How are we doing so far? 
Article. I. - The Legislative Branch
Section 3 - The Senate
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, (chosen by the Legislature thereof,) (The preceding words in parentheses superseded by 17th Amendment, section 1.) for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; (and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.) (The preceding words in parentheses were superseded by the 17th Amendment, section 2.)
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
So, originally, the legislators chose the senators? Does that mean those in the house or those of the state legislature?
The senators are on different rotations as to when they are up for election.
Qualifications to be a senator:
- 30 years old.
- United States citizen for at least 9 years.
- Must reside in the state in which you are chosen at the time you are elected.
I didn't know the vice president was the president of the senate and only has a vote in the incidence of a tie vote.
Here is a list of all the senators and how they can be contacted. With that is my question of the day, what is the difference in contacting a senator or a member of the House? What issues would one ask of each? Here is a little ditty on how to address elected officials; just a little FYI.
2 comments:
You've been tagged! Check out my blog! : )
Hi Julie...
Originally, it was the state legislators that chose their senators. If you go back to your post on Thursday, I made a comment that explained the reasons for this in depth.
In an nutshell, having the state legislatures appoint their senators proved disastrous, as they squabbled over many things, including bribery, intimidation voting procedures, slavery (as this was right before the Civil War), etc. This resulted in several state legislatures deadlocking -- sometimes for years -- without appointing Senators.
In 1907, after some experimentation, Oregon was the first state to make all of their senators directly elected by the people. Eventually, other states joined in. In 1913, The 17th Amendment changed everything, making all U.S. senators directly electable. It also allowed state governors to appoint new senators in cases of vacancy before an election, unless the state decided differently. In 1986, Oregon stripped the governor of this power, opting for special elections when a vacant senate seat needed to be filled. The Bob Packwood scandal of the mid-1990s let to his resignation... and then a special election between Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith (Wyden won that election, but Smith joined him after winning election later that same year following the retirement of longtime Oregon Senator and former governor Mark Hatfield.)
The Vice President is the president of the U.S. Senate. It's one of his only official Constitutional duties.
However, this title only holds weight when there is a tie. Beyond that, the Vice President does not normally attend Senate sessions.
Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was criticized for incorrectly saying the Vice President is "in charge of the Senate" a few weeks before the election. The Vice President has no say in the affairs of the Senate body, other than as a tiebreaker (which doesn't happen very often. Vice President Dick Cheney has only broken 8 ties in eight years in office. The record is 29 by our first Vice President, John Adams, who later become the 2nd President of the United States).
If you ever have the chance to visit the Senate floor in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., you'll see that members of the majority party take terms acting as president during Senate debates on the floor. It's pretty neat to see them in action! I got to see Oregon Senator Gordon Smith act as president when I visited the Senate.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Post a Comment