time.
They were also different because they wanted to ensure that they would not become too powerful
politically. It is obvious how throughout the states there is a mutual agreement that Congress is bad and
not to be trusted. Since the House and the Senate are the Congress neither one of them is held in high
public opinion. The public opinion is so low because all the people of America have seen the Congress do
is defeat their hopes and to not show the good things they have done for the states. They keep seeing
all of the faults and the mistakes of the Congress. If the Congress put more effort into showing the
people what good they have done for America, instead of letting them see all the bad things they have
done, the public opinion would be more accepting of them and the public views would eventually begin
to creep upwards. These are the things to consider when looking at the stature of the House and the
Senate.
At the beginning of this essay there was a question asked. What are the House of
Representatives and the Senate? What are their roles in government? Throughout the essay it has been
explained what the House and the Senate are for and what they do for our government along with their
functions, organization, and stature. There are many parts to the House of Representatives and the
Senate but if broken down they can be easily understood.
Works Cited
"4 Briefing on Constitutional Qualifications." 4 Briefing on Constitutional Qualifications. N.p., n.d. Web.
03 June 2014.
"Other - Congressional Job Approval | RealClearPolitics." RealClearPolitics. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
"The Importance of Committees." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 03 June
2014.
"The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." The United States
Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2014.