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Congress of the United States

The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Senate (the upper house). The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. Seats in the House are apportioned among the states on the basis of population; by contrast, each state is represented in the Senate by two members, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. Both representatives and senators are directly elected by the people, but in some states the governor may appoint a temporary replacement when a Senate seat is vacant.

The United States Constitution vests all legislative powers of the federal government in the Congress. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The powers of Congress include the authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, to levy taxes, to establish federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court, to maintain the armed forces, and to declare war. There is a general clause, granting all powers necessary and proper to the execution of the Constitution and the enumerated powers. The general purposes expressed in the Preamble have also been interpreted as authorizing Acts of Congress.

The Senate is fully equal to the House of Representatives, and is not a "chamber of review," as is the case with the upper houses of the bicameral legislatures of many other nations. However, there are some special powers granted to one chamber only; the Senate alone votes to confirm or reject the president's appointments (to federal executive and judicial positions) and ratify treaties, while revenue raising bills must originate in the House.

Both chambers meet in the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

History

The Continental Congresses

The Congress of the United States derives from First Continental Congress, a meeting of representatives of twelve of Great Britain's seventeen North American colonies, in the autumn of 1774. The Continental Congress sent a list of grievances to King George III. When the King failed to respond, and the American Revolutionary War commenced in April 1775, the Second Continental Congress was convened—this time with thirteen colonies in attendance. A year later, on 4 July 1776, the Continental Congress declared the thirteen colonies free and independent states, referring to them as the "united States of America." This was not a formal name, however, so "united" was not capitalised in the Declaration of Independence, "States" being capitalised only because all nouns were capitalised in English before the Industrial Revolution. The Second Continental Congress continued in office while the War for Independence continued, producing the Articles of Confederation—the United States' first constitution—in 1777, which was ratified by all of the states by 1781.

Congress before the Constitution

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a unicameral body in which each state was equally represented, and in which each state had a veto over most action. States could, and did, ignore what did pass. The uneffectiveness of the federal government under the Articles led Congress to summon the Convention of 1787. Originally intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, it ended up writing a completely new constitution. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates. One of the most divisive issues facing the Convention was the structure of Congress. James Madison's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress; the lower house would be elected directly by the people, and the upper house would be elected by the lower house. The plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. Eventually, a compromise, known as the Connecticut Compromise or the Great Compromise was reached; one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide proportional representation, whereas the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation. In order to preserve further the authority of the states, it was provided that state legislatures, rather than the people, would elect senators. The Constitution would be established when nine of the thirteen states ratified it. Eleven had ratified by the end of 1788, and its full implementation was set for March 4, 1789. North Carolina ratified in 1789; Rhode Island in 1790.

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

The Republic of Vermont had been an independent nation since it had seceded from New York and New Hampshire in 1777. They did not recognize the state; and it had not been represented in any Continental Congress, or at the treaty that ended the war. Vermont ratified the Constitution (the only acceding state to do so) in 1791.

The early nineteenth century was marked by frequent clashes between the House of Representatives and the Senate. For most of the first half of the nineteenth century, a balance between the free North and the slaveholding South existed in the Senate, as the numbers of free and slave states were equal. However, since the North was much more populous than the South, it dominated the House of Representatives.

After the Civil War, the Gilded Age was marked by Republican dominance of Congress—and the Presidency—despite the Democratic lock on the Solid South. Many were discontented with the power of state legislatures to elect senators. In many cases, Senate elections were tainted by corruption and bribery; in other instances, gridlock between the two houses of state legislatures prevented the election of a senator. (In one acute case, deadlock prevented the Delaware legislature from sending a senator to Washington for four years.) These issues were addressed by the Seventeenth Amendment (ratified in 1913), which provided for the direct election of senators.

