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United States House of Representatives

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   Seal of the House of Representatives
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   Seal of the House of Representatives

   The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one
   of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the
   Senate. Each state is represented in the House proportionally to its
   population, and is entitled to at least one Representative. The total
   number of Representatives is currently fixed at 435 by the
   Reapportionment Act of 1929, though Congress has the authority to
   change that number. Each Representative serves for a two-year term and
   may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. The presiding officer
   of the House is known as the Speaker, and is elected by the members.
   The present House delegations by state are shown in the article List of
   U.S. states by population.

   The bicameral Congress arose from the desire of the Founders to create
   a "house of the people" that would represent public opinion, balanced
   by a more deliberative Senate that would represent the governments of
   the individual states, and would be less susceptible to variations of
   mass sentiment. The House is often considered the " lower house," and
   the Senate as the " upper house," although the United States
   Constitution does not use such language. The Constitution provides that
   the approval of both houses is necessary for the passage of
   legislation.

   The House is generally considered a more partisan chamber than the
   Senate. Many of the Founding Fathers intended the Senate (whose members
   were originally chosen by the state legislatures) to be a check on the
   popularly elected House, just as the House was to be a check on the
   Senate. The " advice and consent" powers (such as the power to approve
   treaties) were therefore granted to the Senate alone. The House was
   granted its own exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills,
   impeach officials, and elect the President in electoral college
   deadlocks. The Senate, however, can propose amendments to spending
   bills, try impeached officials, and choose the Vice President in an
   electoral college deadlock. The Senate and its members generally have
   greater prestige than the House since Senators serve longer terms (six
   years) in a smaller body and (in most cases) represent larger
   constituencies than Representatives.

   The House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol.
   The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in
   the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C. This
   photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the
   blackish squares across the top), which display each member's name and
   vote as votes are in progress. The screens are famously used by
   Congressional leaders to identify which members are voting against
   party lines.
   Enlarge
   The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in
   the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C. This
   photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the
   blackish squares across the top), which display each member's name and
   vote as votes are in progress. The screens are famously used by
   Congressional leaders to identify which members are voting against
   party lines.

History

   Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a unicameral body in
   which each state held one vote. The ineffectiveness of the federal
   government under the Articles led Congress to summon a Constitutional
   Convention in 1787; all states except Rhode Island agreed to send
   delegates. The issue of how Congress was to be structured was one of
   the most divisive during the Convention. 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, the Convention
   reached the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, under
   which one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would
   provide representation proportional to each state's population, whereas
   the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation. The
   Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (nine out
   of the 13) in 1788, but its full implementation was set for March 4,
   1789. The House began work on April 1, 1789, when it achieved a quorum
   for the first time. During the first half of the nineteenth century,
   the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over sectionally
   divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous
   than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives.
   However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the
   equal representation of states prevailed. Sectional conflict was most
   pronounced over the issue of slavery. One example of a provision
   repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the
   Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during
   the Mexican-American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues
   persisted until the Civil War (1861–1865), which began soon after
   several southern states seceded from the Union. The war culminated in
   the South's defeat and in the abolition of slavery.

   The years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities
   for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the
   Union's victory in the Civil War. Reconstruction ended in about 1877;
   the ensuing era, known as the Gilded Age, was marked by sharp political
   divisions in the electorate. Both the Democratic and the Republican
   Party held majorities in the House at various times.

   The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw a dramatic increase in
   the power of the Speaker of the House. The rise of the Speaker's
   influence began in the 1890s, during tenure of Republican Thomas
   Brackett Reed. " Czar Reed," as he was nicknamed, attempted to put into
   effect his view that "The best system is to have one party govern and
   the other party watch." The leadership structure of the House also
   developed during approximately the same period, with the positions of
   Majority Leader and Minority Leader being created in 1899. While the
   Minority Leader was the head of the minority party, the Majority Leader
   remained subordinate to the Speaker. The Speakership reached its zenith
   during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon, 1903 to 1911. The
   powers of the Speaker included chairmanship of the influential Rules
   Committee and the ability to appoint members of other House committees.
   These powers, however, were curtailed in the "Revolution of 1910"
   because of the efforts of Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans who
   opposed Cannon's arguably heavy-handed tactics.

