UNIT 4. THE LEGISLATURE

The legislative branch of the federal government is represented by Congress. There are two houses of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of 100 voting members. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members in addition to two representatives from Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia who are not entitled to vote. The members of the House are called representatives or congressmen (or congresswomen).

Its main functions are lawmaking, forming structures and programmes to implement policy, overseeing the resulting bureaucracy, raising and allocating government funds, and advising the President on foreign affairs and appointments.

While the chambers of Congress are in theory equally powerful, there are several significant differences in their membership, organization and practices. As originally intended, the House continues to respond more quickly than the Senate to the electorate’s mood. Elections every two years in smaller geographical units allow Representatives to more closely reflect the current views of local voters than do Senators, who serve six-year terms and represent whole states. The large majority of both chambers has always consisted of middle-aged white men, many of whom are usually lawyers. The House contains the more diverse membership.

There are constitutional differences between the chambers as well. To qualify for a seat in the Senate, a person must be 30 years old, a citizen for 9 years, and a resident of the state where elected. Representatives must be 25, 7 years a citizen, and (by custom) a resident of their district. Financial bills must begin in the House, although the Senate can amend them. Treaties and Presidential appointments must be approved by the Senate. Size, however, is the constitutional difference that has the most important effect on the chambers.

Because of its much greater size, the House must regulate its business carefully. The Speaker of the House and the Rules Committee are given considerable power to schedule the work of the Chamber, limit debate, and restrict amendments to a bill from the floor. The Speaker also influences the assignment of members and bills to committees, decides which bills are brought up for a vote, and has total power over who speaks during debate. The Speaker is chosen by the majority party and in turn chooses his party’s members on the Rules Committee. The Majority party also elects a majority leader as the Speaker’s next in command and a whip to help round up votes. The other party selects a minority leader and whip.

Members of Congress organize themselves in several ways. The most important of these is by party. Members divide along party lines on between a third and a half of the votes that take place in Congress. Special party groups pick the offices of each chamber and decide which committee members will work on. Each party gets a number of committee members equal to the percentage of seats it won in the last elections. The majority party wins the leadership positions and the most committee staffing.

Within Congress there exist party leaders who are selected by congressional party caucuses (party meetings).

The Constitution grants Congress all legislative powers in the federal government. Only Congress can make laws. The President, interest groups, and private citizens may want laws passed by Congress. But only if they can convince a member of each chamber to introduce their proposals, is there a chance that they will become federal laws.

Law-making is only the best known of the legislative branch’s duties. Members are truly representatives, so much of their work involves case-work (handling pressure groups and voters’ complaints and requests). The national legislature alone can make the federal budget. No federal funds can be raised, allocated, or spent without its direction. Congress also has the constitutional authority to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. Only it has the power to raise, finance, and regulate military forces and to declare war. The legislative branch has great power over the other arms of the national government. It creates all the federal courts below the Supreme Court, can change the number of Supreme Court justices, and decides which cases the federal courts can hear by defining jurisdictions. Congress, not the President, establishes the departments and the executive bureaucracy.

Congress does most of its work in committees, in which members gain the expertise and power to make their mark on public policy. The volume and complexity of legislation introduced each are huge, so committees are an indispensable tool for the division of labour. The committee system assigns members to specific legislative work; the supervision of executive departments and agencies; hearings on public issues and (in Senate committees) on presidential appointments. Members strive for assignments on committees of the greatest concern to their states or congressional districts. As government became involved in wider areas of life, the two dozen or so standing (or permanent) committees in each chamber have spawned many subcommittees. The most senior member traditionally becomes chair of a committee and through this position exercises control over the power to kill or promote a proposal. Since the early 1970s subcommittees have won greater independence, and chairmen have been chosen by secret ballot, which has not always resulted in election by seniority.