Twentieth century

The early twentieth century witnessed the rise of party leadership in both houses of Congress. In the House of Representatives, the office of Speaker became extremely powerful, reaching its zenith under the Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon. Leaders in the Senate were somewhat less powerful; individual senators still retained much of their influence. In particular, committee chairmen remained particularly strong in both houses until the reforms of the 1970s.

During the long administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945), the Democratic Party controlled both houses of Congress, in some elections winning over two-thirds of the seats in each house. Both the Republicans and the Democrats were in control at various points during the next decade. However, after winning the elections of 1954, the Democratic Party was the majority party in both houses of Congress for forty years, except for one short period during the Reagan administration when the Republicans held a majority of seats in the Senate. The Republicans finally returned to a majority position, in both houses of Congress, in the election of 1994 (see the articles Republican Revolution and Newt Gingrich). The Republicans controlled both houses until 2001.

Twenty-first century

The shifting senate majorities of the 107th Congress

During the 107th Congress (2001–2003), party control of the Senate shifted several times.

Republican Majority: Since 1995, Republicans had held majority control of the Senate.

Democratic Majority: In the November 2000 general election, Democrats picked up four seats, which produced a 50-50 split. As a result, the Democrats technically regained control of the Senate at the beginning of the 107th Congress, on January 3, 2001, because Vice President Al Gore, could cast a tie-breaking vote for the Democrats.

Republican Majority: On January 20, Vice President Al Gore was replaced by Dick Cheney and the Republicans regained control, still with a 50-50 split, but now with a tie-breaking vote for the Republicans.

Democratic Majority: The Democrats regained control of the Senate on June 6, when Jim Jeffords, the senior Republican Senator from Vermont, declared himself an Independent. He was willing to cooperate with the Democrats in reorganizing the Senate. The Democrats lost their official controlling majority on October 25, 2002, when Paul Wellstone, a Democrat from Minnesota died. On November 5, Wellstone was replaced by Dean Barkley, of the Independence Party of Minnesota.

Republican Majority: On November 25, Republican James Talent of Missouri, replaced Democrat Jean Carnahan. The Senate had already adjoured for the remained of the session, so there was no practical significance of the change. The Republicans controlled the Senate for the remainder of the session and through the next Congress as well.

Since January 3, 2003, the Republicans have controlled both houses. The current allocation (as of 2005) in the House is: 231 Republicans, 202 Democrats, 1 Independent, 1 Vacancy; and in the Senate is: 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats, 1 Independent.

Composition

The House of Representatives consists of 435 members representing the fifty states. Seats are apportioned among the states on the basis of population, but every state, regardless of size, is guaranteed at least one seat. Representatives are directly elected by single-member constituencies known as congressional districts. Each state may draw the boundaries of its districts, subject to certain legal requirements; for instance, districts must have approximately equal populations. Representatives serve for two-year terms.

The Senate consists of 100 members, two representing each state regardless of population. A senator is elected not by a district, but by a state as a whole. Senators serve for terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the Senate seats are up for election every two years. The staggering of the terms is arranged such that both seats from a given state are never contested in the same general election. The District of Columbia and the territories are not represented in the Senate in any manner.

The Constitution makes no provision for representation in Congress for citizens of the District of Columbia or the territories. Attempts to change the situation, regarding lack of the District of Columbia voting rights, including the proposed District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, have been unsuccessful. Currently, the District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are represented by a single delegate each, while Puerto Rico elects a Resident Commissioner. Delegates and Resident Commissioners may participate in debates, but may not vote on the floor of the House. Delegates serve for two-year terms; the Resident Commissioner serves for a four-year term.

Generally, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates in primary elections. Ballot access rules for independent and third party candidates vary from state to state. General elections are held in every even-numbered year, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (Election Day). Special elections are held whenever vacancies arise; in the case of the Senate, however, the Governor of a state normally holds the power to appoint temporarily a senator until a special election can be held. In almost all cases, general and special elections are conducted by the first-past-the-post electoral system. Louisiana, however, uses runoff voting for congressional elections.

