What is the Job of Congress?
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Congress has four main functions :\n\nrepresentation \nlegislation \ninvestigation and scrutiny \nfinancial control
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In the United states there are actually two representative bodies: The House of Representatives and the Senate.  Together they are called Congress.
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It's Sergeant AT Arms.  The United States House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms is an officer of the House with law enforcement, protocol, and administrative responsibilities. The Sergeant at Arms is elected at the beginning of each Congress by the membership of the chamber.
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After 9/11, Congress basically gave him a free pass because they were afraid. Bush continues to play on that fear, whether it is justified or not. To Ik Weet Niets!: I've read the Constitution, have you? It is not in his job description to wage war. That is the job of Congress. It's called checks and balances. It is designed to prevent any one part of the government from abusing power. It is the presidents job to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, act as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and take care that the laws be faithfully executed.\nCongress gave the President the power to wage war in Iraq. If we want to place blame, it needs to be placed there first.
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Their job is to 'whip' congressional members into line... that's where the term came from.\n\nLike say the majority leader has put x legislation on the agenda to be debated then voted on for approval. The whip goes around seeing how many votes they have in support or not for that legislation. Once he has these numbers, let's say he finds that the legislation does NOT have enough votes to get approved.\n\nAt that point, he would begin to make compromises, offer Earmarks, maybe offer a congressional member approval of legislation he or she has been wanting to get passed, etc... deals to get the votes to approve the legislation.\n\nThat's basically his or her job as the whip of his or her party.\n\nBtw one more point to note, they not only make or offer deals, they also use negative means to gain the necessary votes needed. Such as, they might threaten a congressional member that he or she won't get some funding that was suppose to be going to his constituency, etc... \n\nThat was a very common method the ex Republican whip Tom Delay used. He was notorious for being a brutal, fierce whip. Which is pretty much why he will go down in history as one of the most powerful whips in our history and being responsible for the Republican party voting down party lines more than ever before in our history... btw, I think that is a bad thing.
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Congress is the legislature (that is, lawmaking body) of the U.S. Federal Government.  Congress is divided into two chambers, the House of Representatives (lower chamber) and the Senate (upper chamber).  They are roughly equal in power, but there are differences in both the composition and functions of each body.\n\nFirst, the similarities.  All bills must pass both chambers in order to become law.  Both chambers have oversight responsibility over Federal agencies (usually exercised in committees).  Legislation can originate in either chamber, except for spending bills, which must originate in the House.  It just takes a simple majority for a bill to pass each chamber.\n\nFor more information on the legislative process, see:\n\nhttp://www.vote-smart.org/resource_govt101_02.php\n\nNow, the contrasts.  First, the differences in composition.  \n\nThe House has 435 members elected from single member districts all of roughly equal population.  The districts are drawn up by state legislatures after each decennial census determines how many seats each state gets.  All members must stand for election every 2 years.  The Senate has 100 members, exactly 2 from each state, regardless of the state's population.  Senators serve for 6 years, but their terms are staggered so about one third are up for election every two years.  \n\nAs mentioned above, all spending bills must originate in the House.  Also, the House is the chamber which has impeachment powers, which it exercises by a simple majority vote. (An impeachment is akin to an indictment).  Once impeached the official is tried before the Senate, which can remove him or her if 2/3rds of the Senate finds him or her guilty.\n\nBut the Senate has several other functions not shared with the House.  First, all presidential appointments (cabinet secretaries, judges, ambassadors, high ranking military officials, etc, etc) must be approved by (a simple majority in) the Senate.  Treaties must be approved by 2/3rds of the Senate.\n\nThat is it in a nutshell.  For more info, see Article I of the U.S. Constitution, especially sections 1 and 2 [1] and also the other links below will prove very helpful to you. (And be sure to check out the info above on how a bill becomes law)
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Congress meets in Washington D.C. at the Capitol
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Article I of the US Constitution gives Congress the power "To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures."\n\nThey oversee the treasury and decide how much money to print with the assistance of the US Treasury Department.  This is done based upon economic forecasts, the value of the dollar verses other currencies and the need for the money.  They may want to print more money to create inflation (which lowers unemployment) or limit the money to create savings.\n\nThey also print money to compensate for the money that is being constantly taken out of circulation (you trade in a ripped dollar at a bank and they destroy it and print a new one to replace it).\n\nThe Federal Bank handle fiscal policy (such as interest rates and borrowing guidelines), not monetary policy (how much to actually spend).
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The legislative branch (congress) makes the laws; the executive branch (president) enforces the laws; the judicial branch (courts) interpret the laws.
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Maybe I can get you started, and others can think of more.\n\nEach body has committees that hold hearings, advise the  Senators or Representatives of its findings and make voting recommendations.\n\nIts members are elected from their home state.\n\nEach Senator and Rep has one vote.\n\nEach body has a leader, The Speaker of the House, and the President Pro Tem of the Senate.\n\nFrom within the ranks the Majority Leader of the Senate is chosen, and similarly the Speaker of the House
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politicians make the laws, and they always protect themselves. congress is exempt from every law it passes! and the big money ministers (aka televangelists) put so much money into the pockets of politicians that they are virtually above the law.
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Read Article I of the Constitution. Congress is composed of two chambers.\n\nThe House of Representaties, allocated by population in each state (currently totaling 435 members), and the Senate allocated evenly by state (2 per state, thus 100 members).\n\nAny general law must pass both chambers of Congress to be enacted.
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The executive branch of government and business has always been where the buck stops and has been responsible for ensuring that laws are carried out. Committees have never been good at solving problems that require immediate action. The folks that wrote the constitution recognized this and created the executive branch--it is where the rubber meets the road. The executive branch is chartered to carry out what the House/Congress creates. Plus defend and protect the constitution of the United States.
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Read the Congressional Report.
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Congress is bicameral. There is the House of Representatives and the Senate.
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I'm not a Republican, either, but of course it's looking good for the Democrats, and the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves.\n\nThe role of the Congress is to provide checks and balances for the president, and they've clearly neglected that role. Why haven't we seen an in-depth study on how intelligence was manipulated to drag us into a pointless war in Iraq? Why hasn't there been a hearing about the illegal wiretapping the Bush administration has approved? Why does our country have such an enormous deficit? Because the previous Congress was not doing its job.\n\nOh, and then there's all the cases of corruption and scandal, most of which are involving Republicans. You people were screaming for blood over allegations against Bill Clinton, yet you can't forgive your crooked Republican leaders fast enough. Why is that? Is it better for our country to have immoral criminals making decision that affect us all?\n\nAnd those of you who are griping about Hillary Clinton: I doubt you have a clue as to what you dislike about her, given that you're so shocked how handily she's won her seat in Senate.
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The most signifigant power in the House is Appropriations.  They control the spending.  The power to declare war must be initiated in the House but ratified in the Senate.  The Senate has the power of the filibuster which can delay, and sometimes, defeat legislation.  All the power in the House rests in the hands of committee chairpersons and so the average Senator is much more powerful than the average Congressman.  The House has 435 members and the Senate only 100 and so a Senator has more clout and prestige.  The function of both houses is to represent different constituencies.  The House was set up for all the people, to be their voice in Washington.  The Senate was originally set up as a kind of aristocracy and Senators were originally appointed and not elected to ensure that the general rabble didn't get too high a hand.  The Senate was given the power to ratify treaties and "advise and consent" in regards to Presidential appointments.  The committee chairpersons in the House and the Speaker of the House are more powerful than the average Senator.  Sorry for rambling.