VOA · U.S. History
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:492018-11-09public domain
The U.S. History series (The Making of a Nation) tells American history from the colonial era onward in VOA Special English: slow speed, limited vocabulary, long-form storytelling. Generations of learners have used this exact series to break through intermediate listening.
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01In the United States, voters choose members of Congress every two years.
02But what is Congress?
03Imagine that the U.S.
04government is a chair with three legs.
05One leg is the executive, the president, and all the people who carry out the country's laws.
06Another leg is the judiciary, Supreme Court justices and judges on other federal courts.
07They decide what the law means.
08And another leg is the legislature, the elected officials who make laws.
09Another word for the legislature is Congress.
10The first article of the U.S.
11Constitution describes the powers Congress has.
12First, Congress makes federal laws.
13These are laws everyone in the country must follow.
14Historically, Congress has made laws related to Native Americans, slavery, and many other issues.
15They include immigration, business, banking, health, education, voting, foreign relations, and the environment.
16Congress has other important powers, too.
17It can raise money, spend money, and borrow money.
18It approves Supreme Court justices.
19It can impeach and remove a president from office.
20It also can declare war.
21When they are talking about U.S.
22lawmakers or lawmaking, Americans sometimes use the term Congress, and sometimes they talk about the two parts of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, or House for short.
23Members of the Senate are called Senators.
24Members of the House are called House Members, Representatives, Congressmen, or Congresswomen.
25The Congress has a lot more House Members than Senators.
26That is because voters in each of the 50 states elect only two Senators and as many House Members as permitted by law.
27Under the Constitution, House seats are based on the size of a state's population.
28For example, California, the most populous state, has 53 House members.
29Wyoming, the least populous state, has only one.
30But both California and Wyoming have two Senators.
31In total, the House has 435 voting members, while the Senate has 100 voting members, for a total of 535 lawmakers.
32They all meet in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
33When Americans want to block, create, or change a law in the U.S., they are often urged to contact their member of Congress.
34Some Americans also campaign for candidates to be elected to the House or Senate.
35In general, citizens of other countries are not permitted to donate money to members of Congress or lead campaign efforts.
36I'm Kelli Jean Kelley.
37I'm Kelli Jean Kelley.
38I'm Kelli Jean Kelley.
39I'm Kelli Jean Kelley.
40I'm Kelli Jean Kelley.
41I'm Kelli Jean Kelley.
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