Procedure

The Constitution authorizes the House of Representatives to elect its own Speaker. The Speaker's powers as presiding officer are extensive; he or she controls the course of debate and enforces the rules of the House. Normally, the Speaker does not personally preside over debates; instead, the task is delegated to other members. The Speaker is also the head of the majority party, outranking the Majority Leader.

The Vice President of the United States is ex officio the President of the Senate; he or she has no vote except in the case of a tie. The Senate also elects a President pro tempore, or "temporary President," to preside when the Vice President is absent. The President pro tempore, by custom, is the most senior senator of the majority party. Neither the Vice President nor the President pro tempore regularly presides; instead, the duty is performed by other senators. The powers of the President pro tempore are much less extensive than those of the Speaker. He or she does not head the majority party in the Senate; rather, the Majority Leader is the full head of the Senate majority party.

The Constitution specifies that a majority of members constitutes a quorum to do business in each house. The rules of each house provide that a quorum is assumed to be present unless a quorum call demonstrates the contrary. Representatives and senators rarely force the presence of a quorum by demanding quorum calls; thus, in most cases, debates continue even if a majority is not present.

Both houses use voice voting to decide most matters; members shout out "aye" or "no," and the presiding officer announces the result. The Constitution, however, requires a recorded vote on the demand of one-fifth of the members present. If the result of the voice vote is unclear, or if the matter is controversial, a recorded vote usually ensues. The Senate uses roll call votes; a clerk calls out the names of all the senators, each senator stating "aye" or "no" when his or her name is announced. The House reserves roll call votes for the most formal matters; normally, members vote by electronic device. In the case of a tie, the motion in question fails; however, in the Senate, the Vice President may (if present) cast the tiebreaking vote.

Term

Originally, a new term of Congress began on March 4 of every odd-numbered year. As a result, there was a long "lame duck" period between the election in November and the swearing-in of new members. The Twentieth Amendment, passed in 1933, shortened the lame duck period and provided that congressional terms would begin at noon on January 3 of every odd-numbered year.

At the beginning of each new term, the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate (those who were chosen in the election the previous November) are sworn in. The oath taken is provided by statute: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." The House of Representatives also elects a Speaker to preside over debates. The President pro tempore of the Senate, by contrast, holds office continuously; normally, a new President pro tempore is only elected if the previous one retires, or if there is a change in the majority party.

A term of Congress is divided into "sessions," usually two, each a year long. A new session commences on January 3 (or another date, if Congress so chooses) each year. The Constitution requires Congress to meet at least once each year. At some time during the first two months of each session, the President customarily delivers the State of the Union Address, a speech in which he or she assesses the situation of the country and outlines his or her legislative proposals for the congressional session. The speech is modeled on the Speech from the Throne given by the British monarch, and is mandated by the Constitution of the United States. Thomas Jefferson discontinued the original practice of delivering the speech in person before both houses of Congress, deeming it too monarchical. Instead, Jefferson and his successors sent a written message to Congress each year. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson reestablished the practice of personally attending to deliver the speech; few Presidents have deviated from this custom since.

The Constitution forbids either house from meeting any place outside the Capitol, or from adjourning for more than three days, without the consent of the other house. The provision was intended to prevent one house from thwarting legislative business simply by refusing to meet. To avoid obtaining consent during long recesses, the House or Senate may sometimes hold pro forma meetings, sometimes only minutes long, every three days. The consent of both bodies is required for Congress's final adjournment, or adjournment sine die, at the end of each congressional session. If the two houses cannot agree on a date, the Constitution permits the President to settle the dispute.

It is conventional to refer to each Congress by the ordinal number of its term. Thus, the current Congress (whose term lasts from 2005 to 2007) is known as the "109th Congress"; the previous Congress (whose term lasted from 2003 to 2005) was the "108th Congress," and so forth.

Legislative functions

The House Financial Services committee meets. Committee members sit in the tiers of raised chairs, while those testifying and audience members sit below.

