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What is the Senate? |
Government
In the United States’ government, the Senate is one of the two houses of Congress. The other is the House of Representatives. Houses in Congress aren’t like the houses people live in. The word house also can mean a group of people who make and change laws. The elected members of the House of Representative and the Senate are responsible for making national laws in the US.
The Senate was created to help keep lawmaking fair. Each state in the US elects a different number of people to the House of Representatives. States with more people living in them get to elect more representatives than smaller states, so the states with most people have a better chance of getting laws that they like passed (or made official).
In the senate, it’s different. Each state elects two senators, no matter how many people live in the state. This way, each state is represented equally. Each senator is elected for six years.
The President has some power over the Senate’s laws. If the President decides he or she doesn’t agree with a new law, he or she can stop it from going into effect.
Know Your Senators
If you live in the United States, do you know who the two Senators from your state are? You may not think much about politics now, but it never hurts to know who from your state is making the laws.
Ask a grown-up who your Senators are. If you need help finding them, there is a “List of U.S. Senators” link below with all of the Senators listed. Senators are the people making the laws that we have to follow, so why do you think it’s a good idea to pay attention to who is being voted for to be your state’s Senators? Why do you think it’s a good idea to vote (when you turn 18 in the US)?