   The Democratic Party dominated the House of Representatives during most
   of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945),
   often winning over two-thirds of the seats. Both Democrats and
   Republicans were in power at various times during the next decade. The
   Democratic Party maintained control of the House from 1954 until 1995.
   In the mid-1970s, there were major reforms of the House, strengthening
   the power of sub-committees at the expense of committee chairmen and
   allowing party leaders to nominate committee chairs. These actions were
   taken to undermine the "seniority" system, and to reduce the ability of
   a small number of senior members to obstruct legislation they did not
   favour. There was also a shift from the 1970s to greater control of the
   legislative program by the majority party; in particular, the power of
   party leaders (especially the Speaker) grew considerably. The
   Republicans took control of the House in 1995, under the leadership of
   Speaker Newt Gingrich (see Republican Revolution). Gingrich attempted
   to pass a major legislative program, the Contract with America on which
   the House Republicans had been elected, and made major reforms of the
   House, notably reducing the tenure of committee chairs to three
   two-year terms. Many elements of the Contract did not pass Congress,
   were vetoed by President Bill Clinton, or were substantially altered in
   negotiations with Clinton. The Republicans would hold on to the House
   until the United States Congressional elections, 2006, during which the
   Democrats won back control of both the House of Representatives and the
   Senate.

Membership and qualifications

   Under Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, seats in the House of
   Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of
   population, as determined by the census conducted every ten years. Each
   state, however, is entitled to at least one Representative.

   The only constitutional rule relating to the size of the House says
   "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
   Thousand." (see Article I, Section 2) As the population of the United
   States increased, Congress regularly increased the size of the House
   after the census to account for growth; but the limit became obsolete
   when Congress fixed the size of the House at 435 seats in 1911 (see
   Public Law 62-5). The figure was temporarily increased to 437 in 1959
   to reflect the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states, but returned
   to 435 four years later.

   The Constitution does not provide for the representation of the
   District of Columbia or of territories. However, Congress has passed
   legislation permitting them to elect delegates or Resident
   Commissioners. Delegates and Resident Commissioners are permitted to
   participate in debates and to vote in committees, but they may not vote
   on the floor of the House. The District of Columbia and the territories
   of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are represented by
   one delegate each. Puerto Rico elects a Resident Commissioner, who is
   the only member of Congress elected to a four-year term; other than his
   longer term, however, his role is identical to the delegates from the
   other territories. The Northern Mariana Islands do not currently elect
   any sort of representative to Congress, although legislation has been
   introduced by Rep. Richard Pombo of California that would allow them to
   do so.

   Because Congress does not allow the District of Columbia voting
   representation in Congress, a common phrase has been adopted in the
   city. Taxation Without Representation is now a term used by D.C.
   residents on their license plates and other various locations. The
   movement to give Washington, D.C. a voting representation in Congress
   has become so widespread that Rep. Thomas M Davis (R-VA 11), supported
   by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the sole representative from D.C.,
   has introduced legislation in the House that if passed would permit the
   District of Columbia to have a voting seat in the House (H.R. 5388).

   States that are entitled to more than one Representative are divided
   into single-member districts (see General ticket). Typically, states
   redraw these district lines (see redistricting) after each census,
   though they may do so at other times (see 2003 Texas redistricting).
   Each state determines its own district boundaries, either through
   legislation or through non-partisan panels. " Malapportionment" is
   unconstitutional and districts must be approximately equal in
   population (see Wesberry v. Sanders). The Voting Rights Act prohibits
   states from " gerrymandering" districts to reduce racial minorities'
   voting power.

   Using gerrymandering for political gain is not prohibited, even when
   political gerrymandering incidentally involves the creation of racially
   concentrated districts. Because of gerrymandering, fewer than 10% of
   all House seats are seriously contested in each election cycle. Since
   over 90% of House members are nearly guaranteed reelection every two
   years because of lack of electoral competition, elections have been
   criticized as being contrary to fair competition, one of the principles
   of democracy. The legal gerrymandering of the House, combined with the
   institutionalized gerrymandering of the Senate and the Electoral
   College, have been criticized as being antithetical to democracy and
   representative government.

   Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets forth three
   qualifications for representatives: each representative must be at
   least twenty-five years old, must have been a citizen of the United
   States for the past seven years, and must be (at the time of the
   election) an inhabitant of the state they represent. It is not,
   however, required for the representative to live in the district they
   will represent. The age and citizenship qualifications for
   representatives are less stringent than those for senators.