A proposal may be introduced in Congress as a bill, a joint resolution, a concurrent resolution, or a simple resolution. Most legislative proposals may be introduced as bills, but some are introduced as joint resolutions. There is little practical difference between the two, except that joint resolutions may include preambles, but bills may not. On the other hand, concurrent resolutions (passed by both houses) and simple resolutions (passed by only one house) do not have the force of law. Instead, they serve to express the opinion of Congress, or to regulate procedure.

Members of Congress often introduce legislation at the behest of lobbyists. Lobbyists advocate the passage (or rejection) of bills affecting the interest of a particular group (such as a corporation or a labor union). In many cases, the lobbyists write legislation and submit it to a member for introduction. Congressional lobbyists are legally required to be registered in a central database, and are employed by political organizations, corporations, state governments, foreign governments, and numerous other groups. In 2005, there are almost 35,000 registered Congressional lobbyists, representing a doubling since 2000. Many prominent lobbyists are ex-members of Congress.

Bills (and other proposals) may be introduced by any member of either house. However, the Constitution provides that: "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." As a result, the Senate does not have the power to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the power to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds. Historically, the Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House. However, whenever the Senate originates an appropriations bill, the House simply refuses to consider it, thereby settling the dispute in practice. Although it cannot originate revenue and appropriation bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them.

Each bill goes through several stages in each house; the first stage involves consideration by a committee. Most legislation is considered by standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a particular subject matter, such as Agriculture or Appropriations. The House has twenty standing committees, but the Senate has only sixteen. In some cases, bills may be sent to select committees (which tend to have more narrow jurisdictions than standing committees. Each standing and select committee is led by a chairman (who belongs to the majority party) and a ranking member (who belongs to the minority party). Committees are permitted to hold hearings and collect evidence when considering bills. They may also amend the bill, but the full house holds the power to accept or reject committee amendments. After considering and debating a measure, the committee votes on whether it wishes to report the measure to the full house.

A decision not to report a bill amounts to a rejection of the proposal. Both houses provide for procedures under which the committee can be bypassed or overruled, but they are rarely used. If reported by the committee, the bill reaches the floor of the full house. The house may debate and amend the bill; the precise procedures used by the House of Representatives and the Senate differ. A final vote on the bill follows.

Central party discipline does not normally govern the voting patterns of members of either house of Congress. Personal reputation, fundraising, and campaigning tend to play a major part in congressional elections; support from the national party alone may not suffice. Thus, as members of Congress tend not to rely on the national party organizations for support, they tend to be more independent of the leadership. The power of the leadership is diminished by the fact that the power to "punish" wayward members is slight. The degree of independence is arguably even greater in the Senate than in the House. The party leadership may use the "catch and release" strategy in order to ensure the passage of important legislation with the support of reluctant members. The leaders "catch" a member, pressuring him or her to vote in favor of the legislation even if it is unpopular in the member's constituency. Then, if the bill has sufficient support to pass anyway, the member may be "released," that is, permitted to vote as he or she pleases. Hence, members may avoid alienating influential special interest groups, while at the same time remaining loyal to the party.

Once a bill is approved by one house, it is sent to the other, which may pass, reject, or amend it. In order for the bill to become law, both houses must agree to identical versions of the bill. If the second house amends the bill, then the differences between the two versions must be reconciled in a conference committee, an ad hoc committee that includes both senators and representatives. In many cases, conference committees have introduced substantial changes to bills and added unrequested spending, significantly departing from both the House and Senate versions. President Ronald Reagan once quipped, "If an orange and an apple went into conference consultations, it might come out a pear." If both houses agree to the version reported by the conference committee, the bill passes; otherwise, it fails.

