2. And the people who help your legislators use those powers!

3.  Article I, Section 9  May not suspend writ of habeas corpus  May not pass bills of attainder  May not pass ex post facto laws  MN adultery law hypothetical  Can’t tax exports  Can’t issue titles of nobility  Except for Giesen; he’s Duke of Rochester. (Not really)

4.  Power to Tax/Spend  Revenue and Appropriations  Revenue bills MUST start in House of Reps. Why?  Power to Borrow  Savings bonds and Treasury notes  “loans” to the government, over time they mature  National Debt – around 15 trillion bones National Debt

5.  Commerce Power  “Commerce Clause” – Congress can regulate INTERstate commerce  Currency Power  Congress can coin money, regulate its value  Congress can punish counterfeiters  Ditch the penny?  ~1.8 cents to make a penny, ~9 cents to make a nickel  Are you flippin’ kidding me?  Bankruptcy Power  Legal proceedings to administer assets of someone who can’t pay their debt

6.  Approve treaties  Negotiated by others, but must be approved by Congress  Declare war  Prez is Commander in Chief, but cannot “declare” war  War Powers Act (1973) – Prez can’t commit soldiers to combat for more than 60 days without notifying Congress  Maintain armed forces  Generally amounts to appropriations  Regulate foreign commerce  Approve of official trade agreements – NAFTA for example

7.  Congress has power over naturalization process  Process by which one becomes a citizen  Admit new states and govern territories  Manage federal lands  Parks, etc.

8.  Create Postal Service  Regulate it  Certain things can’t be mailed  Price of postage  Fight crime?  Using the mail for ANY illegal act is a federal crime

9.  Copyright – exclusive right to publish and sell literary, musical, or artistic work  Lifetime of creator +50 years  Patent – exclusive right to manufacture, use, sell an invention  17 years (renewable)

10.  Establish a standard system of weights and measures  Still fighting that metric system!

11.  Create courts  Confirm federal judicial appointments  Set criminal laws, determine federal penalties

12.  Elastic Clause: “make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers...”  Basically do whatever it needs to do to execute its powers

13.  Administrative Assistant (AA)  Manage office  Manage schedule  Deal with influential visitors/constituents  Legislative Assistant (LA)  Keep boss informed about bills  Research and draft legislation  Attend meetings, meet with lobbyists, negotiating with other Congressmen, etc.  Caseworkers  More directly work with constituents in home district (~1/3-1/2 of staffers)

14.  Committee Staff – draft bills, plan hearings, write memos, prepare committee reports  Supports  Library of Congress – big ol’ library, Congressional Research Service  Congressional Budget Office – Study budget proposals and gauge impact  General Accounting Office – monitors Congress’s spending, finances of government programs  Government Printing Office – prints everything the government needs printed  Congressional Record – daily record of bills, speeches, etc. presented in Congress  Statistical Abstract of the United States