   Furthermore, under the Fourteenth Amendment, any federal or state
   officer who takes the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but
   later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States, is
   disqualified from becoming a representative. This provision, which came
   into force soon after the end of the American Civil War, was intended
   to prevent those who sided with the Confederacy from serving. The
   Amendment, however, allows a disqualified individual to serve if they
   gain consent of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress.

   Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, on
   the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (see Election Day
   (United States)). Generally, the Republican and Democratic parties
   choose their candidates for each district in primary elections, which
   are typically held several months before. Rules for independent and
   third-party candidates seeking a spot on the November ballot vary from
   state to state. For the general election, almost all states use the
   first-past-the-post system, under which the candidate with a plurality
   of votes (not necessarily an absolute majority) wins. The sole
   exception is Louisiana, which holds an all-party "primary election" on
   the general Election Day, with a subsequent runoff election between the
   top two finishers (regardless of party) if no candidate receives a
   majority in the primary. Seats vacated during a term are filled through
   special elections, though that election will sometimes not take place
   until the next general election date.

   Representatives and delegates serve for two-year terms, while the
   Resident Commissioner serves for four years. Once elected, a
   representative continues to serve until the expiry of his term, death,
   or resignation. Furthermore, the Constitution permits the House to
   expel any member with a two-thirds vote. In the history of the United
   States, only five members have been expelled from the House; three of
   them were removed in 1861 for supporting the Confederate States'
   secession, which led to the Civil War. In 1980, Michael Myers was
   expelled for accepting bribes and James Traficant was expelled in 2002
   following his conviction for corruption. The House also has the power
   to formally censure its members; censure requires only a simple
   majority, but does not remove a member from office.

   Representatives use the prefix " The Honorable" before their names. A
   member of the House, including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner,
   is commonly referred to as a "Congressman" or "Congresswoman." Although
   the Senate also forms a part of Congress, these terms are generally not
   applied to Senators. The term "Representative" is also used to refer to
   a member of the House, although this term is less frequently used.
   Among academics and journalists, the term "Member of Congress" (MC) is
   gaining popularity in reference to members of both houses, with
   "Representative" replacing "Congressman."

Salary

   The annual salary of each Representative is currently $165,200, though
   the Speaker of the House and the Majority and Minority Leaders earn
   more. The Speaker of the House earned $212,100 during the 109th
   Congress (January 4, 2005-January 3, 2007) while the Majority and
   Minority Leaders earned $183,500 (the same as the Leaders in the United
   States Senate). A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes
   effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it. Congress has
   the power to set members' salaries; however, the Twenty-Seventh
   Amendment prohibits a change in wages from taking effect in the same
   two-year term in which it is passed into law.

Officers

   The party with a majority of seats in the House is known as the
   majority party; the next-largest party is the minority party. The
   Speaker, committee chairmen, and some other officials are generally
   from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the
   "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party.

   The Constitution provides that the House may choose its own Speaker.
   Although not explicitly required by the Constitution, every Speaker has
   been a member of the House. The Constitution does not specify the
   duties and powers of the Speaker, which are instead regulated by the
   rules and customs of the House. The Speaker has a role both as a leader
   of the House and the leader of his or her party (which need not be the
   majority party; theoretically, a member of the minority party could be
   elected Speaker with the support of a fraction of members of the
   majority party). Under the Presidential Succession Act (1947), the
   Speaker is second in the line of presidental succession behind the Vice
   President.

   The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House, but does not preside
   over every debate. Instead, he or she delegates the responsibility of
   presiding to other members in most cases. The presiding officer sits in
   a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding
   officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the
   order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech
   or a motion unless he or she has first been recognized by the presiding
   officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on any " point of
   order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached), but the
   decision is subject to appeal to the whole House.

   The Speaker is the chair of his or her party's steering committee,
   which chooses the chairmen of standing committees. The Speaker
   determines which committees consider bills, appoints most of the
   members of the Rules Committee, and appoints all members of conference
   committees. When the Presidency and Congress are controlled by
   different parties, the Speaker can become the de facto "leader of the
   opposition." Since the Speaker is a partisan officer with substantial
   power to control the business of the House, the position is often used
   for partisan advantage.

