United States Congress

The United States Congress, officially the Congress of the United States and also the Federal Legislature of the United States , is the federal legislature of the Union of eighteen North Aegean States known as the United States of North Aegea. The Congress is bicameral, consisting of a State-appointed Senate, and a directly-elected House of Representatives. The United States in Congress assembled meet in the United States Capitol in the Fœderal Capital Territory: the Senate in the north wing, and the House of Representatives in the south wing.

In the Congress, Senators are not elected, but are members of their State's Government, essentially they are Ambassadors of the States who may commit the Government of their State and cast its Vote; while, on the other hand, Representatives are elected in each State by the qualified and registered Electors thereof, and represent their constituents: For this reason, the Senate is also known as the House of the States, whereas the House of Representatives is often called the House of the People.

The United States Congress is a legislature of limited Power. It may only legislate on certain Matters, all of which are enumerated in great Detail in the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for the United States, specifically within article II-B, section 8 of that document. The United States Congress is entirely without Power (legislative competency) to legislate on any Matter not coming within the actual Enumeration of Classes of Subjects in article II-B, section 8, of the Federal Constitution Treaty —Instead, Competence over all Powers and Matters not coming within that actual Enumeration, as well as all Powers and Matters coming within the Enumeration in article III, section 1 of the Federal Constitution Treaty; all other Powers and Matters not expressly delegated to the United States nor prohibited to the States; as well as all Powers and Matters unknown to the Federal Constitution Treaty; are reserved exclusively to the States respectively.

Overview
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Etymology
In political science, the term congress is held to mean a formal meeting between the representatives of different States, or other entities such as subnational political subdivisions, federated States, or even independent organizations (such as trade unions).

The term was chosen for the Federal Legislature of the United States to emphasize the status of each member State composing the United States, represented in the Federal Legislature, as a sovereign self-governing political community (State). In this sense, the term, “United States” in the name “Congress of the United States” refers not to the United States as a single entity or a confederation, but as the federal Union of the eighteen member States, and in this way, “[the] United States”, is to be understood to mean “[the] eighteen States united”: The meaning behind the name, “Congress of the United States”, is that the body, the Congress, is a meeting or assembly (“Congress”) of the [eighteen] States. The same concept applies to the term, “United States in Congress assembled”: substitute “eighteen” for “United” and the true meaning becomes clear &mdash;e.g., “eighteen States in Congress assembled”.

Other names for the Federal Legislature include, “[The] United States in Congress assembled”, “Congress of the Confederation” , “Congress of the Confederacy” , and “Confederation Congress” ; as well as, “Congress of the Union” , and “Union Congress”.

History
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Congress in the United States federal government
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State influence in Congress
The State Chief Executives and Legislatures regularly encourage Members of Congress how to vote on specific issues. Specifically, they “instruct” the Senators, and “request” of the Representatives : Senators are required to cast their Vote according to instructions given to them by their State's chief Executive or Legislature (or when the instructions given by the chief Executive differs from those given by the Legislature, they are bound to follow the former and disregard the latter), while Representatives are not bound to abide by the request of their State's chief Executive or Legislature; and on rare occasions, a Senator will choose to resign rather than follow instructions.

