The Legislative Branch
Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., home of the Legislative Branch of Government.
The Legislative Branch of the government is made up of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and various supporting agencies. One that you have probably of is the Library of Congress.
Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate put together), is responsible for making the laws that govern all of the United States of America. Congress passes laws with a majority vote in both Houses. The President can "check" the vote by vetoing it. This veto, however, can be overridden by two-thirds vote in both Houses.
The House of Representatives has 435 members. Each state has a different number of Representatives. State population determines the number of Representatives. The 2011 estimated population of Connecticut was 3.6 million people. Therefore, our state has 5 Representatives. The Senate has 100 members. Each of our 50 states has two members of the Senate representing us.
The Vice President oversees the Senate (and can cast the deciding vote in the case of a tie), while the Speaker of the House is head of the House of Representatives.
For additional information on the role of the Legislative Branch, please visit the website below. You can also obtain further information about the House of Representatives and the Senate through this website.
bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/national/legislative.html
Your Research Assignment
Explore the links provided on this page and identify the elected officials in the State of Connecticut for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. After listing their names, identify which Representative serves the area that includes New Milford. Please complete this assignment and then post it in the Portfolio section of our website. Here are a couple of websites to help you in your research quest.
On this website, remember that you are looking for two names.
Hint: You are looking for five names on this website.