THE US CONGRESS

        The Congress of the United States is composed of two hou­ses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states. Each state is guaranted at least one rep­resentative in the House. The remainder are apportioned among the states according to their population. The Senate of the US is composed of one hundred members — two being elec­ted from each state. Senators are chosen for six years, one-third retiring or seeking is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called «Senior Senator» and the other — «Juni­or Senator».

       The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President -of the United States. The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power.

       The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees. The most important of the Senate committees are Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Finance, Armed Services.

        In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agricul­ture.

        The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rulers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

QUESTIONS:

1. How many houses are there in the US Congress?
2. What represents the Senate?
3. How many members are there in the Senate?
4. Who is the Vice-President?
5. How is the work оf the US Congress done?
6. Name the important committees of the Congress.

VOCABULARY:

to compose — составлять

according — соответственно

to retire — уходить в отставку

senior — старший

junior — младший

chamber — палата

chairman — председатель