Legislative Branch Of Government

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Article I of the Constitution creates the legislative branch of government. The legislative branch is “the master of words. It can write the laws” (Campbell, 2004, p. 23). Congress is entrusted with the legislative powers through Article 1 Section 1 of the Constitution: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives” (1788). According to the Framers Legislation was to be the most important branch of government (Storey, 2007). Congress was created under the principle of bicameralism, meaning it is divided into two chambers, the Senate and House of Representatives, so as to have an internal checking system (Vile, 2006). “The lower chamber, …show more content…

Article 1 of the Constitution states that Congress is to “’make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper’ for carrying out powers” (Hart, 2014, p. 212). Congress has all legislative powers which include carrying and passing out laws, levying/collecting taxes, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, and declaring war (Campbell, 2004). Laws are passed through the crafting of bills or proposals (Vile, 2006). To become a law, both chambers of Congress have to agree on a bill and then present it to the President for approval. This “crafting of bills” is thus complex and time consuming. (Vile, 2006; Hart, 2014). A bill is written either by a Senator or Representative. Once it is written it goes to the committee of the chamber the bill it was written in. The committee studies the bill, makes the necessary changes, then passes the bill on to the full House or Senate. If the bill passes in the chamber it goes to the “conference committee,” which has members from both the House and Senate. There they discuss the bill and if disagreements are resolved write a report of the final version of the bill. The bill is sent back to both chambers for approval. If both houses approve the bill, it is “enrolled” which goes to the president to be signed into law (Arnold, 2004). Most bills, however, do not survive and become laws. In 2005, out of 7,000 bills introduced to Congress only 169 became law (Hart,

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