Essay/Term paper: The need for congress in the u.s

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History Essays

The Need for Congress in the U.S


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." (Cummings / Wise
479). 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." (Compton's Encyclopedia, Online). 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." (Cummings / Wise 448). 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." (Compton's Encyclopedia, Online) 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." (Cummings / Wise 479). 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." (Compton's Encyclopedia, Online). 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." (Cummings / Wise 448). 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." (Compton's Encyclopedia, Online) 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." (Cummings / Wise 453). 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."
(Cummings / Wise 446). 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.