The steps in the law-making process are similar in both chambers. Bill can be introduced in one chamber or in both simultaneously. After that, the bill is referred to a committee, which usually refers it to a subcommittee. There members air their views, gather reports from experts and lobbyists, and hold hearings to get opinions on the proposal. The next step is ‘a mark-up session’ during which the subcommittee agrees on changes in the bill. It is then returned to the committee for another mark-up session before it goes to the whole chamber for debate and a vote on passage. Most bills die in committee or subcommittee because they were introduced only to publicize a member’s willingness to do something about an issue, or because they are too flawed or controversial for passage. If bills pass both chambers, in a few cases amendments added in one or both result in different texts. Then a conference committee from both chambers produces a compromise text for final votes House and Senate. If the compromise bill passes, it is sent to the President, who may sign or veto it.

Congress also plays an informative role. It informs the public about different and important subjects, such as crime or space exploration.

TASK 1. Find the English equivalents for the words and word-combinations given below.

Члены палаты представителей, выполнять (осуществлять), наблюдать за, нести ответственность, более разнообразный состав, вносить поправки, распределение членов, ставит на голосование, чтобы определить количество противников, парламентский партийный организатор, убеждать, регулировать, быть необходимым инструментом, бороться за распределение, создавать.

TASK 2. Match the English words and word-combinations given below with their Russian equivalents.

1) иметь право голоса	a) a voice vote
2) открытое голосование	b) to take a vote
3) поименное голосование	c) to adjust differences
4) найти компромисс	d) a roll-call vote
5) наложить запрет (вето на закон)	e) to veto a law
6) иметь право	f) to schedule
7) повышать и распределять	g) to restrict amendments
8) разработать	h) to be entitled
9) ограничивать поправки	i) to raise and allocate
10) продвигать	j) to be flawed or controversial for passage
11) одновременно, совместно	k) to promote
12) готовность члена	l) simultaneously
13) быть недействительным или спорным для утверждения	m) a member’s willingness

TASK 3. Answer the following questions.

1. What are the functions of the Senate and the House of Representatives?
2. How is the procedure of passing a law organized?
3. Under what circumstances does a bill become law?

TASK 4. Answer the questions about details.

1. How many branches is the Government in the United States divided into?

a) two; b) three; c) four

2. How is the legislative branch of the Government called?

a) parliament; b) congress; c) court

3. What branch of the Government do the Supreme Court and lower national courts make up?

a) legislative branch; b) judicial branch; c) executive branch

4. What branches of the Government are the most powerful?

a) legislative; b) judicial; c) executive

5. What branch of Government has the responsibility to carry out the law?

a) legislative branch; b) executive branch; c) judicial branch

6. Why do the President and Congress have almost complete political independence from each other?

a) they are chosen in the same elections; b) they are chosen in separate elections

7. What happens to a legislative ill passed by Congress, if the President vetoes it?

a) it becomes a law; b) it dies

8. What happens to a treaty with a foreign government signed by the President, if Congress refuses to ratify it?

a) it dies; b) it comes into power

9. What protects specific individual rights and freedom of citizens from government interference?

a) Constitution; b) Court; c) Congress

10. What is the attitude of the Americans to their system?

a) they are indifferent to it; b) they are proud of it; c) they are ashamed of it

TASK 5. Say whether the statements given below are true or false, express doubt or uncertainty.

1. The Government of the USA is not divided into three separate branches.
2. If any one part of the Government has all, or even most of the power, it will become a treat to the freedom of individual citizens.
3. The legislative branch of the Government is formed by the Supreme Court and lower national courts.
4. The executive branch has the responsibility to carry out the law, it is headed by the President.
5. The President and Congress have almost complete political independence from each other.
6. The election of the Congress determines who will be elected President, and the Presidential election determines who will be elected to Congress.
7. It is impossible in the American system to have the leader of one political party win the Presidency, while the other major political party wins most of the seats in Congress.
8. It is not necessary for the President to sign bills passed by Congress in order for them to become law.
9. “Bill of Rights” protects specific individual; rights and freedom from government interference.
10. The Government may interfere with freedom of religious worship.

TASK 6.Render the following text.