The Legislative Branch

The Constitution sets up a bi-cameral body known as the U.S. Congress to raise and to spend national revenue and to draft laws. The two chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives. The main function of the legislative branch is to make laws about trade, taxes, citizenship. It is commonly said that Congress influences American policy by exercising the "power of the purse strings" [распоряжаться деньгами]. It can maintain army, declare war, establish US Post Office, print and borrow money.

The Congress cannot take away the right to a trial, give title to nobility, put a tax on export, and use tax money without authorization. It cannot make laws about marriage, driver's licenses, and police. A new Congress begins every two years with the elections of new senators and representatives. It meets in Capitol, Washington D.C. The House of Representatives has large room, the Senate has smaller one. There are 435 members in the House of Representative and 100 senators. Each state elects two members of the 100-member Senate.

The broad powers of the whole Congress are spelled out in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which not only outlines what Congress can do, but also specifically forbids Congress from certain acts. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution further limits the domain of the nation's lawmakers by stating that all powers not delegated to the national government are reserved to the states or the people.