Article One: The Legislative Branch The Main role of congress, the Legislative Branch, is to make laws. Congress is made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Candidates for each house must meet certain requirements. Congress performs certain specific duties, also called delegated Powers.

Congress in da House  The House of Representatives is Chosen every TWO years  You Must be 25 years old to be a Representative and have lived in the country for 7 years as a citizen, and live in the state that elected him  The Number of Representatives changes every 10 years and each state gets one representative per 35,000 people  The House of Representatives is the ONLY body that can Impeach the President

Senate the whole thing….and is still hungry  There are Two senators from each state and they are elected once every SIX years and gets one vote  Senators are separated into three groups who are elected every two years  You must be 30 years old, be a citizen for 9 years, and live in the state that elected you  The Vice President is the president of the Senate and only votes to break a tie  The Senate also tries the president for impeachment and must have a two-thirds vote in order to kick him out never to hold public office again

House Rules  Congress must meet at least once a year and is the judge of its own elections and needs a majority for the Quorum to do business  Each house creates its own rules and punishments for its members  Each House must keep its own records and publish the records and votes to the public  In order to adjourn congress for more than three days, both houses must agree to the adjournment

How a bill…..  The House/Senate Introduces a Bill and sends it to Committee  The House/Senate Committee approves, rewrites, or kills the Bill  The House/Senate debates and votes on a version of the bill  House and Senate committees work out the Differences of the two versions

Becomes a Law  Once BOTH houses of congress pass the bill it is sent to the President  If the President signs the Bill it Becomes Law  If the President Vetoes the Bill a Two-Thirds majority is needed for the vetoed bill to become law

SuperPowers  Congress has the power to levy a tax for the good of the United States and can borrow money on credit  Congress can regulate commerce and create uniform bankruptcy laws  Congress can issue money and punish counterfeiting  Congress can establish post offices and issue patents for inventions  Congress can create federal courts and punish piracies and felonies at sea or against the law of nations

That’s a Stretch!!  Congress has the power to declare war and must fund, and maintain, and Army and Navy as well as make rules to govern them  Congress can make laws, as they see fit, to cover laws and issues NOT in the constitution  The Founding Fathers knew the nation was going to change over the years and this clause protected future laws

Access Denied  Congress cannot put People into prison without being charged, find someone guilty without trial, or charge a person of a crime after the fact  Congress cannot pass taxes on goods traded from state to state or favor a state over another state  Congress cannot use public money without accounting for it or issue titles of nobility to any person in the United States

State your Business  States cannot create any law, or take away any rights, given to the people in the constitution  States cannot issue import or export taxes against any other state or country without congressional approval  States cannot form, or maintain, a military body without the consent of congress, or form alliances with other states or countries against the United States

This has been Another World Famous Mr. Green PowerPoint Presentation. Go Cavs!! 7 in a Row!!!