After passage by both houses, a bill is submitted to the President. The President may choose to sign the bill, thereby making it law. The President may also choose to veto the bill, returning it to Congress with his or her objections. In such a case, the bill only becomes law if each house of Congress votes to override the veto with a two-thirds majority. Finally, the President may choose to take no action, neither signing nor vetoing the bill. In such a case, the Constitution states that the bill automatically becomes law after ten days (excluding Sundays). However, if Congress adjourns (ends a legislative session) during the ten day period, then the bill does not become law. Thus, the President may veto legislation passed at the end of a congressional session simply by ignoring it; the maneuver is known as a pocket veto, and cannot be overridden by the adjourned Congress.

Powers and limits

Section 8 of Article One of the United States Constitution sets forth the powers of Congress. The most important powers are the powers to levy troops and collect taxes, to borrow money, to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states, to coin money, to establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court, to raise and maintain the armed forces, and to declare war. There are a a number of other specific powers. Furthermore, the "necessary and proper clause" of the Constitution permits Congress to make "all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution" its other powers and the rest of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has interpreted the necessary and proper clause broadly, which has permitted the Congress wide authority. There are additional powers other parts of the Constitution grant. For instance, Congress has the power to admit new states to the Union (Article Four). Other powers have been granted, or confirmed, by constitutional amendments.

Section 9 of Article One places certain limits of congressional authority. For instance, Congress may not suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus (except in extreme cases of rebellion or invasion), pass bills of attainder or ex post facto laws, or grant titles of nobility. Several other restrictions are specified by constitutional amendments, especially the Bill of Rights. The last clause of the Bill of Rights, the Tenth Amendment, provides that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The Constitution does not explicitly state that the courts may exercise judicial review (the power to strike down laws on the grounds of unconstitutionality). However, the notion that courts could declare laws unconstitutional was accepted by several delegates; for example, Alexander Hamilton mentioned and expounded the doctrine in Federalist No. 78. In 1803, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, established the legitimacy of judicial review in deciding Marbury v. Madison; which was a generally negative decision. After Marbury, the Supreme Court did not strike down an Act of Congress for over fifty years, until deciding Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857. It did, however, strike down many State laws, a power deduced from the Constitution rather than expressly granted. Since then, however, numerous laws passed by Congress have been declared unconstitutional.

Checks and balances

The influence of Congress on the presidency has varied from one period to another; it depends largely on the leadership and the political influence of the President. The authors of the Constitution expected the greater power to lie with Congress and that is one reason they are described in Article One. Under the first half-dozen Presidents, power seems to have been evenly divided between the President and Congress; in part because early Presidents largely restricted their vetoes to claims of unconstitutionality.

Andrew Jackson dominated his Congresses; his successors were weaker men (excluding Abraham Lincoln, and perhaps Polk and van Buren). Senators ruled, including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Thomas Hart Benton, Stephen Douglas, Thaddeus Stevens. The impeachment of Andrew Johnson, completed this trend, making the presidency much less powerful than Congress. During the late nineteenth century, President Grover Cleveland aggressively attempted to restore the executive branch's power, vetoing over four hundred bills during his first term. The twentieth century has seen the rise of the power of the Presidency under Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and others (see Imperial Presidency). In recent years, Congress has restricted the powers of the President with laws such as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the War Powers Resolution; nevertheless, the Presidency remains considerably more powerful than during the nineteenth century.

One of the most important non-legislative functions of the Congress is the power to investigate and to oversee the executive branch. This power is usually delegated to committees—standing committees, special committees, select committees, or joint committees composed of members of both houses. Investigations are conducted to gather information on the need for future legislation, to test the effectiveness of laws already passed, and to inquire into the qualifications and performance of members and officials of the other branches. Committees may hold hearings, and, if necessary, compel individuals to testify by issuing subpoenas. Witnesses who refuse to testify may be cited for contempt of Congress, and those who testify falsely may be charged with perjury. Most committee hearings are open to the public; important hearings are widely reported in the mass media.

