美国国会名词解释
Congress of the United States,大班晨间活动 the legislative branch of the federal government, instituted (1789) by Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which prescribes its membership and defines its powers. Congress is compod of two hous-the Senate and the Hou of Reprentatives.
The Senate
The nators, two from each state, have six-year terms and were chon by the state legislatures until 1913, when the Seventeenth Amendment, providing for their direct popular election, went into effect. Actually, many states, especially in the West, had already in effect adopted this reform through the u of the direct primary. The terms of one third of the nators expire every two years. A nator must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen of not less than nine years standing, and a resident of the state in which he or she is elected. The Senate is presided over by the vice president of the United States, who has no part in its deliberations and may vote only in ca of a tie; in his abnce his duties are assumed b
y a president pro tempore, elected by the Senate.
The Hou of Reprentatives
功能材料有哪些Members of the Hou of Reprentatives are apportioned among the states according to their populations in the federal census. Every state is entitled to at least one reprentative. States that are entitled only to one (currently Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming) have a reprentative at large, i.e., one elected by the whole state. The legislatures of tho states entitled to more than one reprentative have been required since 1842 to divide their states into congressional districts. Reprentatives are chon for two-year terms, and the entire body comes up for reelection every two years. A reprentative must be 25 or older, a U.S. citizen of at least ven years standing, and a resident of the state in which he or she is elected. Although without a vote (except on the committees on which they rve), one resident commissioner from Puerto Rico (elected for a four-year term) and one delegate each from the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, anexcel复选框
d the U.S. Virgin Islands (elected for two-year terms) sit in the Hou. The presiding officer of the Hou, the speaker, is elected by the members of the Hou and may designate any member of the Hou to act in his abnce. In 1910 a revolt against the powerful speaker, Joph Gurney Cannon, resulted in the transfer of much of the power and influence of that office to the Hou committees. The reforms of the mid-1970s, however, modified niority rules and gave committee members and the speaker more powers, and changes introduced in the mid-1990s by the Republicans further reduced the influence of niority and concentrated more power in the speaker and other members of the majority leadership.
Responsibilities of Congress
The most important responsibility of Congress is that of making the laws of the United States. In both hous the work of preparing and considering legislation is done by standing committees, and in addition there are special committees in each hou as well as joint committees with bicameral membership. The two hous have an equal voice in l
egislation, but revenue bills must originate in the Hou of Reprentatives. Bills, after having been pasd by each hou parately, must be signed by the president of the United States within 10 days of their submission, or they become law automatically, unless Congress is not in ssion. If vetoed by the president, a bill may become law only by its repassage by a two-thirds majority in each hou. The Constitution requires a regular annual meeting of Congress, which, since the passage of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, begins on Jan. 3 each year. The president may call an extra ssion of Congress or of either hou. The proceedings of each hou are recorded in the Congressional Record.
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Only the Hou of Reprentatives may impeach the president or other federal officers and the Senate alone has the authority to try impeachments, but each hou is the judge of the qualifications of its own members. The Senate must ratify all treaties by a two-thirds vote and confirm important presidential appointments to office, including cabinet members, judges of federal courts, and high-ranking officers of the armed forces. Becau of this and becau it is the smaller body and its members enjoy longer terms of
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office and virtually unlimited debate, the Senate is regarded as the more powerful of the two hous.
Congress, as a whole, reached the zenith of its power during Reconstruction. Throughout its history many critics have charged that Congress operates under antiquated machinery and process that are inadequate. Procedural reforms propod have included the adoption of a rule of relevancy in Senate debate, employing joint hearings on similar bills, liberalizing the methods by which a bill may be discharged from committee for consideration, and abolishing niority as the basis for committee chairmanships.
Bibliography
See R. Dadson, The Role of the Congressman (1969); N. W. Polsby, Congress and the Presidency (2d ed. 1971); L. Fisher, President and Congress (1972); A. Claun, How Congressmen Decide适合婚礼唱的歌 (1973); J. Kingdon, Congressmen's Voting Decisions (1973); R. Goehlert and J. Sayre, The United States Congress (1981); J. L. Sundquist, The Decline and Resurgence of Congress (1981); M. A. Peterson, Legislating Together: The White Ho
u and Capitol Hill From Einhower to Reagan (1990); D. R. Mayhew, 律师催款函可怜夜半虚前席Divided We Govern (1991).
