1.
United States Capitol Complex
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The United States Capitol Complex is a group of about a dozen buildings and facilities in Washington, D. C. that are used by the United States government. The buildings and grounds within the complex are managed and supervised by the Architect of the Capitol and these include the National Statuary Hall Collection and the Statue of Freedom among many others. The westernmost part of the grounds is the Capitol Reflecting Pool, which reflects the Capitol, construction of the Capitol began in 1793. When built, it was the existing building for the use by the nations legislature. In addition to Congress, the building was designed to house the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the district courts. Following the completion of the building and as the nation grew, the Capitol and its grounds were enlarged accordingly, and by 1892 the building had reached essentially its present size and appearance. Even with the enlargements, Congress eventually grew too big for the building and these new buildings were heated and provided with electricity by the new Capitol Power Plant which opened in 1910 and is still used today. The 1930s was a decade of construction within the growing Capitol Complex. The Supreme Court at last found a permanent home when its own building was completed in 1935, the last building constructed within the complex in this decade was the Library of Congress Annex, now named the John Adams Building, which opened in 1939. Within twenty years, attention returned to the need for congressional office space, this led to the construction of a second building for the Senate. The Houses third building, the Rayburn House Office Building, opened in 1965, a third building for the Library of Congress, the James Madison Memorial Building, opened in 1980 and the Senates third building, the Hart Senate Office Building, was occupied in 1982. The most recent large structure within the Capitol complex is the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, renovations to the Botanic Garden Conservatory began in September 1997 and continued for four years until December 2001 when the building reopened. The newest addition to the Capitol Complex is the Capitol Visitor Center, despite many delays, the Center opened in December 2008, and includes an exhibition gallery, two theaters, a dining facility, and gift shops. The budget for construction of the Center was $584 million
2.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
3.
Vice President of the United States
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The executive power of both the vice president and the president is granted under Article Two, Section One of the Constitution. The vice president is elected, together with the president. The Office of the Vice President of the United States assists, as the president of the United States Senate, the vice president votes only when it is necessary to break a tie. Additionally, pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the president presides over the joint session of Congress when it convenes to count the vote of the Electoral College. Currently, the president is usually seen as an integral part of a presidents administration. The Constitution does not expressly assign the office to any one branch, causing a dispute among scholars whether it belongs to the executive branch, the legislative branch, or both. The modern view of the president as a member of the executive branch is due in part to the assignment of executive duties to the vice president by either the president or Congress. Mike Pence of Indiana is the 48th and current vice president and he assumed office on January 20,2017. The formation of the office of vice president resulted directly from the compromise reached at the Philadelphia Convention which created the Electoral College, the delegates at Philadelphia agreed that each state would receive a number of presidential electors equal to the sum of that states allocation of Representatives and Senators. The delegates assumed that electors would typically choose to favor any candidate from their state over candidates from other states, under a plurality election process, this would tend to result in electing candidates solely from the largest states. Consequently, the delegates agreed that presidents must be elected by a majority of the number of electors. To guard against such stratagems, the Philadelphia delegates specified that the first runner-up presidential candidate would become vice president, the process for selecting the vice president was later modified in the Twelfth Amendment. Each elector still receives two votes, but now one of those votes is for president, while the other is for vice president. The requirement that one of those votes be cast for a candidate not from the electors own state remains in effect. S, other statutorily granted roles include membership of both the National Security Council and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. As President of the Senate, the president has two primary duties, to cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock and to preside over. For example, in the first half of 2001, the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and Dick Cheneys tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority, as President of the Senate, the vice president oversees procedural matters and may cast a tie-breaking vote. As President of the Senate, John Adams cast 29 tie-breaking votes that was surpassed by John C. Calhoun with 31. Adamss votes protected the presidents sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, on at least one occasion Adams persuaded senators to vote against legislation he opposed, and he frequently addressed the Senate on procedural and policy matters
4.
Party leaders of the United States Senate
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The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They are elected to their positions in the Senate by their party caucuses, the Senate Democratic Caucus. By rule, the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate, the Assistant Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate are the second-ranking members of each partys leadership. The main function of the Majority and Minority Whips is to gather votes on major issues, because they are the second ranking member of the Senate, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader. Before 1969, the titles were Majority Whip and Minority Whip. The Senate is currently composed of 52 Republicans,46 Democrats, the current leaders are Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. The current Assistant Majority Leader is Republican John Cornyn of Texas, the current Assistant Minority Leader/Whip is Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois. The Democrats began the practice of electing floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority, John W. Kern was a Democratic Senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the first Senate party leader from 1913 through 1917, the Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as President of the United States Senate. The Constitution also calls for a President pro tempore to serve as the leader of the body when the President of the Senate is absent, for these reasons, it is the Majority Leader who, in practice, manages the Senate. This is in contrast to the House of Representatives where the elected Speaker of the House has a deal of discretionary power. The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920, the Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925. gov Republican Majority Democratic Minority
5.