   Each party elects a floor leader, who is known as the Majority Leader
   or Minority Leader. While the Minority Leader is the full leader of his
   party, the same is not true of the Majority Leader. Instead, the
   Speaker is the head of the majority party; the Majority Leader is only
   the second-highest official. Party leaders decide what legislation
   members of their party should either support or oppose. Each party also
   elects a whip, who works to ensure that the party's members vote as the
   party leadership desires. Representatives are generally less
   independent of party leaders than senators, and usually vote as the
   leadership directs. Incentives to cooperate include the leadership's
   power to select committee chairmen. As a result, the leadership plays a
   much greater role in the House than in the Senate, and the atmosphere
   of the House is regarded by many as more partisan.

   The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The
   House's chief officer is the Clerk, who maintains public records,
   prepares documents, and oversees junior officials, including pages. The
   Clerk also presides over the House at the beginning of each new
   Congress pending the election of a Speaker. Another officer is the
   Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for the day-to-day
   administrative support to the House of Representatives. This includes
   everything from payroll to food service. The position of Chief
   Administrative Officer was created following the 1994 Republican
   Revolution and replaced the positions of Doorkeeper and Director of
   Non-Legislative and Financial Services (which had been created only two
   years prior to provide a nonpartisan management body to administer
   those functions of the House that should not be under partisan
   control). The Chaplain leads the House in prayer at the opening of the
   day. There is also a Sergeant at Arms, who as the House's chief law
   enforcement officer, maintains order and security on House premises.
   Finally, routine police work is handled by the Capitol Police, which is
   supervised by the Capitol Police Board, a body to which the
   Sergeant-at-Arms belongs.

Procedure

   Like the Senate, the House of Representatives meets in the United
   States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At one end of the chamber of the
   House is a rostrum from which the Speaker presides. The lower tier of
   the rostrum is used by clerks and other officials. Members' desks are
   arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern; the desks are
   divided by a wide central aisle. By tradition, Democrats sit on the
   right of the centre aisle, while Republicans sit on the left, as viewed
   from the presiding officer's chair. Sittings are normally held on
   weekdays; meetings on Saturdays and Sundays are rare. Sittings of the
   House are generally open to the public and are broadcast live on
   television by C-SPAN.

   The procedure of the House depends not only on the rules, but also on a
   variety of customs, precedents, and traditions. In many cases, the
   House waives some of its stricter rules (including time limits on
   debates) by unanimous consent. Any member may block a unanimous consent
   agreement, but in practice, objections are rare. The presiding officer
   enforces the rules of the House, and may warn members who deviate from
   them. The presiding officer uses a gavel to maintain order. The box in
   which legislation is placed to be considered by the House is called the
   hopper.

   The Constitution provides that a majority of the House constitutes a
   quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the House, a
   quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly
   demonstrates otherwise. Any member may make a point of order that a
   quorum is not present; if the presiding officer accepts the point of
   order, a quorum call may be held. Although a majority of members are
   not normally present during debates, objections that a quorum is not
   present are rarely made.

   During debates, a member may only speak if called upon by the presiding
   officer. The presiding officer may determine which members to
   recognize, and may therefore control the course of debate. All speeches
   must be addressed to the presiding officer, using the words "Mr.
   Speaker" or "Madam Speaker." Only the presiding officer may be directly
   addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third
   person. In most cases, members do not refer to each other by name, but
   by state, using forms such as "the gentleman from Virginia" or "the
   gentlewoman from California."

   Before legislation reaches the floor of the House, the Rules Committee
   normally passes a rule to govern debate on that measure. For instance,
   the committee determines if amendments to the bill are permitted. An
   "open rule" permits all germane amendments, but a "closed rule"
   restricts or even prohibits amendment. Debate on a bill is generally
   restricted to one hour, equally divided between the majority and
   minority parties. Each side is led during the debate by a "floor
   manager," who allocates debate time to members who wish to speak. On
   contentious matters, many members may wish to speak; thus, a member may
   receive as little as one minute, or even thirty seconds, to make his
   point.

   When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. In many
   cases, the House votes by voice vote; the presiding officer puts the
   question, and Members respond either "Yea" (in favour of the motion) or
   "Nay" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the
   result of the voice vote. Any member, however, may challenge the
   presiding officer's assessment and "request the yeas and nays" or
   "request a recorded vote." The request may be granted only if it is
   seconded by one-fifth of the members present. In practice, however,
   members of congress second requests for recorded votes as a matter of
   courtesy. Recorded votes are automatically held in some cases, such as
   votes on the annual budget.

   The House may vote in three manners. Firstly, the House may vote by
   electronic device; each member uses a personal identification card to
   record his vote at one of 46 voting stations in the chamber. Votes are
   almost always held by electronic device. Secondly, the House may
   conduct a teller vote. Members hand in colored cards to indicate their
   votes: green for "Yea," red for "Nay," and orange for "Present" (i.e.,
   to abstain). Teller votes are normally held only when the computer
   system breaks down. Finally, the House may conduct a roll call vote.
   The Clerk reads the list of members of the House, each of whom
   announces his vote when his name is called. This procedure is reserved
   for very formal votes (such as the election of a Speaker) because of
   the time consumed by calling over four hundred names.

   Voting traditionally lasts for fifteen minutes, but it may be extended
   if the leadership needs to "whip" more Congressmen into alignment. The
   2003 vote on the Prescription Drug Benefit was open for three hours,
   from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m. The 2005 vote on CAFTA was open for one hour,
   from 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. An October 2005 vote on facilitating
   refinery construction was kept open for forty minutes.

   The presiding officer may vote, like any other member. If a vote is
   tied, the presiding officer does not have a casting vote (unless he has
   not yet cast his vote). Instead, motions are decided in the negative
   when ties arise.

Committees

   The House uses committees (as well as their subcommittees) for a
   variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of
   the executive branch. The appointment of committee members is formally
   made by the whole House, but the choice of members is actually made by
   the political parties. Generally, each party honours the preferences of
   individual congressmen and congresswomen, giving priority on the basis
   of seniority. Historically, membership on committees has been in rough
   proportion to the party's strength in the House as a whole, except that
   on the Rules Committee, the majority party usually has a greater than
   two-to-one advantage. However, when party control in the House is
   closely divided, extra seats on committees are sometimes allocated to
   the majority party. (For example in the 109th Congress, the Republicans
   controlled about 53% of the House as a whole, but had 54% of the
   Appropriations Committee members, 55% of the members on the Energy and
   Commerce Committee, 58% of the members on the Judiciary Committee, and
   69% of the members on the Rules Committee.)

   The largest committee of the House is the Committee of the Whole,
   which, as its name suggests, consists of all members of the House. The
   Committee meets in the House chamber; it may consider and amend bills,
   but may not grant them final passage. Generally, the debate procedures
   of the Committee of the Whole are more flexible than those of the House
   itself.

   Most committee work is performed by twenty standing committees, each of
   which has jurisdiction over a specific field such as Agriculture or
   International Relations. Each standing committee considers, amends, and
   reports bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Committees have
   extensive powers with regard to bills; they may block legislation from
   reaching the floor of the House. Standing committees also oversee the
   departments and agencies of the executive branch. In discharging their
   duties, standing committees have the power to hold hearings and to
   subpoena witnesses and evidence.

   The House also has one permanent committee that is not a standing
   committee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Furthermore,
   the Congress includes joint committees, which include members of both
   the Senate and the House of Representatives. Some joint committees
   oversee independent government bodies; for instance, the Joint
   Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress. Other joint
   committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there exists a
   Joint Committee on Taxation. Bills and nominees are not referred to
   joint committees. Hence, the power of joint committees is considerably
   lower than those of standing committees.

   Each House committee and subcommittee is led by a chairman (always a
   member of the majority party). Prior to the reforms of the 1970s,
   committee chairmen were very powerful. Woodrow Wilson suggested:

          Power is nowhere concentrated; it is rather deliberately and of
          set policy scattered amongst many small chiefs. It is divided
          up, as it were, into forty-seven seigniories, in each of which a
          Standing Committee is the court-baron and its chairman
          lord-proprietor. These petty barons, some of them not a little
          powerful, but none of them within the reach of the full powers
          of rule, may at will exercise almost despotic sway within their
          own shires, and may sometimes threaten to convulse even the
          realm itself.

   Formerly, committee chairmanship was determined purely by seniority;
   however, the rules were changed in 1975 to permit party caucuses to
   elect chairmen. In 1995, Republicans under Newt Gingrich set a limit of
   three two-year terms for committee chairmen. The chairman's powers are
   extensive; he controls the committee's agenda, and may prevent the
   committee from approving a bill. Modern committee chairmen are
   typically not forceful in exerting their influence, although there have
   been some exceptions. The second-highest member, the spokesperson on
   the committee for the minority party, is known in most cases as the
   Ranking Member.

Legislative functions

   Most bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. 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. The constitutional
   provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on
   the practice of the British Parliament, in which only the House of
   Commons may originate such measures.

   Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the
   power to amend or reject them. As Woodrow Wilson wrote:

          [T]he Senate's right to amend [revenue bills] has been allowed
          the widest possible scope. The upper house may add to them what
          it pleases; may go altogether outside of their original
          provisions and tack to them entirely new features of
          legislation, altering not only the amounts but even the objects
          of expenditure, and making out of the materials sent them by the
          popular chamber measures of an almost totally new character.

   The approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives is
   required for any bill, including a revenue bill, to become law. Both
   Houses must pass the exact same version of the bill; if there are
   differences, they may be resolved by a conference committee, which
   includes members of both bodies. For the stages through which bills
   pass in the Senate, see Act of Congress.

Checks and balances

   The Constitution provides that the Senate's "advice and consent" is
   necessary for the President to make certain appointments, and to ratify
   treaties, however the House must also confirm the nomination of a new
   Vice President under the 25^th Amendment. Thus, in terms of potential
   to frustrate Presidential appointments, the powers of the Senate are
   more extensive than those of the House.

   The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach
   federal officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and
   Misdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. The
   House may approve "articles of impeachment" by a simple majority vote;
   however, a two-thirds vote is required for conviction in the Senate. 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. No further punishment is permitted during the
   impeachment proceedings; 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,
   Richard Nixon, resigned after the House Judiciary Committee passed
   Articles of Impeachment but before a formal impeachment vote by the
   full House.) 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.

   Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House has the power to elect the
   President if no presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in
   the electoral college. The Twelfth Amendment requires the House to
   choose from the three candidates with the highest numbers of electoral
   votes. The Constitution provides that "the votes shall be taken by
   states, the representation from each state having one vote." Electoral
   college deadlocks are very rare; in the history of the United States,
   the House has only had to break a deadlock twice. In 1800, it elected
   Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr; in 1824, it elected John Q. Adams
   over Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford. The power to elect the
   Vice President in the case of an electoral college deadlock belongs to
   the Senate.

Latest elections

2004 (House makeup as result of 2004 election)

   CAPTION: Summary of the 2 November 2004 United States House of
   Representatives election results

          Parties                  Seats             Popular vote
                          2002^1 2004 +/ Strength    Vote       %    Change
   Republican Party          229  232 +3    53.3%  55,713,412  49.2%  -0.4%
   Democratic Party          205  202 -3    46.4%  52,745,121  46.6%  +1.6%
   Independent                 1    1  0     0.2%     674,202   0.6%  +0.1%
   Libertarian Party                                1,040,465   0.9%  -0.5%
   Green Party                                        331,298   0.3%  -0.1%
   Independence Parties                               246,070   0.2%   0.0%
   Working Families Party                             145,979   0.1%    N/A
   Constitution Party                                 132,613   0.1%   0.0%
   Reform Party                                        85,539   0.1%  +0.1%
   Other parties                                    2,063,606   1.8%  -0.8%
   Total                   435   435  0   100.0%  113,192,286 100.0%   –
   Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

   ^1 Vacancy: death of Patsy Mink ( D- Hawaii).

2006 (Convenes January 2007)

   CAPTION: Summary of the November 7, 2006 United States House of
   Representatives election results

        Party              Seats              Popular Vote
                    2004 2006 +/−   %       Vote      %     +/−
   Democratic Party 202  ≥232 +30        39,267,916 57.7%  +11.1%
   Republican Party 232  ≥199 −29        28,464,092 41.8%  –7.4%
   Independents     1    0    −1         69,707     0.1%   −0.5%
   Others           0    0    0          255,876    0.4%   –3.2%
   Undecided Seats  N/A  4    N/A N/A    N/A        N/A    N/A
   Total            435  435  0   100.0% 68,057,591 100.0% 0
   view, talk, edit

   Data subject to change as the remaining races are tallied.
   Undecided: TX-23 (run-off election in December); NC-08, OH-02, and
   OH-15 (too close to call)
   Special cases: LA-02 (Called for the Democratic party - run-off
   election between two Democratic candidates in December); FL-13 (Called
   for the Republican party, but the results will be disputed in court)

Current composition

   Percent of members for each party by state
   Enlarge
   Percent of members for each party by state

      Afiliation    Members Delegates / Resident Commissioner (non-voting)
   Republican Party   230                         1
   Democratic Party   204                         4
   Independent         1
        Total         435                         5
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