Essay/Term paper: Congress

Essay, term paper, research paper:  English Composition

There is a definite need for Congress in the United States. It serves

many roles

such as making laws, implementing national policy and watching over the other

two

branches of government. These are just a few of the duties of our U.S.

Congress.

Although they are essential to our government, there are potential problems.

People are

not always satisfied with the length of time involved in passing a law as

well as the

deadlock Congress can experience on an issue. Another potential problem

people see with

Congress is representation. Not all Americans feel that they are equally

represented.

The Congress of the United States is viewed by many as the largest branch

in

government. Some people might even say it is the most important. This is

due to the

roles Congress pays in our government. Congress is responsible for the

lawmaking in our

country as well as implementing national policy. The power to make laws was

given to

Congress by our forefathers when they constructed our constitution. Passing

laws is very

important to our country because without them we would be living in chaos.

Of course,

all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good

job at keeping

this country under control. The problems with lawmaking that most people see

is the time

involved in getting a law passed. In order for a bill to become a law it

must first be

introduced to the House or Senate, or both, then referred to a committee.

This can be a

very time consuming process. Anyone interested in having a law passed must

realize the

process involved and be patient. In addition to lawmaking Congress is also

involved in

passing amendments. Our nation has been able to grow and strengthen due to

the

amendment process. In order for our government to keep up with the changing

times it is

crucial that we make adjustments to the constitution. The downfall is that

the

amendments passed have not always kept up with changing times. Arguments

against

Congress would be that they taken to long in enforcing the amendments.

The U.S. Congress must also implement national policy. The Congress must

regulate commerce in order to create a prosperous economy. It is up to

Congress to

monitor the growth of the economy and be ready to act if necessary. Congress

has the

power to implement monetary policy in which they decrease taxes to induce

spending

during a slow economic period. They can also increase taxes if there is a

threat of

inflation. The problems with the role of Congress in the economy is again

the time factor.

It takes time to get the policy going so Congress must be able to detect

future economic

problems in order for it to be effective.

Congress makes up one of three branches of government. The three

branches,

executive, legislative, and judicial were designed in a way to prevent any

one branch from

having absolute power over our nation. Each branch was given the job to

check and

balance the other two branches. Congress has the job of watching over the

president. If

Congress detects any corruption by the president, it can bring about changes

to impeach

the president. Also, if the president becomes incapacitated it is up to

Congress to

determine him as unfit to continue his duties. Another way Congress checks

the president

is that it must approve any treaties to ensure that the president does not

have too much

power when it comes to foreign affairs. The Senate must ratify all treaties

by a two-thirds

vote. People will argue that Congress gives the president too much power in

the area of

foreign affairs. Bush embarked on major war against Iraq in 1991, without a

declaration

of war by Congress. Although these checks and balances are necessary they

can also

cause conflicts between branches. There is always a possibility that the

majority in

Congress can be of a different party than that of the president. The

disadvantage of the

American system is the deadlock that can develop between the president and

the Congress

over policy when each is in control of a different party.

There is a definite need for Congress in the United States. It serves

many roles

such as making laws, implementing national policy and watching over the other

two

branches of government. These are just a few of the duties of our U.S.

Congress.

Although they are essential to our government, there are potential problems.

People are

not always satisfied with the length of time involved in passing a law as

well as the

deadlock Congress can experience on an issue. Another potential problem

people see with

Congress is representation. Not all Americans feel that they are equally

represented.

The Congress of the United States is viewed by many as the largest branch

in

government. Some people might even say it is the most important. This is

due to the

roles Congress pays in our government. Congress is responsible for the

lawmaking in our

country as well as implementing national policy. The power to make laws was

given to

Congress by our forefathers when they constructed our constitution. Passing

laws is very

important to our country because without them we would be living in chaos.

Of course,

all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good

job at keeping

this country under control. The problems with lawmaking that most people see

is the time

involved in getting a law passed. In order for a bill to become a law it

must first be

introduced to the House or Senate, or both, then referred to a committee.

This can be a

very time consuming process. Anyone interested in having a law passed must

realize the

process involved and be patient. In addition to lawmaking Congress is also

involved in

passing amendments. Our nation has been able to grow and strengthen due to

the

amendment process. In order for our government to keep up with the changing

times it is

crucial that we make adjustments to the constitution. The downfall is that

the

amendments passed have not always kept up with changing times. Arguments

against

Congress would be that they taken to long in enforcing the amendments.

The U.S. Congress must also implement national policy. The Congress must

regulate commerce in order to create a prosperous economy. It is up to

Congress to

monitor the growth of the economy and be ready to act if necessary. Congress

has the

power to implement monetary policy in which they decrease taxes to induce

spending

during a slow economic period. They can also increase taxes if there is a

threat of

inflation. The problems with the role of Congress in the economy is again

the time factor.

It takes time to get the policy going so Congress must be able to detect

future economic

problems in order for it to be effective.

Congress makes up one of three branches of government. The three branches,

executive,

legislative, and judicial were designed in a way to prevent any one branch

from having

absolute power over our nation. Each branch was given the job to check and

balance the

other two branches. Congress has the job of watching over the president. If

Congress

detects any corruption by the president, it can bring about changes to

impeach the

president. Also, if the president becomes incapacitated it is up to Congress

to determine

him as unfit to continue his duties. Another way Congress checks the

president is that it

must approve any treaties to ensure that the president does not have too much

power

when it comes to foreign affairs. The Senate must ratify all treaties by a

two-thirds vote.

People will argue that Congress gives the president too much power in the

area of foreign

affairs. Bush embarked on major war against Iraq in 1991, without a

declaration of war

by Congress. Although these checks and balances are necessary they can also

cause

conflicts between branches. There is always a possibility that the majority

in Congress can

be of a different party than that of the president. The disadvantage of the

American

system is the deadlock that can develop between the president and the

Congress over

policy when each is in control of a different party.

Representation was a key issue when the House and Senate were being

designed.

Many were worried about how the states would receive equal representation in

government. It was decided that the Senate would be made up of two senators

from each

state and the House representatives would be chosen on the basis of

population. In

general this would seem fair as far as the states are concerned but what

about the people.

Who is it that makes up our Congress? Are they everyday people you and I?

Many will

say that our Congress is a representative to what the people want. The fact

is that the

United States is becoming increasingly diverse as time goes on, but just

recently has

Congress began to change. More than half the nations population are women,

but the

102nd Congress had only thirty one women members. In addition, our nation is

made up

of mostly blue collared workers, yet the most predominant occupation of

Congress

members are lawyers. With this in mind the Congress must strive to

understand and

represent the needs of the people. Congress cannot ignore the disadvantage

groups that

feel unrepresented in the system. Until the enactment of Medicare in 1965,

Congress

declined to pass health care legislation for the elderly.

There will always be people for and people against any branch in

government. The

reason being, government is not perfect, nor are the people who run it. Laws

take time to

create and policies take time to be implemented. You cannot deny the fact

that regardless

of the time involved these procedures are a major and necessary step. Over

all Congress

does a good job with the roles and duties it is given. When it comes to

representation, the

vote lies in our hands. We have the power to vote for who we want to

represent us. We

can make a difference if we get involved in electing those who share the same

ideas of the

people to make us a better a better nation.