January 2008 party summaries for the House of Representatives and the Senate

The Congress of the United States is made of two distinct bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Framers of the Constitution wanted to assure that the chambers were not copies of each other. So each must employ different means to satisfy the same objective, which is the passage of the laws that govern our country.

Activities typically happen faster in the House. Debates are usually quicker, votes happen faster, and terms are shorter. The Founding Fathers wanted the House to be closer to the people so their term expires every two years. This means that members of the House are perpetually running for office, and presumably must take the will of their local citizens into account.

The Senate on the other hand takes a slower more deliberate approach when passing laws. They provide steady and thoughtful debate. Their goal is to understand the long-term effects that new laws will have on the entire population of our country. They are elected for terms of six years.

Since the House is to closely respect the will of a smaller segment of the population there are necessarily more Representatives than there are Senators. A state gets its Representatives based upon its population and there are a total of 435 Representatives in the House. Every state gets two and only two Senators, so there are a total of 100 members of the Senate.

Senators and House Representatives earn $165,200 per year. The Speaker of the House, and Senate Majority or Minority leaders earn around $212,000 per year.

Legislative procedures are generally more flexible, in the House than in the Senate, and the House generally has its power structure less evenly distributed.