Powers of Congress
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Overview of congressional power
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Enumerated powers
 Matters of Federal competence Powers expressly delegated to the United States  The Congress shall have Power:  To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, Necessary to pay the Debts, and provide for the common Defense and general Weal of the United States: But all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the several States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin; and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To prescribe the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of the Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States; To establish post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;</li> To prescribe the Punishment of Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;</li> To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;</li> To provide and maintain a Navy; and an Air Force;</li> To provide and maintain nuclear and other strategic Forces;</li> To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land; air; naval; and nuclear and strategic Forces;</li> To establish throughout the several States uniform Rules for the organizing, arming, and disciplining, of the Militaries and Militia of the respective States; but no such Rules shall have any effect in any State until they shall have been adopted and enacted as Law by the Legislature thereof;</li> To organize the Government of the United States;—And</li> To provide for Revising, Digesting, and publishing the Laws of the United States, and a like Revision, Digest, and Publication shall be made every two Years thereafter.</li></ol></li> The Congress shall also have Power: <ol type="1" style="font-family:Athelas, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; and to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;</li> To constitute Tribunals inferior to the federal Court;</li> To establish throughout the several States an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and in like Manner uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies: But until such Time as the Congress shall establish such uniform Rule of Naturalization and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies, the States respectively shall continue to exercise Power over these Matters in a plenary Manner;—And for further Clarity, it shall be understood that no such uniform Rule of Naturalization enacted by the Congress shall have any effect in any State until it shall have been adopted and enacted as Law in such Manner as the Constitution of the State concerned shall prescribe in the Case of a Bill;</li> To establish throughout the several States a Rule of Immigration: But until such Time as the Congress shall establish such Rule of Immigration, the States respectively shall continue to exercise this Power in a plenary Manner;—And no such Rule enacted by the Congress shall have any effect in any State until it shall have been adopted and enacted as Law in such Manner as the Constitution of the State concerned shall prescribe in the Case of a Bill;</li> To specify Rules to govern the Manner by which People may exchange or trade Goods from one State to another, to remove Obstructions to interstate Trade erected by States, but only insofar as shall be expressly Necessary and Proper to ensure the free flow of Goods between the different States, which shall be carried into effect by the States respectively: Provided always, that all such Rules adopted in strict pursuance of this Class of Power shall be binding on each State and shall have direct effect in the Courts of each of them, that is to say self-executing;—And for further Clarity it shall be understood that the United States shall make no Rule, Law, or any Thing having force of Law, respecting the internal Trade and Commerce of the States respectively, or any of them, that is to say intrastate Trade and Commerce;</li> To regulate Trade with foreign States;—And</li> To make all Laws which shall be absolutely Necessary and Proper for carrying into Execution the Powers expressly enumerated in subsections (A) and (B) of this section, and all other Powers that are by clear and express words of this Constitution vested in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof: Provided always, that except where this Constitution by clear and express words shall require otherwise, no Law enacted under this part shall in any way work an abridgment, pre-emption or other such infringement upon the Powers or other Competence of the States comprised in the Enumeration of the Classes of Subjects that are by this Constitution reserved exclusively to the States respectively, or other Powers or Competence reserved to the same.</li></ol></li> <li style="font-family:Athelas, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">No Bill passed by the Congress and signed by the Governor-General (or the Federal Council, if passed under subsection B of this section) shall become Law until ninety Days after the adjournment sine die of the session of the Congress at which it was enacted, unless in case of emergency (such emergency being expressed in a Preamble or in the Body of the Act), the Congress, by a Vote of two-thirds of the total number of Members of each House, shall otherwise direct (said Vote to be taken by Yeas and Nays, and entered upon their Journal).</li> <li style="font-family:Athelas, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">For further Clarity, it shall be understood that any Matter directly coming within any of the Classes of Subjects actually enumerated in this section shall not be construed as to come within the Class of Matters of a Local or Private nature comprised in the Enumeration of the Classes of Subjects that are by this Constitution reserved exclusively to the States respectively.</li> </ol> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. 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Etiam rhoncus. Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante. Etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. Duis leo. Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Donec sodales sagittis magna. Sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. Fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. Vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. Nullam accumsan lorem in dui. Cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; In ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia.

Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. Sed aliquam ultrices mauris. Integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. Praesent adipiscing. Phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. Nunc nonummy metus. Vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. Cras id dui. Aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. Nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. Sed lectus. Donec mollis hendrerit risus. Phasellus nec sem in justo pellentesque facilisis. Etiam imperdiet imperdiet orci. Nunc nec neque. Phasellus leo dolor, tempus non, auctor et, hendrerit quis, nisi.

