by Jim Ruth

Created on: April 07, 2009

Do you know the duties of the Congress of the United States? If you answer "No" you're in good company. In spite of all of their double talk and obfuscation, even a small amount of time spent listening to the public comments of the members of Congress soon makes one thing clear they do not know or understand the duties of Congress, either. Congress presses to extend its powers beyond its Constitutional limits while neglecting its primary, though only implied, duty.

The fact is, the stated DUTIES of Congress, as enumerated in the Constitution, are very few and are almost all housekeeping chores. In this context, a DUTY is anything that Congress is required to do. Article I of our Constitution addresses the legislative branch (Congress), and specifies the following things that Congress as a whole or either house of Congress must do: 1) direct the manner of taking the periodic census of the United States; 2) the House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; 3) the Senate shall choose their officers and a president pro tempore (to function as president of the Senate when the Vice-President is absent or when he is in the position of exercising the Office of the President of the United States); 4) Congress shall assemble at least once every year; 5) each house of Congress shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and 6) each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and from time to time publish it.

That's it. Those are all of the stated duties of Congress. All other things that the Constitution says Congress "shall" do are things that may become necessary, but they are technically obliged to do. Even the power to levy and collect taxes is a power, not a duty.

Of course, the list of the POWERS of Congress is far broader than the list of its DUTIES. That is, they have the power to do a number of things that they are not obliged to do. Granted, it is difficult (impossible is more like it) to imagine Congress passing up the opportunity to avail themselves of the various powers enumerated in the constitution, and Congress has not passed up any of them. Here's the rub. Over time, Congress (and probably most of the citizenry) has come to think of the powers of Congress as duties of Congress.

Rather than enumerate the various powers of Congress here, I would direct you to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The list only takes up one printed page but Congress has certainly made the most of those powers.

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