Research Paper on:
Powers and Operation of Congress

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
is referred to as a bicameral legislature. All of the states also follow this pattern, with the sole exception of Nebraska, which only has one house in its legislative  body and is, thus, a unicameral legislature (OConnor & Sabato, 2008). There was considerable dissension among the Framers of the Constitution as to how to approach the issue of representation  in the legislative branch. The larger states wanted representation to be based on population, which caused the smaller states to fear that New York and Virginia become invested with too  much power and dominate them. Therefore, the smaller states favored each state have the same number of representatives. Due to the Great Compromise, which was worked out at that time,  the upper house, the Senate, has two senators per state, while the membership of the lower house, the House of Representatives, is based on that states total population. Originally  senators were elected to six-year terms by their state legislatures; however, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed in 1913, changed this process and today senators, as are  representation to the House, are elected directly by the public. The voting public in their congressional district elects House Representatives to two-year terms. The Senate is composed of 100 senators,  2 from each of the 50 states. In 1929, the size of the membership of the House was fixed by law at 435 members (OConnor & Sabato, 2008).  Powers of Congress The main power of Congress derives from its constitutional authority to create laws. To become a law, both the Senate and the House have to come  to a consensus on the form of a bill (a proposed law), which is then submitted to the head of the executive branch, e.g. the President, who then officially creates