Curabitur ligula sapien, tincidunt non, euismod vitae, posuere imperdiet, leo. Maecenas malesuada. Praesent congue erat at massa. Sed cursus turpis vitae tortor. Donec posuere vulputate arcu. Phasellus accumsan cursus velit. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Sed aliquam, nisi quis porttitor congue, elit erat euismod orci, ac placerat dolor lectus quis orci. Phasellus consectetuer vestibulum elit. Aenean tellus metus, bibendum sed, posuere ac, mattis non, nunc. Vestibulum fringilla pede sit amet augue. In turpis. Pellentesque posuere. Praesent turpis.

Aenean posuere, tortor sed cursus feugiat, nunc augue blandit nunc, eu sollicitudin urna dolor sagittis lacus. Donec elit libero, sodales nec, volutpat a, suscipit non, turpis. Nullam sagittis. Suspendisse pulvinar, augue ac venenatis condimentum, sem libero volutpat nibh, nec pellentesque velit pede quis nunc. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Fusce id purus. Ut varius tincidunt libero. Phasellus dolor. Maecenas vestibulum mollis diam. Pellentesque ut neque. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.

In dui magna, posuere eget, vestibulum et, tempor auctor, justo. In ac felis quis tortor malesuada pretium. Pellentesque auctor neque nec urna. Proin sapien ipsum, porta a, auctor quis, euismod ut, mi. Aenean viverra rhoncus pede. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Ut non enim eleifend felis pretium feugiat. Vivamus quis mi. Phasellus a est. Phasellus magna.

In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Curabitur at lacus ac velit ornare lobortis. Curabitur a felis in nunc fringilla tristique. Morbi mattis ullamcorper velit. Phasellus gravida semper nisi. Nullam vel sem. Pellentesque libero tortor, tincidunt et, tincidunt eget, semper nec, quam. Sed hendrerit. Morbi ac felis. Nunc egestas, augue at pellentesque laoreet, felis eros vehicula leo, at malesuada velit leo quis pede. Donec interdum, metus et hendrerit aliquet, dolor diam sagittis ligula, eget egestas libero turpis vel mi. Nunc nulla. Fusce risus nisl, viverra et, tempor et, pretium in, sapien. Donec venenatis vulputate lorem.

Morbi nec metus. Phasellus blandit leo ut odio. Maecenas ullamcorper, dui et placerat feugiat, eros pede varius nisi, condimentum viverra felis nunc et lorem. Sed magna purus, fermentum eu, tincidunt eu, varius ut, felis. In auctor lobortis lacus. Quisque libero metus, condimentum nec, tempor a, commodo mollis, magna. Vestibulum ullamcorper mauris at ligula. Fusce fermentum. Nullam cursus lacinia erat. Praesent blandit laoreet nibh.

Fusce convallis metus id felis luctus adipiscing. Pellentesque egestas, neque sit amet convallis pulvinar, justo nulla eleifend augue, ac auctor orci leo non est. Quisque id mi. Ut tincidunt tincidunt erat. Etiam feugiat lorem non metus. Vestibulum dapibus nunc ac augue. Curabitur vestibulum aliquam leo. Praesent egestas neque eu enim. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Fusce a quam. Etiam ut purus mattis mauris sodales aliquam. Curabitur nisi. Quisque malesuada placerat nisl. Nam ipsum risus, rutrum vitae, vestibulum eu, molestie vel, lacus.

