What does Congress do (in theory)?

Article I of the Constitution details the powers and responsibilities of Congress. It is important that Congress is defined in Article I; the Founding Fathers seemed to have been suggesting that Congress is the most important branch and should probably have the most power.

As a reminder, some of the powers of Congress are:

· Establish and collect taxes

· Regulate commerce and the federal budget

· Make federal laws

· Create naturalization laws

· Coin money and regulate its value

· Declare war

Congress also some important powers regarding checks and balances:

· With a 2/3 vote, Congress can overturn a Presidential veto

· The Senate must confirm/approve of Presidential nominees (such as nominees to head the major government departments and Supreme Court justices)

· Congress can impeach and remove the President from office (more on this in a few weeks)

The Senate
The US Senate is one of the chambers of Congress. This chamber is made up of 100 individuals, 2 of whom are elected from each state.

Senators are elected to 6-year terms; meaning, if a Senator is elected is 2018, that individual serves until 2024 before facing reelection.

Senators do NOT have term limits; meaning, there is no limit to how many times a Senator can be reelected. They must keep getting reelected in order to keep their office, but as long as they keep getting reelected, then they can keep their job for as long as they want!

In the US, federal elections happen every 2 years, in even numbered years (the next major federal election is in 2020). NOT all Senators are up for reelection every two years; in general, only about 1/3 of the Senate will face reelection in a particular election year. Meaning, these are staggered elections and in which only around 33 Senate seats will up for election in 2020.

Senators represent the entire state. Since every state has two senators, that means senators from large states, like California, have to represent a much larger number of people than senators from smaller states. For example, the population of California is approximately 39 million people. The population of North Dakota is 760,000. So California’s two senators represent approximately 19 million people each, whereas the two senators from North Dakota represent 380,000 people each. That’s a HUGE DIFFERENCE!!

Currently, there are 53 Republican senators, 45 Democratic senators, and 2 independent senators (both of these senators almost always vote with the Democratic Party).

Some other important facts about the Senate: INTRO: For class assignment #3, you will need to show a good understanding of the readings provided below. I have provided you with all the readings you need, but you can of course read more sources if you want to. This assignment is worth 100 points, so please spend some time working on it and submit it on time.
INSTRUCTIONS: For these questions, you can either answer them directly into Canvas or you can attach a document with your responses. This does not have to be essay-style answers, you can simply type #1 and then the answer. It is important that your answers reflect that you have read and understood the articles that are required for this assignment, and you MUST answer ALL parts of these questions. The articles are all ones that I had previously sent you in an announcement.
For questions #1-#3, please read this article about the Green New Deal(Links to an external site.) and skim through this article that provides a lengthier explanation of the bill(Links to an external site.). There are some technical aspects of the articles, but do not focus too much on the details of climate change and dont get discouraged if the more scientific parts of it are too difficult to understand.
1.) In your own words, summarize what you learned about the Green New Deal. What are the main components of this bill and what is the ultimate goal? How does the Green New Deal coincide with the ideas of Democratic Socialism that we discussed earlier in the semester?
2.) Why is there so much opposition to the bill and why might some find this bill to be controversial or too extreme?
3.) Envision that you are a member of the House of Representatives, representing a district in the Bay Area. Would you be in favor of this bill or against it? Additionally, how important would public opinion be in making your decision to vote for or against it; meaning, would you primarily vote based on YOUR personal beliefs or would you vote in a way that is reflective of what the people in your district want?
For questions #4-#6, please read the following article about the government of New Zealand(Links to an external site.)and the actions they took after the recent mosque shootings in their country. The article does a very nice job of discussing what they did and how it contrasts to the United States government. The reason for assigning this article is NOT to get you to think a certain way about guns, but rather because it offers an interesting case study analysis of the US and New Zealand and it also offers some good insights into the government in the US.
4.)What actions were taken by the government of New Zealand in response to the recent mosque shootings and why were those actions taken?
5.) Why does the author of this article seem pessimistic that similar actions are unlikely to happen in the US? In your answer, focus on the political reasons and the role of Congress in why the US is unlikely to do what was done in New Zealand.
6.) Envision that you are a member of the House of Representatives and are representing a district in the Bay Area. Would you be in favor of doing something like what New Zealands government did or do you believe what they did was too extreme/unnecessary? You could also make the argument that what they did in New Zealands government is not sufficient. Make sure to explain your answer and discuss whether you think there is anything to be learned from how other governments deal with the issue of gun violence.
TURNING IT IN: Be sure to answer ALL the questions and fully explain your answers. You CANNOT copy and paste things directly from the internet into your assignment. You need to put what your read into your own words. The assignment, in total, should be AT LEAST 600 words long (AT LEAST 100 words per question). This should add up to approximately 3 pages, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font if using a word processor.