United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the Senate. It is conventional to consider the House as the "lower house", and the Senate as the "upper house", although the U.S. Constitution, while making the functions of the two houses different in various ways, does not use such language. Each state is represented in the House in accordance with the size of its population, with the proviso that each state is entitled to at least one Representative member. The total number of Representatives is fixed by law at 435, who each serve two-year terms. The presiding officer of the House is known as the Speaker.

Qualifications

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets forth three qualifications for representatives: each representative must be at least twenty-five years old, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past seven years, and must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state he or she represents. It is not, however, requisite for the representative to live in his or her district. The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less stringent than those for senators.

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Furthermore, under the Fourteenth Amendment, any federal or state officer who takes the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States, is disqualified from becoming a representative. This provision, which came into force soon after the end of the American Civil War, was intended to prevent those who sided with the Confederacy from serving. The Amendment, however, provides that a disqualified individual may still serve if two-thirds of both Houses of Congress vote to remove the disability.

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Congress of the United States: The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a...

Senate: A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. The word senate is derived from the Latin word senex (old man), via the Latin word senatus (senate). The members (or legislators) of a senate are called senators. The Latin word senator has been adopted by English ...

Lower house: A lower house (sometimes known as the first chamber) is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house....

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