of Congress are open to the public and are reported by the press, television, and radio; the occasional executive sessions of the Senate are not. Except for material deemed secret because of its crucial importance to the national welfare, the proceedings of Congress are published in the Congressional Record. p> Once in session, neither house may adjourn for more than three days, or to another place, without the consent of the other house. A disagreement between the two houses over the date of adjournment may be resolved by the president, who is empowered by Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution to "adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. "No president has ever exercised this power.
Each house makes its own rules of procedure, but the Constitution stipulates that a majority in each house constitutes a quorum. If fewer members than a majority are in attendance, they may compel the attendance of a sufficient number, present in the Capitol but not in the chamber, to form a quorum.
The Committee System
Both houses facilitate business by a committee system, and each has a fixed number of permanent committees, called standing committees, the chief function of which is considering and preparing legislation. Each house may create an indeterminate number of impermanent committees, known as select committees, for investigations of profiteering in war contracts, of election frauds, and of subversive activities. These select committees, which expire when their purposes are fulfilled, are created on the theory that their investigations are useful in framing legislation. Since 1800, Congress has found it expedient to establish a number of joint standing committees. Temporary joint committees are also established occasionally by Congress. A notable one was the Joint Congressional Committee on Labor-Management Relations, created by the Labor-Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act of 1947, to observe the operation of that law and to make a final report on it to Congress on January 2, 1949. Differences between the two houses of Congress over legislation, usually in the form of amendments made by one house to bills initiated by the other, are generally reconciled in conference committees consisting of managers appointed by the presiding officers of the two houses. If no agreement is reached by the conference committees, the legislation in dispute fails.
Senate
Senate one of the two houses of the legislature of the United States, established in 1789 under the Constitution. Each state elects two senators for six-year terms, the terms of about one-third of the Senate membership expiring every two years. p> The role of the Senate was conceived by the Founding Fathers as a check on the popularly elected House of Representatives. Thus each state, regardless of size or population, is equally represented. Further, until the Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution (1913), election to the Senate was indirect, by the state legislatures. They are now elected directly by voters of each state. p> The Senate shares with the House of Representatives responsibility for all lawmaking within the United States. For an act of Congress to be valid, both houses must approve an identical document.
The Senate is given important powers under the "advice and consent" provisions (Article II, section 2) of the Constitution: ratification of treaties requires a two-thirds majority of all senators present and a simple majority for approval of important public appointments, such as those of Cabinet members, ambassadors, and judges of the Supreme Court. The Senate also adjudicates impeachment proceedings initiated in the House of Representatives, a two-thirds majority being necessary for conviction.
As in the House of Representatives, political parties and the committee system dominate procedure and organization. Each party elects a leader, generally a senator of considerable influence in his own right, to coordinate Senate activities. The Senate leaders also play an important role in appointing members of their party to the Senate committees, which consider and process legislation and exercise general control over government agencies and departments. Sixteen standing committees are grouped mainly around major policy areas, each having staffs, budgets, and various subcommittees. Among important standing committees are those on appropriations, finance, government operations, and foreign relations. At "mark-up" sessions, which may be open or closed, the final language for a law is considered. Select and special committees are also created to make studies or to conduct investigations and report to the Senate - for example, the Select Committee on Ethics and the Special Committee on Aging.
The smaller membership of the Senate permits more extended debate than is common in the House of Representatives. To check a filibuster - endless d...