United States congressional committee
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A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty. Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction, woodrow Wilson once wrote, it is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work. It is neither expected nor possible that a member of Congress be an expert on all matters, Congressional committees provide valuable informational services to Congress by investigating and reporting about specialized subjects. Congress divides its legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks among approximately 200 committees and subcommittees, of the 73 discharge petitions submitted to the full House from 1995 through 2007, only one was successful in securing a definitive yea-or-nay vote for a bill. The growing autonomy of committees has fragmented the power of each chamber as a unit. This dispersion of power has weakened the legislative branch relative to the other two branches of the federal government, the executive branch and the judiciary branch. In his often cited article History of the House of Representatives, written in 1961, galloway wrote, In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison. Galloway went on to cite committee autonomy as a factor interfering with the adoption of a coherent legislative program, such autonomy remains a characteristic feature of the committee system in Congress today. This reform was abolished in a 1935 counterattack led by the intra-House oligarchy, thus the era of the Great Depression marks the last across-the-board change, albeit a short-lived one, in the autonomy of House standing committees. The 1946 act reduced the number of House committees from 48 to 19, jurisdictions of all committees were codified by rule in their respective chambers, which helped consolidate or eliminate many existing committees and minimize jurisdictional conflicts. There are no limits on the number of subcommittees in the U. S. Senate, Congress has convened several other temporary review committees to analyze and make recommendations on ways to reform and improve the committee system. For example, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 led to further reforms to open Congress to further public visibility, strengthen its decision-making capacities, the first Senate committee was established April 7,1789, to draw up Senate rules of procedure. In those early days, the Senate operated with temporary select committees and this system provided a great deal of flexibility, as if one committee proved unresponsive, another could be established in its place. The Senate could also forgo committee referral for actions on legislation or presidential nominations and these early committees generally consisted of three members for routine business and five members for more important issues. The largest committee established during the 1st Congress had eleven members and this system proved ineffective, so in 1816 the Senate adopted a formal system of 11 standing committees with five members each. Three of those committees, the Finance, Foreign Relations and the Judiciary Committees exist largely unchanged today, with the advent of this new system, committees are able to handle long-term studies and investigations, in addition to regular legislative duties. According to the Senate Historical Office, the significance of the change from temporary to permanent committees was perhaps little realized at the time. With the growing responsibilities of the Senate, the committees gradually grew to be the key policy-making bodies of the Senate, by 1906, the Senate maintained 66 standing and select committees—eight more committees than members of the majority party
6.
Saxbe fix
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The rollback, first implemented by an Act of Congress in 1909, reverts the emoluments of the office to the amount they were when that member began his or her elected term. To prevent ethical conflicts, James Madison proposed language at the Constitutional Convention that was adopted as the Ineligibility Clause after debate, Members of Congress have been appointed to federal judgeships without any fix being enacted, court challenges to such appointments have failed. There were four Saxbe fixes for appointees of presidents prior to Barack Obama, the first two rollbacks concerned appointees of Republicans William Howard Taft and Richard Nixon, and the last two were implemented for appointees of Democrats Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Congress approved two more in the weeks preceding Obamas presidency in preparation for his designated Cabinet nominees, since the 1980s, Saxbe fixes have only been temporary, extending to the conclusion of the term for which the sitting member of Congress was elected. Madison wrote that corrupt legislative actions, in the form of the creation of offices. The delegates who were present agreed that no member of Congress should be eligible to be appointed to a position while serving in Congress. Madison originally proposed a length on such a bar. However, Nathaniel Gorham, James Wilson, and Alexander Hamilton wanted no bar at all at the conclusion of congressional service. Eventually, Madison proposed a compromise, that no office ought to be open to a member, which may be created or augmented while he is in the legislature and they eliminated the one-year ban because they judged it to be ineffective in protecting the Constitution. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney moved that the vote and the prohibition carried by vote of 8 states to 3. Madison moved that the phrase or the Emoluments whereof shall have been augmented by the legislature of the United States, during the time they were members thereof and this motion failed 2–8, with one state divided. The clause was limited to civil offices so as not to military service. Accordingly, the clause was passed in its current form without an explicit time consideration, article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution therefore prohibits self-dealing legislation and is intended to protect the separation of power of the various branches of government. Corruption such as seen in the British Parliament was a consideration during debate by the framers of the Constitution. Most scholarly texts on the Constitution ignore the clause, although the Saxbe fix is named for Nixon nominee William Saxbe, the devices first intentional use predates him by several decades. As a matter of tradition, the Saxbe fix is considered sufficient to remove the disqualification of the Ineligibility Clause. The Ineligibility Clause has interfered with appointments as far back as 1793, President George Washington attempted to appoint William Paterson to the Supreme Court on February 27,1793, after the resignation of Associate Justice Thomas Johnson. However, Paterson, who was serving as Governor of New Jersey, had previously elected to serve a Senate term that would expire at noon on March 4,1793
7.
