The Legislative Branch of the government is the arm that makes laws. The Legislative Branch is made up of the Congress and a few other governmental agencies. This body is made up of two parts the House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of members of the House of Representatives is decided by the size of the population. The House was put in place to represent the interests of the people of each district of a State. Every state, regardless of size, has two senators. Senators are put in place to represent the interest of the State as a whole. Another interesting measure of difference between the two is that you need to be five years older (30 years of age) to be a Senator. There are many different steps that must take place for a law to be created. This process of creating a is called the legislative process. Any member of Congress can write what is called a bill. A bill is a proposal for a new law. The member that brings this forth is said to be sponsoring the bill. Many times, multiple members of Congress will sponsor bills together. The bill is then reviewed by experts on the subject matter of the bill and evaluated. A single bill will travel through many different committees depending on how complex it is. Once the bill is accepted by all the committees, that are necessary, it goes before Congress to be debated and voted upon. If the bill receives a voting majority from both the Senate and House it goes to the President for final approval.
This treasure trove of reading worksheets looks at the arm of government that is in charge of debating and determining the laws that us everyday folks must follow. We look at the difference and similarities found between the two heads of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. These worksheets also take a deep dive into common practices that happen within congress through the process of creating laws. We will look at each step of the legislative process and try to understand what makes the Legislative Branch tick. We will also look at how Britain’s government has affected the formation and role of this arm of the government.
