The Senate is a body of 100 members with two from each state (that makes fifty states). A Senator is paid $174,000 dollars a year since 2009. Not a bad salary considering you get to make your own laws. Don't get too excited about being a Senator, however. You must be over 30 years old and have been a resident of the state to which you're elected. You must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years prior to your election.  Which brings us to the final point: you have to actually win an election.

                                                     

 

    Before you even get to participate in an election versus opponents from different parties, you must be selected by your own party to run. To get on the ballot, you need a certain amount of signatures on a petition stating that you are running for so and so position. Once these signatures are attained, your name can be on the ballot. You will then run a campaign, which would be an arduous and trying task. You'd have to reach out to people from all over the state and satisfy the needs of groups as diverse as labor unions, racial caucuses, small businesses, farmers, etc. Normally, campaigns are built on a coalition of voters who have common interests and believe that you can best defend those interests above all of the other candidates. Once a base of voters is set, candidates campaign to different groups for their votes and their trust. Candidates fall into a whirlpool of fundraising dinners, media appearances, town-hall debates, and never-ending luncheons with angry senior citizens. However, there is one more obstacle: incumbancy. Incumbants have a huge advantage electorally and normally win their elections easily. That is because they have the advantage of name recognition (as they are already congressmen). It is also difficult to put blame on them for something as they will say that they did not vote for a bill because it had pork in it or some other excuse to that effect. Since they are only one member of a body of legislaiton (for this talk about elections works for the Senate as well), it is also difficult to know whether they influenced a decision in any way in the first place. Finally, incumbants have an advantage because of the franking privilege. This means that they can send all of the mail that they want for free, while the challenger has to actually pay for it.  

           So you probably do not want to run for Congress. In fact, not a lot of people do want to do so. So, here is what the people who do actually run for Congress do.

 

           Congressmen are responsible for attending Capitol Hill a minimum number of days every year. They have a series of strict regulations to follow and this can be found here (Rules and Regulations For Senators). The rules cover all aspects of a Senator's life. For example, a quorum is assembled when a majority of Senators are present. If it is discovered that a majority of the Senators are not there, then they can be sent for by the Sergeant at Arms and forced to attend. There are also strict rules about debates in the Senate which ensure a fair contest between both sides. No interruptions are allowed unless the speaking Senator gives approval, and to ask for approval the interrupting Senator must ask the Presiding Officer for permission. There are rules governing the public, which are allowed to stand in on such debates. 

            Senators vote on bills, debate, attend committees, and do countless other tasks. A lot of these details are similar to the function of the House, so there is no point in repeating them. However, there are specific tasks that the Senate does that the House does not do. Amongst these obligations are, of course, Senate committees which the House does not attend. For example, Senators can work on the Committee for Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The party leadership usually decides who gets to sit on these committees. They might serve on them as well. The term leadership refers to senior members of Congress who are giving orders out to their own party so as to create unity. Other processes are for the Senate only. For example, they vote on the impeachments of presidents and decide whether to actually convict them (read in the history of the Senate about the very first impeachment). 

 

 

 

President        Vetoes    Vetoes Overruled  % Overruled

Washington	2	0	0
Adams	0	0	0
Jefferson	0	0	0
Madison	7	0	0
Monroe	1	0	0
J.Q. Adams	0	0	0
Jackson	12	0	0
Van Buren	1	0	0
Harrison	0	0	0
Tyler	10	1	10
Polk	3	0	0
Taylor	0	0	0
Filmore	0	0	0
Pierce	9	5	56
Buchanan	7	0	0
Lincoln	7	0	0
A. Johnson	29	15	52
Grant	93	4	4
Hayes	13	1	8
Garfield	0	0	0
Arthur	12	1	8
Cleveland	414	2	1
B. Harrison	44	1	2
Cleveland	170	5	34
McKinley	42	0	0
T. Roosevelt	82	1	1
Taft	39	1	3
Wilson	44	6	7
Harding	6	0	0
Coolidge	50	4	8
Hoover	37	3	8
F. Roosevelt	635	9	1
Truman	250	12	5
Eisenhower	181	2	1
Kennedy	21	0	0
L. Johnson	30	0	0
Nixon	43	7	16
Ford	66	12	18
Carter	31	2	7
Reagen	78	9	12
Bush Snr.	44	1	2
Clinton	37	2	4
Bush Jnr.	9	4	44

 

    <-  House of Representatives                                                                                              Next Page Congressional Committees->