The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials (both executive and judicial) for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The Senate is constitutionally empowered to try all impeachments. A simple majority in the House is required to impeach an official; however, a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required for conviction. A convicted official is automatically removed from office; in addition, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant be banned from holding office in the future. Impeachment proceedings may not inflict more than this; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law. In the history of the United States, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (Another resigned before the Senate could complete the trial). Only two Presidents of the United States have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

Congress has the power to break deadlocks in the electoral college. If no presidential candidate achieves an electoral majority, the House may elect the President from the three candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. Similarly, if no vice presidential candidate achieves an electoral majority, the Senate may elect the Vice President from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. Several of the members of the Constitutional Convention expected that, while Washington would be overwhelmingly elected as first President under the Constitution, selection by the House would be the normal method after him.

The Constitution entrusts certain powers to the Senate alone, and not to the House of Representatives. The President may not appoint Cabinet officials, judges, and other high officers without first obtaining the "advice and consent" of the Senate. The Senate confirms most presidential nominees, but rejections are not uncommon. Furthermore, the President may ratify treaties only with the assent of a two-thirds majority in the Senate. The House of Representatives has no formal role in either the appointment of federal officials or the ratification of treaties.

Privileges

Under the Constitution, members of both houses enjoy the privilege of being free from arrest in all cases, except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace. This immunity applies to members "during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same." The term "arrest" has been interpreted broadly, and includes any detention or delay in the course of law enforcement, including court summons and subpoenas. The rules of the House very strictly guard this privilege; a member may not waive the privilege on his or her own, but must seek the permission of the whole house to do so. Senate rules, on the other hand, are less strict, and permit individual senators to waive the privilege as they see fit.

The Constitution also guarantees freedom of debate in both houses, providing, "for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place." Hence, a member of Congress may not be sued for slander because of remarks made in either house. However, each house has its own rules restricting offensive speeches, and may punish members who transgress them.

Obstructing the work of Congress is a crime under federal law, and is known as contempt of Congress. Each house of Congress has the power to cite individuals for contempt, but may not impose any punishment. Instead, after a house issues a contempt citation, the judicial system pursues the matter like a normal criminal case. If convicted in court, an individual found guilty of contempt of Congress may be imprisoned for up to one year.

Another privilege is the use of the Library of Congress, which is across the street from the Capitol. The Library's primary mission is to serve the Congress and its staff. To do this, the Congressional Research Service provides detailed, up-to-date and non-partisan research for Senators, Representatives, and their staff to help them carry out their functions as national servants.

Member groups

* Congressional Black Caucus, a group of African-American members of Congress
* Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a group representing Hispanics in the United States and Puerto Rico
* Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, a group representing Asian Pacific Americans

See also

* List of United States Congresses
* List of members of the House of Representatives
* List of senators
* Library of Congress

References

* Baker, Ross K. (2000). House and Senate, 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton.
* Berman, Daniel M. (1964). In Congress Assembled: The Legislative Process in the National Government. London: The Macmillan Company.
* Davidson, Roger H., and Walter J. Oleszek. (1998). Congress and Its Members, 6th ed. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly.
* Herrick, Rebekah. (2001). "Gender effects on job satisfaction in the House of Representatives." Women and Politics, 23 (4), 85–98.
* Hunt, Richard. (1998). "Using the Records of Congress in the Classroom," OAH Magazine of History, 12 (Summer): 34–37.
* Imbornoni, Ann-Marie, David Johnson, and Elissa Haney. (2005). "Famous Firsts by American Women." Infoplease.
* Lee, Frances and Bruce Oppenheimer. (1999). Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
* Rimmerman, Craig A. (1990). "Teaching Legislative Politics and Policy Making." Political Science Teacher, 3 (Winter): 16–18.
* Ritchie, Donald A. (1997). "What Makes a Successful Congressional Investigation." OAH Magazine of History, 11 (Spring): 6–8.
* Story, Joseph. (1891). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. (2 vols). Boston: Brown & Little.
* Wilson, Woodrow. (1885). Congressional Government. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

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