Seal of the United States Senate
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The Seal of the United States Senate is the seal officially adopted by the United States Senate to authenticate certain official documents. Its design also serves as a sign and symbol of the Senate. The current version dates from 1886, and is the seal design used by the Senate since its inception in 1789. The use of the seal is restricted by law and other regulations. The seal has a shield with 13 stars on top and 13 vertical stripes on the bottom, an olive branch, symbolizing peace, graces the left side of the shield, while an oak branch, symbolizing strength, is on the right. A red liberty cap above the shield and crossed fasces below the shield represent freedom and authority, blue beams of light emanate from the shield. Surrounding the seal is the legend United States Senate, several of the elements are derived from the Great Seal of the United States. The seal is affixed to impeachment documents and resolutions of consent to international treaties and it also appears on presentation copies of Senate resolutions recognizing appointments, commendations, and notable achievements. Other uses include authentication of senator credentials, and also votes for President. The seal is kept in the custody of the Secretary of the Senate, in the twentieth century, the Secretary has authorized its official use by the majority and minority leaders. It is illegal to use the Senate seal in any manner reasonably calculated to convey an impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States. The seal is depicted in a glass window in the United States Capitol. There are four staircases in the building, and all four stairwells contain a large stained glass window. One of these windows, on the Senate side of the Capitol, originally depicted an eagle with a shield and flags of the United States, the window was initially filled in with frosted glass, but was later replaced with a colorful design depicting the senate seal. The window is visible from the office on the other side. An image of this served as the theme of the Senates web page from about 2002 to 2006. The Senate never had a flag until the 1980s, even though by then most other government agencies, departments. In April 1984, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii proposed that the Senate commission an official flag using the design of the Senate seal
8.
United States Capitol
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The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U. S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations capital in Washington, D. C. the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4,1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design
9.
Hart Senate Office Building
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Construction began in January 1975, and it was first occupied in November 1982. Rapidly rising construction costs plagued the building, creating several scandals, the structure is named for Philip Hart, who served 18 years as a senator from Michigan. The Dirksen Senate Office Building was intended to occupy the block bounded by 1st Street NE, Constitution Avenue NE, 2nd Street NE. However, due to the resource and financial demands of the Korean War, in 1969, Congress voted to acquire the eastern half of the block for a New Senate Office Building. Originally, the Senate intended only to build a $21 million underground parking garage here and that effort was approved in June 1971. But in May 1972, the Subcommittee on Buildings of the Senate Committee on Public Works approved a plan to construct the New Senate Office Building above the parking garage, the buildings cost was estimated at $48 million in June 1972. The full Senate approved the plan in September 1972. Warneckes design for the building was approved by the Senate Committee on Public Works on August 8,1974. Warnecke was given just two weeks to come up with the cost estimate, which the Architect of the Capitol later claimed was far too little time to generate an accurate cost forecast, by the end of the year, the estimated cost of construction had risen to $69 million. Ground for the new structure was broken in January 1975, the poor and uneven condition of the soil at the site caused delays in the excavation, and major cost increases. When the foundations were finished, it was discovered many of the anchoring bolts were misaligned and had to be replaced. This also added new costs to the project. On August 30,1976, the Senate voted to name the new building the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building in honor of retiring Senator Philip Hart. Hart died on December 26,1976, of melanoma, having declined to run for reelection the previous November, by August 1978, actual construction costs were now $85 million and were expected to top $122 million. The Senate approved a plan to spend another $54 million on the structure, initially, the House approved this plan. But when constituents bitterly complained, the House reversed itself on both counts, by 1979, construction estimates had soared to $179 million, and the General Accounting Office said it would rise to $230 million without changes. In July 1979, the Senate agreed to cap costs at $137.7 million after an acrimonious three-hour debate during which some suggested the building be torn down. The Hart Senate Office Building was completed in September 1982 at a cost of $137.7 million, Architect of the Capitol George M. White argued the construction cost was a reasonable $110 per square foot
10.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