Sed augue ipsum, egestas nec, vestibulum et, malesuada adipiscing, dui. Vestibulum facilisis, purus nec pulvinar iaculis, ligula mi congue nunc, vitae euismod ligula urna in dolor. Mauris sollicitudin fermentum libero. Praesent nonummy mi in odio. Nunc interdum lacus sit amet orci. Vestibulum rutrum, mi nec elementum vehicula, eros quam gravida nisl, id fringilla neque ante vel mi. Morbi mollis tellus ac sapien. Phasellus volutpat, metus eget egestas mollis, lacus lacus blandit dui, id egestas quam mauris ut lacus. Fusce vel dui. Sed in libero ut nibh placerat accumsan. Proin faucibus arcu quis ante. In consectetuer turpis ut velit. Nulla sit amet est. Praesent metus tellus, elementum eu, semper a, adipiscing nec, purus. Cras risus ipsum, faucibus ut, ullamcorper id, varius ac, leo. Suspendisse feugiat. Suspendisse enim turpis, dictum sed, iaculis a, condimentum nec, nisi. Praesent nec nisl a purus blandit viverra. Praesent ac massa at ligula laoreet iaculis. Nulla neque dolor, sagittis eget, iaculis quis, molestie non, velit.

Mauris turpis nunc, blandit et, volutpat molestie, porta ut, ligula. Fusce pharetra convallis urna. Quisque ut nisi. Donec mi odio, faucibus at, scelerisque quis, convallis in, nisi. Suspendisse non nisl sit amet velit hendrerit rutrum. Ut leo. Ut a nisl id ante tempus hendrerit. Proin pretium, leo ac pellentesque mollis, felis nunc ultrices eros, sed gravida augue augue mollis justo. Suspendisse eu ligula. Nulla facilisi. Donec id justo. Praesent porttitor, nulla vitae posuere iaculis, arcu nisl dignissim dolor, a pretium mi sem ut ipsum. Curabitur suscipit suscipit tellus.

Praesent vestibulum dapibus nibh. Etiam iaculis nunc ac metus. Ut id nisl quis enim dignissim sagittis. Etiam sollicitudin, ipsum eu pulvinar rutrum, tellus ipsum laoreet sapien, quis venenatis ante odio sit amet eros. Proin magna. Duis vel nibh at velit scelerisque suscipit. Curabitur turpis. Vestibulum suscipit nulla quis orci. Fusce ac felis sit amet ligula pharetra condimentum. Maecenas egestas arcu quis ligula mattis placerat. Duis lobortis massa imperdiet quam. Suspendisse potenti.

Pellentesque commodo eros a enim. Vestibulum turpis sem, aliquet eget, lobortis pellentesque, rutrum eu, nisl. Sed libero. Aliquam erat volutpat. Etiam vitae tortor. Morbi vestibulum volutpat enim. Aliquam eu nunc. Nunc sed turpis. Sed mollis, eros et ultrices tempus, mauris ipsum aliquam libero, non adipiscing dolor urna a orci. Nulla porta dolor. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos.

Pellentesque dapibus hendrerit tortor. Praesent egestas tristique nibh. Sed a libero. Cras varius. Donec vitae orci sed dolor rutrum auctor. Fusce egestas elit eget lorem. Suspendisse nisl elit, rhoncus eget, elementum ac, condimentum eget, diam. Nam at tortor in tellus interdum sagittis. Aliquam lobortis. Donec orci lectus, aliquam ut, faucibus non, euismod id, nulla. Curabitur blandit mollis lacus. Nam adipiscing. Vestibulum eu odio.

Vivamus laoreet. Nullam tincidunt adipiscing enim. Phasellus tempus. Proin viverra, ligula sit amet ultrices semper, ligula arcu tristique sapien, a accumsan nisi mauris ac eros. Fusce neque. Suspendisse faucibus, nunc et pellentesque egestas, lacus ante convallis tellus, vitae iaculis lacus elit id tortor. Vivamus aliquet elit ac nisl. Fusce fermentum odio nec arcu. Vivamus euismod mauris. In ut quam vitae odio lacinia tincidunt. Praesent ut ligula non mi varius sagittis. Cras sagittis. Praesent ac sem eget est egestas volutpat. Vivamus consectetuer hendrerit lacus. Cras non dolor. Vivamus in erat ut urna cursus vestibulum. Fusce commodo aliquam arcu. Nam commodo suscipit quam. Quisque id odio. Praesent venenatis metus at tortor pulvinar varius.

