1 00:00:04,780 --> 00:00:08,160 Welcome to week five of the L2 Legal English course. 2 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,300 Over the next two weeks, we're going to be looking at Article 3 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:15,680 1 of the US Constitution, which establishes the federal 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,820 legislative branch known as Congress. 5 00:00:19,100 --> 00:00:22,580 Congress is bicameral, that is, it has two chambers, 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,680 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 7 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:30,560 The bicameral structure was the result of historical disagreement 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,980 about how the states should be represented in a new union. 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,800 In the end, the framers went for the great compromise. 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,800 This meant that while states would have proportional representation 11 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,400 in the House of Representatives, each state would enjoy equal 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,860 representation in the Senate, two Senators. 13 00:00:52,060 --> 00:00:56,820 As an example, California is the most populous US state with a 14 00:00:57,020 --> 00:01:01,700 population of almost 40 million, and as a result it has 53 House 15 00:01:01,900 --> 00:01:02,660 Representatives. 16 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:08,560 The smallest state by population is Wyoming, with fewer than 600,000 17 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:09,520 residents. 18 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:12,880 Wyoming only has one Representative in the House. 19 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,460 But California and Wyoming each has two Senators. 20 00:01:19,620 --> 00:01:23,260 With smaller districts and short terms, the House of Representatives was 21 00:01:23,460 --> 00:01:26,960 expected to be responsive to "We the People". 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:32,900 But any attempt to pass opportunistic, popular measures could be checked 23 00:01:33,100 --> 00:01:36,680 in the Senate, whose members served for longer terms. 24 00:01:38,540 --> 00:01:42,460 The Senate is sometimes referred to as the Upper House and the House 25 00:01:42,660 --> 00:01:43,820 as the Lower House. 26 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,540 Because both chambers are located on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, 27 00:01:49,220 --> 00:01:52,860 we sometimes refer to Congress as Capitol Hill. 28 00:01:53,820 --> 00:01:57,860 Members of the Lower House are called either Representatives or 29 00:01:58,060 --> 00:02:00,080 Congressmen or Congresswomen. 30 00:02:00,620 --> 00:02:03,540 Members of the Senate are called Senators. 31 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,540 Members of Congress are usually affiliated with one of the two 32 00:02:08,740 --> 00:02:12,220 major parties – the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. 33 00:02:13,180 --> 00:02:16,560 However, there is nothing to prevent a member being affiliated with 34 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,260 a third party or, in the case of independents, with no party at all. 35 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:26,820 Historically, the composition of Congress has not reflected the 36 00:02:27,020 --> 00:02:28,540 diversity of wider society. 37 00:02:29,700 --> 00:02:33,080 Women were effectively shut out from gaining seats in Congress 38 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,420 until social changes in the early 20th century. 39 00:02:37,860 --> 00:02:42,740 This gathered momentum in the 1970s as the rise of feminism led to 40 00:02:42,940 --> 00:02:46,340 a drive to recruit and fund women candidates. 41 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,420 The numbers have steadily risen to the point where women make up 42 00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:55,340 just over a quarter of the total number of members of Congress. 43 00:02:57,420 --> 00:03:02,920 One state, Vermont, did not return a woman to either chamber of Congress 44 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:10,700 until the election of Becca Balint to the House in the 2022 midterms. 