Powers+of+Congress

= Powers of Congress = Michelle, Julie, Kathleen

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Congress consists of two houses (**bicameral legislature**), the ** House of Representatives **, is based on the population of the states and elected by popular vote, and the ** Senate ** , which was created to represent the state and each state has the same number of Senators which was originally chosen by the state legislators. The ** Seventeenth Amendment ** created the direct election of Senators. The bicameral legislature was created by the ** Great Compromise ** otherwise known as the Connecticut Compromise, which was reached at the Constitutional Convention. The bicameral legislature is used to check the power of each house. =====

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1.This can sometimes be in interference with the executive actions of the president. For example, Woodrow Wilson was in the middle of forming a treaty after World War One that would create the “League of Nations”. Congress and the people did not approve of his decision =====

__** Congress also has the power to: **__ - Lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, excises - Borrow money on credit of the United States - Regulate Foreign and Domestic Commerce - Coin money - Provide and maintain a Navy - Make uniform rules on the process of Naturalization - Establish Post Offices and Post Roads - Establish Lower Courts Congress also has the power to make all laws "necessary and proper", this is called the "**Necessary and Proper Clause**" or the "Elastic Clause" because they are **implied powers** that are added onto Congress's **enumerated powers.**

- All powers denied to Congress are in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution
( http://pmc.princeton.edu/powersofcongress.php)

__**Limitations to the Powers of Congress:**__
====- The President of the United States can decide to veto a law passed by Congress, under the system of Checks and Balances, but Congress can override a presidential veto with two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Congress====

- The Bill of Rights does not allow Congress to pass laws that limit individual liberties
( http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Powers-of-Congress.topicArticleId-65383,articleId-65448.html)

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==== Senate- The upper house of the U.S. Congress. Senators are elected directly by the people, with the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment. Each state has the same number of Senators (two Senators for each state). ====

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==== Necessary and Proper Clause- The clause states that Congress can make all laws necessary and proper for carry out powers in the constitution. For example, the National Bank was one of the first proposed additions. ==== ====[|http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Powers-of-Congress.topicArticleId-65383,articleId-65448.html]====

Implied Powers- are powers of Congress that are not specifically stated in the Constitution
====[|http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Powers-of-Congress.topicArticleId-65383,articleId-65448.html]====

Enumerated Powers- are powers of Congress that are specifically stated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution
====[|http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Powers-of-Congress.topicArticleId-65383,articleId-65448.html]==== ====Writ of Habeas Corpus- a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge, especially for investigation of restraint against a the person's personal liberty, for example could be used in protection against illegal imprisonment====

__Quiz:__

 * 1) =====Name two of Congress's indirect war powers.=====
 * 2) =====Name one direct war power.=====
 * 3) =====Name one special power of each house.=====
 * 4) =====Name two of Congress's other powers.=====

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====[|http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Powers-of-Congress.topicArticleId-65383,articleId-65448.html]====

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