行使职责英语

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATESCongress of the United States,legislative branch of the United States government. Congress is composed of two chambers with equal powers: the 100-member Senate and the 435-member House of Representatives. The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate, and pass bills (proposed laws), which are then passed on to the president for approval. Once the president approves the legislation, the executive branch enforces the new laws and the judicial branch interprets them. Other congressional duties include investigating pressing national issues, supervising the executive and judicial branches, and shaping U.S. foreign policy.POWERS OF CONGRESSThe Constitution of the United States grants Congress “all legislative powers” in the national government. Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution lists a wide range of congressional powers, including printing money, maintaining a military, declaring war, and regulating interstate and foreign commerce. Congress also controls federal taxing and spending policies—one of the most important sources of power in the government. The Constitution also gives Congress the authority to “make all laws which shall be necessary and proper,” an implied source of power sometimes called the Elastic Clause.One of the most important implied powers is Congress’s authority to investigate and oversee the executive branch and its agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice. As part of this responsibility, which is known as oversight, Congress summons senior officials to answer questions from members, orders audits of agencies, and holds hearings to air grievances of citizens.Congress also holds hearings on matters of general public concern. Sometimes members of Congress conduct these hearings to identify problems that create a need for new laws. In other cases Congress holds hearings to raise public awareness about an issue. Sometimes members of Congress conduct hearings in an effort to bolster their reputations and improve their election prospects.Some congressional powers remain rarely used. Congress can impeach the president and other federal officials for treason, bribery, and other serious offenses, but it rarely does so. Although members of Congress discuss impeachment from time to time and have initiated proceedings in many cases, there have been only 14 formal impeachment trials. Of the 14 officials tried, only half were convicted and removed from office. The House of Representatives votes on whether to charge officials with impeachable offenses. If the House votes to impeach, then the Senate conducts the impeachment trial itself. The vice president of the United States presides over the Senate during impeachment proceedings, except when the president is impeached. In an impeachment of the president, the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the proceedings. A two-thirds majority vote of senators present at an impeachment trial is necessary to secure conviction.Congress also rarely uses its power to amend the Constitution. The Constitution permits Congress to propose new constitutional amendments through a two-thirds vote of both chambers, which then must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. The difficulty of amending the Constitution stops Congress from proposing new amendments very often.Congress shares many powers with the president. Congress takes equal responsibility with the president in framing U.S. foreign policy. The president and his representatives negotiate treaties with other countries, but the treaties go into effect only when the Senate approves them. Similarly, the president appoints ambassadors, federal judges, and many other government officials, but they must be confirmed by the Senate.Congress also shares control over the military with the president. Congress has the authority to declare war and provide funding for soldiers and weapons, but the president serves as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Congress has declared war on five occasions: the War of 1812 against Britain (1812-1815), the Mexican War (1846-1848), the Spanish-American War (1898), World War I (1914-1918; U.S. involvement 1917-1918), and World War II (1939-1945; U.S. involvement 1941-1945). In more than 200 other instances, however, presidents have sent armed forces into hostile situations in other countries to protect U.S. lives or property, without a declaration of war. Many of these were brief rescue or peacekeeping missions. Some, such as the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1959-1975), were full-blown conflicts.

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