Congress

Congress is the part of the United States government that makes the country's laws. It is made up of two groups, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both groups meet in the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The people in Congress are elected by voters in each state. Congress was created by the U.S. Constitution in 1789.

The Senate has 100 members, called senators. Each state, no matter how big or small, gets exactly two senators. California, with about 39 million people, has the same number of senators as Wyoming, which has about 580,000 people. Senators serve six-year terms. To run for the Senate, a person must be at least 30 years old.

The House of Representatives has 435 members. The number of representatives each state gets depends on its population. Big states like Texas and Florida have many. Small states like Vermont and Alaska have just one. House members serve two-year terms, so they have to win elections more often than senators do. They must be at least 25 years old.

Why two groups instead of one? When the Constitution was being written, small states worried that big states would have all the power. Big states felt the opposite. The two sides argued for weeks. They finally agreed to a compromise, with one chamber based on population and one giving every state equal power. This deal is called the Great Compromise of 1787.

To make a law, both the House and the Senate must pass the same bill. After they do, the bill goes to the President. The President can sign it into law or reject it with a veto. Congress can override a veto, but only if two-thirds of each chamber votes to do so. That high bar means most vetoes stick.

Congress does more than make laws. It controls how the government spends money. It can declare war. It can investigate problems and call witnesses to testify. The Senate must approve the President's choices for judges, ambassadors, and many top officials. Congress can even remove a President from office through a process called impeachment, though this has only happened a few times in U.S. history.

Members of Congress argue a lot, and that is on purpose. The framers of the Constitution wanted hard debate before any law was passed. Some people find the slow pace frustrating. Others say it protects the country from rushed decisions. Either way, almost every federal law in American life began as a bill on the floor of Congress.