Checks and balances
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Responsibility for the Territories
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Senate
The Senate represents the governments of the respective States, and its members, called Senators, are members of their State’s government, and are appointed in each State by the Executive Authority thereof, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Legislature of the same. Senators are serve at the pleasure of the State’s Executive Authority (e.g., the State Governor in every State but Hawaiʻi; in the case of Hawaiʻi this would be the King).

The presiding Officer of the Senate is their President, who is appointed by the Governor-in-Council (the Governor-General acting by and with the Advice and Consent of the Federal Council) to a Term of four Years conterminous with that of the Governor-General that appointed him, and the President of the Senate is ipso facto the Lieutenant Governor-General of the United States.

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House of Representatives
The House of Representatives represents the people of the several States.

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Structure
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Parliamentary groups
The parliamentary groups of the United States Congress are groups of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, organized by political party or by coalition of parties (in the House of Representatives) or by State (in the Senate). Their function is both political and administrative. The Members of Congress in a group are expected to cooperate in promoting the policies of their group, while the group is allocated offices and technical support in the Senate by the Secretary of the Senate and in the House of Representatives by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, respectively, and each may hire additional support for their Members at their own expense (or that of their parent party or coalition).

At least five Members are required to form a parliamentary group, who must all come from the same party or electoral coalition and must not all have been elected in the same constituency. Only one parliamentary group may be formed per party or coalition. Members who cannot join a normal parliamentary group —for example, because they have left their party, or because their party does not have at least five Members in at least two constituencies—are organized into the "mixed group" for administrative purposes.

Committees
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Specialization
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Powers
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Officer
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Support services
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Library of Congress
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Joint Congressional Research Service
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Joint Congressional Budget Service
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Partisanship versus nonpartisanship
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Procedures of Congress
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Sessions
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Inaugural session and State of the Union
Each new Congress is inaugurated the first Monday in March in the Year following the last general election for Members of Congress. Somewhat comparable to a State Opening of Parliament in the various Home Countries of the United Kingdoms, the Inaugural Session of a new Congress is also full of much pomp and circumstance, including the reading of a prayer blessing that Congress; the presence of a Color Guard composed of the flags of all eighteen States and of the United States; the playing of the Federal Hymn of the United States (the Federal Anthem, also known as "Hail, Columbia"); the honoring of dignitaries of a State or a foreign State or other distinguished guests in attendance; and speeches by legislators and, in some cases, by dignitaries of a State or a foreign State or other distinguished guests in attendance.

Immediately following the inauguration ceremonies of the Congress, the Senate and House of Representatives adjourn themselves into a Joint Session of the Congress in the Hall of the House of Representatives; the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives send a formal invitation to the Governor-General by way of the Senate and House Sergeants-at-Arms to come to the Hall of the House and deliver his State of the Union address to the Joint Session of Congress. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives then appoint a joint committee of members drawn from both Houses of Congress to escort the Governor-General into the Hall of the House.

Traditionally, the Governor-General waits at the door to the Hall of the House while the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives bangs on the door three times and announces that the Governor-General is requesting an audience with the Congress. The Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate then opens the door and forcefully slams it in the face of the Governor-General. Following this, the House Sergeant-at-Arms then bangs on the door three times once more, again announcing that the Governor-General requests an audience with the Congress. This time, the door is opened and the Governor-General and his escort are allowed to enter, with the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate proceeding to present to the Congress the Governor-General. The Governor-General then enters the Hall of the House of Representatives, stopping on occasion to shake hands with various Members of Congress, and makes his way to the Speaker's rostrum, followed by members of his Congressional escort committee. After he takes his place at the House Clerk's desk, he hands two manila envelopes previously placed on the desk and containing copies of his address to the President and Speaker.

After continuing applause from the attendees has diminished, the President of the Senate introduces the Governor-General to the Senators and Representatives, stating: "Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the Governor-General of the United States." This leads to a further round of applause and, eventually, the beginning of the address by the Governor-General.

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Joint sessions
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Bills and resolutions
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