L EGISLATIVE B RANCH By Molly S. Kingsource55.com

F UNCTION OF THE L EGISLATIVE B RANCH The legislative branch is also called Congress The Congress make our laws The legislative branch writes out our laws, then to be checked by the judicial and executive branches They play a very important role in our government

T HE C YCLE O F THE L EGISLATIVE B RANCH Think of good laws for us to follow Send those laws to judicial and executive branches Judicial and executive branches publish or make the final laws The laws they choose are given to the President to choose the final choice Legislative Branch These men are writing some laws Freedomspeaks.com tvnewslies.org

W HERE AND W HEN DO T HEY M EET ? Congress meets in the capitol building The capitol building is in Washington D.C. When they meet there they plan the laws for our country Congress begins its meetings on the third day of January, every odd- numbered year Hanscomfamily.com

W ISCONSIN ' S R EPRESENTATIVES Steve Kagen Tammy Baldwin Ronald Kind Paul Ryan James Sensenbrenner Gwen Moore David Obey Thomas Petri 1.scientificamerican.com 2. tammybaldwin.house.go 3.projects.propublica.org 4. paulryan.house.gov 5. legistorm.com 6. fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com 7. topics.myfoxboston.com 8. projects.crashingtonpost.com

Q UALIFICATIONS FOR R EPRESENTATIVES Have to be at least 25 years old A citizen for the United States for at least 7 years Must live in the state from which he or she was elected Kuhmann.com

T ERMS FOR C ONGRESS Each Senator is elected for a 6-year term Every two years 1/3 of the senate is up for reelection The term of office for a Rep. is two years In order to stay in office he or she must be reelected every two years Senate The House of Representatives

P RESIDING O FFICER Presiding Officer for the Representatives is Nancy Pelosi Is the Speaker of Representatives Also the first woman, first Californian, and first Italian Speaker of the House Rd.com

W ISCONSIN ' S S ENATORS There are only two Senators in Wisconsin Russ Feingold Herb Kohl 1. rhodesscholars.wordpress.com 2. projects.washingtonpost.com

Q UALIFICATIONS FOR S ENATORS Must be at least 30 years old A citizen of the United States for 9 years Must live in the state he or she represents International-job-search.com

P RESIDING O FFICERS Presiding Officers are Joe Biden and Daniel K. Inouye They are our “temporary presidents” If the Vice President is absent for voting, the Presiding Officers will do it for him or her Joe Biden named his puppy “Senator” Daniel K. Inouye is the 2 nd most- senior member of the U.S. Senate 1.dreamdogstart.type.pad.com 2. inouye.senate.gov. /home.cfm

W HAT AND H OW IS THE I MPEACHMENT P ROCESS ? The impeachment process is used against a government official to accuse a wrongdoing or misuse of power Then to be carried out by the Senate The government official misuses a power The House of Reps. Accuse them of the wrongdoing The trial of the misuse is carried out by Senate

H OW A B ILL B ECOMES A L AW IDEA Bill Committee in the House Quorum votes one over half Senate Committee Quorum votes one over half of the Senate Joint Committee: House and Senate President LAW 2/3 House vote 2/3 Senators vote Veto

P OWERS G IVEN TO C ONGRESS There are four powers given to the Congress 1. The elastic clause - gives Congress the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 2. Enumerated powers - specifically given to Congress by the Constitution, they are written, and an example would be declaration of war 3. Implied powers - general laws, not enough info. Is stated; like able to make post offices 4. Inherent powers - unlisted, Congress must have because it exists as a government and they need to run their affairs easily

L IMITS ON C ONGRESS Most limitations are set by the Constitution One limit is Congress could not make any laws outlawing the slave trade until 1808 Another deals with the legal term known as habeas corpus, which means you shall have the body, allowing a person to be seen and heard in a courtroom by a judge Another limit is that they cannot tax products from a state Government money can only be spent by passing a law

M ORE L IMITATIONS They can’t give preference to any state’s seaport Congress cannot pass ex post facto laws, which punishes people for a crime that was not a crime when they did it. For example a man smokes a cigarette on his lawn Thursday. On Friday Congress made a law that passed for NO SMOKING in the U.S. Friday police arrested the man for smoking on Thursday. When the man smoked on Thursday, it wasn’t a crime, but the man still gets arrested because of ex post facto laws

P OWERS OF G OVERNMENT The powers of government can be put into categories: Delegated- given to the national government in Washington D.C., such as the power to declare war Concurrent- shared between the national and state governments, such as the power to tax Reserved- only states have, such as the power to create a school system. Thre e

M Y O PINION Q: Would you ever want to be a member of this branch of government? A: I would AND wouldn’t like to be a part of the Legislative branch. Q: Why? A: I know that I would have a lot of ideas for bills, and it seems nice to be so powerful sometimes but yet I don’t like to be on top of something so important! In other words I wouldn’t want to mess anything up. Mhm… I see.

P ITCHING IN TO H ELP If I could make Congress or change or make any law it would be the drinking law I think to prevent under age drinking at bars or restaurants I would make Congress assemble people working at bars to make customers show their ID card of how old they are. This law would help prevent the deaths and under- age drinking of teenagers.

I MPACT IN O UR L IVES This branch makes a huge impact in your life! This branch creates laws for us to follow, some we don’t like and some we appreciate very much The Legislative branch is important because without it, our world would be free- for- all and there would be chaos everywhere you look because there would be no laws to follow