United States Congress

The United States Capitol building, where the Congress meets.

The United States Congress is the legislative, or law making, branch of the United States government. It meets in the United States Capitol.

It has two houses (parts): The United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. This two house system is known as a bicameral (bi is the Latin word for "two", and camera is Latin for "chamber" or "room") legislature. There are 435 Representatives in Congress, split between the states based on how many people live in the state. There are 100 Senators in Congress, with two coming from each state.

The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate, and pass bills (laws they want), which are then sent to the President. If the President agrees the bill should be a law he or she signs the bill. If the bill is not signed, it does not become a law, and people say the President "vetoed" the bill.

The political party with the most members in a house of Congress usually decides which bills are voted on in their house. As of 2009, the Democratic Party has the most members in both the House and the Senate.

Most U.S. states make laws the same way, except the state legislatures will have their own names instead of "Congress" (e.g. Iowa General Assembly), the state legislatures' members are split based on population in both houses, and the bills are sent to the state governor, since states do not have presidents.