Does the United States Congress  Function as the Framers Intended It to? by Scott

The founding fathers established Congress to be elected representative body that makes our nation's laws. Today, Congress still performs its duties in much the same way as they did two hundred years ago. Congress is divided into two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. These two legislative bodies came about because of a disagreement at the Constitutional Convention. Representatives from the larger states wanted to be represented by population, giving the larger states more voice in the government. But the representatives from the smaller states wanted to have equal representation throughout the country. A compromise was reached and the House of Representatives, with its four hundred thirty-five members, divided by population, favors the more populated states, while the Senate, with one hundred members divided equally with two from each state, favors the less populated states. This form of representation has not changed at all since its founding at the Convention.      The process to make laws has remained constant since the Constitutional Convention. A bill proposed to become a law can start in either house. If it gets two-thirds of the vote in that house, it moves on to the next one. If the second house passes the bill, it then moves on to the president who can either approve or veto (disapprove) the bill. If the bill is disapproved by the president, both houses of Congress can try to pass the bill over the president's veto with a two-thirds vote in each house. This system of checks and balances ensures that neither the president or Congress become too powerful.      There are many other duties that Congress perform that was given to it by the Constitution. This includes: passing of revenue bills, the investigation into the executive branch, the approving of presidential appointments and treaties, and the impeachment process.      As shown in recent years, Congress has certain procedures when it comes to impeachment. The House of Representatives, if there is cause to believe that an elected official has committed a crime, will bring up the charges against (or impeach) the official. Then, the Senate acts as a jury for the trial and a two-thirds vote decides if the federal official is to leave office.     All of the before-mentioned came directly from the Constitutional Convention and can be found in the US Constitution. So, has Congress changed? Well, except for a few faces and what type of laws are passed, I'd say no.

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