What Is the Senate?

01The Senate is one of the two parts of the United States Congress, the legislature that makes the country's laws.

02The Congress has two parts because the men who wrote the U.S.

03Constitution could not agree on details of the new form of government.

04Men from states with large populations thought they should be able to send more lawmakers to Congress.

05After all, their states had more people.

06But men from states with smaller populations thought each state should have the same number of lawmakers.

07After all, people in small states did not want their voices to be lost.

08So the Constitution writers agreed that part of Congress should be based on states' populations, and the other part of Congress should have equal representation.

09The Senate is the part with equal representation.

10Each state has two senators, no matter how big or small its population.

11The Constitution writers expected members of the Senate, called senators, to help set limits on the office of the president.

12They gave senators the power to decide whether to try and remove the president and other government officials accused of wrongdoing.

13Senators also approve or reject the president's choices for top government positions, including Supreme Court justices.

14And senators have powers to approve treaties with other countries.

15At the same time, the Constitution writers wanted the Senate to limit what they feared would be the strong emotions of voters.

16James Madison called it a fence against the passion of the people.

17George Washington reportedly said, The Senate would cool laws proposed by House members, who were more closely connected with everyday Americans.

18Because senators have so much responsibility, the Constitution writers required them to be a little older than House members, at least 30 years old, compared to 25.

19And they decided that each senator would serve six years, compared to two for members of the House.

20A longer time in office would make the Senate stronger and reduce political pressures, they reasoned.

21However, not all senators finish their terms at once.

22Every two years, one-third of senators must leave their office or seek re-election.

23The other two-thirds remain in place.

24Finally, the Constitution writers decided that state lawmakers would elect the state's senators.

25This situation would permit states some additional power in the federal government.

26However, in 1913, the Constitution was changed to permit voters to elect senators directly.

27The Senate does its lawmaking work through 16 regular committees.

28They study and make decisions on the federal budget, foreign relations, national laws, and other issues.

29Senators also gather together to talk, a lot, about why they plan to vote a certain way, and why other senators should support them.

30Unlike in the House of Representatives, the Senate permits senators to debate at length.

31Because of all their talk, the Senate has been called the world's greatest deliberative body.

32But others have pointed out that the Senate is a group of very different, independent individuals.

33Getting a majority to agree can be extremely difficult.

34One former Senate leader said, Trying to get them to move together was like herding cats.

35Another described it as, Loading frogs into a wheelbarrow.

36I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.