45 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,940 There has been a similar trend in the rise of non-white members, 46 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,920 with today's Congress being the most racially and ethnically diverse 47 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:21,880 to date. 48 00:03:22,820 --> 00:03:26,760 Today, almost a quarter of voting members in Congress are from racial 49 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,360 or ethnic minorities, although this demographic seems 50 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,680 to be aligned along party lines with most of these members drawn 51 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:35,640 from the Democrats. 52 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,140 The Constitution provides that members of both Houses enjoy the 53 00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:45,300 privilege of being free from arrest, with certain exceptions such as 54 00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:46,980 treason or felonies. 55 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,100 This immunity applies during sessions of Congress, or when travelling 56 00:03:52,300 --> 00:03:53,920 to and from these sessions. 57 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:59,060 The Constitution also protects members from being sued for defamation, 58 00:03:59,300 --> 00:04:02,920 for anything said during debates or speeches in Congress. 59 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,780 This is meant to ensure that absolute freedom of debate is preserved 60 00:04:08,980 --> 00:04:09,740 in both Houses. 61 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,100 Moving on to the House of Representatives, since 1911 the 62 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:23,480 House has been made up of 435 voting representatives from the 50 states. 63 00:04:24,780 --> 00:04:29,300 This means the states are divided into 435 congressional districts. 64 00:04:30,060 --> 00:04:34,980 The Constitution requires elections for the House to take place every 65 00:04:35,180 --> 00:04:36,040 two years. 66 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,940 This relatively frequent cycle can be contrasted with the position 67 00:04:41,140 --> 00:04:45,260 of Senators who are elected for six years. 68 00:04:47,580 --> 00:04:50,640 Given that representation is based on a state's population, 69 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,140 a state may gain or lose representatives as its population 70 00:04:55,340 --> 00:04:56,100 changes. 71 00:04:56,620 --> 00:05:00,220 Every 10 years there is a reapportionment of House seats 72 00:05:00,420 --> 00:05:05,280 based on data from the latest US Census. 73 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:11,320 Based on the 2020 Census, California will lose a new 74 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,600 congressional seat starting from the 2022 midterm elections. 75 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:21,340 To be eligible for election to the House, candidates must be 25 76 00:05:21,540 --> 00:05:25,580 years old, have been US citizens for at least seven years, 77 00:05:25,820 --> 00:05:28,460 and live in a state where they are seeking election. 78 00:05:30,770 --> 00:05:34,250 The Speaker is the leader of the House of Representatives and second 79 00:05:34,450 --> 00:05:37,750 to the Vice President in the line of presidential succession. 80 00:05:39,290 --> 00:05:42,930 The Speaker must belong to the majority political party and is 81 00:05:43,130 --> 00:05:46,790 responsible for setting the legislative agenda for the House. 82 00:05:48,090 --> 00:05:49,770 It is a powerful position. 83 00:05:51,430 --> 00:05:55,190 The Speaker's main concern is to ensure that the majority party's 84 00:05:55,390 --> 00:05:57,510 legislative programme is made into law. 85 00:05:58,450 --> 00:06:02,950 The Speaker decides which proposed law or bill should be considered 86 00:06:03,150 --> 00:06:04,090 and debated. 87 00:06:05,310 --> 00:06:08,890 The Speaker also appoints members of the Rules Committee, 88 00:06:09,530 --> 00:06:13,430 which controls amendments, debate and timetabling. 89 00:06:14,950 --> 00:06:18,450 Article 1, Section 2 gives the House the power of impeachment, 90 00:06:19,130 --> 00:06:23,570 including impeachments of the President for high crimes and misdemeanours. 91 00:06:24,490 --> 00:06:27,730 Historically, the House has impeached three presidents. 92 00:06:28,390 --> 00:06:34,790 President Andrew Johnson in 1868, President Bill Clinton in 1998, 93 00:06:35,830 --> 00:06:41,050 and President Donald Trump twice, in 2019 and 2021. 94 00:06:43,370 --> 00:06:46,570 However, on each occasion, the President was acquitted by 95 00:06:46,770 --> 00:06:51,510 the US Senate, which has the power to try impeachments under Article 1, 96 00:06:51,710 --> 00:06:52,530 Section 3. 97 00:06:53,270 --> 00:06:56,610 In impeachment cases, we could say that the House of 98 00:06:56,810 --> 00:07:02,710 Representatives acts as the prosecutor, bringing charges against the President, 99 00:07:03,450 --> 00:07:06,690 and the Senate acts as the jury, deciding the outcome. 100 00:07:08,590 --> 00:07:11,830 According to Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, 101 00:07:12,590 --> 00:07:17,550 quote, "All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 102 00:07:17,750 --> 00:07:22,230 Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments 103 00:07:22,430 --> 00:07:25,950 as on any other bills". 104 00:07:26,610 --> 00:07:30,230 This means that only the House can propose tax legislation, 105 00:07:30,650 --> 00:07:35,930 even if the Senate retains its power to oppose, approve or amend 106 00:07:36,130 --> 00:07:37,170 such legislation. 107 00:07:39,590 --> 00:07:42,630 Bills authorising the spending of federal funds are called 108 00:07:42,830 --> 00:07:43,910 appropriation bills. 109 00:07:44,870 --> 00:07:47,350 While there is nothing in the Constitution that says only the 110 00:07:47,550 --> 00:07:51,670 House can originate these kinds of bills, in practice it is rare 111 00:07:51,870 --> 00:07:56,330 for the Senate to send an appropriations bill to the House for approval. 112 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,360 Looking now at the Senate, as mentioned earlier, 113 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,780 each of the 50 US states are represented by two Senators, 114 00:08:06,220 --> 00:08:09,820 regardless of their population, size or economic importance. 115 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,840 If we think of the House of Representatives as the people's house, 116 00:08:15,300 --> 00:08:17,500 the Senate is the state's house. 117 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,740 Originally, Senators were chosen by each state's legislature, 118 00:08:21,940 --> 00:08:24,040 rather than by popular vote. 119 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,420 However, in the 19th century, there was increasing popular pressure 120 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:34,040 for a constitutional amendment allowing for the direct election 121 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:35,340 of Senators. 122 00:08:36,060 --> 00:08:40,460 This was eventually achieved through the ratification of the 17th Amendment 123 00:08:40,660 --> 00:08:41,880 in 1913. 124 00:08:43,180 --> 00:08:47,500 As mentioned earlier, Senators are elected for six-year 125 00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:48,460 terms. 126 00:08:48,660 --> 00:08:53,420 However, there is a rotation of election schedule for the Senators' 127 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:58,620 terms of office, so that the entire Senate is never up for re-election 128 00:08:58,820 --> 00:09:00,380 all at the same time. 129 00:09:01,380 --> 00:09:05,340 So every two years, one third of the chamber seeks election. 130 00:09:08,250 --> 00:09:11,630 To be eligible for election to the Senate, candidates must be 131 00:09:11,830 --> 00:09:15,650 30 years old, be US citizens for at least nine years, 132 00:09:16,170 --> 00:09:19,050 and be residents of the state they will represent. 133 00:09:20,890 --> 00:09:25,050 The Senate is presided over by the Vice President of the United 134 00:09:25,250 --> 00:09:29,230 States, who does not vote except in the case of a tie, 135 00:09:29,610 --> 00:09:32,610 that is, where the vote is split 50-50. 136 00:09:34,630 --> 00:09:38,790 However, the real leader of the Senate is the majority leader, 137 00:09:39,170 --> 00:09:42,950 a figure drawn from a party with a majority of Senate seats. 138 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,120 The Senate has certain powers which are not shared by the lower house. 139 00:09:49,420 --> 00:09:53,900 These include the approval of treaties and the confirmation of certain 140 00:09:54,100 --> 00:09:57,640 appointments to high office, including cabinet secretaries, 141 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:02,260 federal judges, ambassadors, and various other federal executive 142 00:10:02,460 --> 00:10:03,220 officials. 143 00:10:05,300 --> 00:10:08,240 Obviously, the main function of the Senate is as a law maker. 144 00:10:09,180 --> 00:10:13,020 The legislative powers of both the Senate and the House and the 145 00:10:13,220 --> 00:10:17,500 process of making laws will be the subject of next week's course.