Congressional Profile

In these troubling times we turn to Congress to answer much of the political uncertainty that is presented to us on our TV screens every night. In order for us to understand what Congress is doing we must first understand the people who represent us in Congress.

The Congressional profile is extremely interesting. We have 100 Senators and 435 Representatives who come from all aspects of life. The Democratic Party is the majority party in the Senate and holds 50 seats. The Republican party is the minority in the Senate and holds 49 seats. The only other party represented in the Senate is the Independent party1.

Out of all of the Democrats in the Senate 40 are men and 10 are women. And out of all of the Republicans in the Senate 45 are men and 3 are women2. This disproportionate number of male senators to female senators is amazing considering the number of women in politics.

The one member of the Independent Party, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, caucuses with the Democratic Party, thus giving the Democrats the majority in the Senate3.

Minorities in the senate are also underrepresented. There are three Asian-American senators: Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii). There is one Native American S

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They are also used to express the sentiments of both of the houses16. All of these Asian American senators are Democrats.

Simple resolutions also exist in Congress. There is also legislation that is meant to heal the wound that families and the nation has incurred by memorializing them on stamps or honoring them with Congressional Awards. 1465, a bill which empowered the President to waive foreign assistance restrictions against Pakistan27.

There are also 30 Senate Joint Resolutions13 and 81 House Joint Resolutions14. This is a nice gesture but extremely impractical. There are currently 93 Senate Concurrent Resolutions17 and 295 House Concurrent Resolutions18. But all of this legislation has been postponed until the more immediate and visible problem of the war has been dealt with. 2882, which provided benefits for public safety officers that were either killed or harmed in the attacks on September 1122. Concurrent resolutions generally are used to make or amend rules that apply to both houses. There have currently been 12 bills and joint resolutions proposed because of September 11 that have been signed into law.

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