NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS
534. CONGRESS CONSISTS OF TWO HOUSES.—The National legislature, or Congress, consists of a Senate or upper chamber, and a House of Representatives or lower chamber.
Several factors are responsible for this division of Congress into two houses. Undoubtedly the framers of the Constitution were influenced by the fact that the British Parliament and nearly all of the colonial legislatures consisted of two houses. A second factor is that in the opinion of the Fathers, a two-chambered legislature would allow each house to act as a check upon the other. Finally, the creation of a two-chambered legislature was necessary in order to reconcile the conflicting desires of the large and the small states. During the Constitutional Convention two opposing factions were brought together by the creation of a two-chambered legislature, in the upper house of which the states were to be represented equally, and in the lower house of which representation was to be on the basis of population.
A. THE SENATE
535. TERM AND QUALIFICATIONS OF SENATORS.—Two Senators are chosen from each state, regardless of population. The senatorial term is six years. In order to make the Senate a permanent body, membership is so arranged that one third of the Senators retire every two years. The Federal Constitution provides that Senators must be at least thirty years of age. In addition, a Senator must have been nine years a citizen of the United States, and he must be an inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen. The Senate alone is judge of the qualifications of its members.
With respect to the Senate, two disqualifications are imposed by the Federal Constitution. No one holding a Federal office may stand for election as Senator. Nor may any person become a Senator who has taken part in a rebellion against the United States after having taken an oath as a government officer to support the Constitution.
536. THE ELECTION OF SENATORS.—Previous to 1913 Senators were chosen by the various state legislatures, according to the provisions of the Federal Constitution. [Footnote: Article I, Section III.] This method proved unsatisfactory. Demoralizing political battles often took place in the state legislatures in the effort to select the states' Senators to Congress. Sometimes, even after a long struggle, no candidate was able to secure a majority, and a deadlock occurred. Thus, on the one hand, a state might be deprived of representation in the Senate for weeks or months, while, on the other hand, the attention of the legislature was so distracted by the senatorial struggle that purely state interests suffered. As the result of a long agitation growing out of these evils, the Federal Constitution was amended (1913) to permit the direct election of Senators.
Since 1913, then, any person may vote directly for Senator who, under the laws of his state, is qualified to vote for members of the more numerous branch of the state legislature. When, for any reason, a vacancy occurs in the representation of any state in the Senate, the Governor of the state issues a writ of election to fill such vacancy. Provided the state legislature grants the authority, the Governor also may appoint some person to serve as Senator until the vacancy is filled by popular election. Senators are generally reflected, and at the present time the average term of service is not six, but about twelve years.
537. PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF SENATORS.—By the terms of the Constitution, Senators are paid out of the national treasury an amount to be determined by statute. At present both Senators and members of the House of Representatives receive $7500 a year, plus an allowance for travelling expenses, clerk hire, and stationery. Except in case of treason or breach of the peace, Senators and Representatives are immune to arrest during attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same. Both Senators and Representatives likewise enjoy freedom of speech and debate in their respective houses. In either chamber only the house itself may call members to account for their statements during the legislative session. No member of Congress may be prosecuted in the courts for libel or slander on account of statements made in Congress, or for the official publication of what he has said during the legislative session.
B. THE HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES