The Congressional profile is extremely interesting. We have 100 Senators and 435 Representatives who come from all aspects of life. The Democratic Party is the majority party in the Senate and holds 50 seats. The Republican party is the minority in the Senate and holds 49 seats. The only other party represented in the Senate is the Independent party1.

Out of all of the Democrats in the Senate 40 are men and 10 are women. And out of all of the Republicans in the Senate 45 are men and 3 are women2. This disproportionate number of male senators to female senators is amazing considering the number of women in politics.

The one member of the Independent Party, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, caucuses with the Democratic Party, thus giving the Democrats the majority in the Senate3.

Minorities in the senate are also underrepresented. There are three Asian-American senators: Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii). There is one Native American S

Overall, I think that Congress is pretty responsive to the needs of the people in this day and age. I think the fact that minorities and women are severely underrepresented Congress makes its timely and appropriate responses even more amazing. The fact that Congress is able to empathize with the American people during their time of need, most accurately shown in the times after September 11, ensures that the American people can trust their Congress during these troubling and uncertain times.

My issue for the past semester has been the war on terrorism. After September 11 the legislation concerning terrorism has greatly increased in Congress. There have currently been 12 bills and joint resolutions proposed because of September 11 that have been signed into law. In the House, the first bill was H.R.2882, which provided benefits for public safety officers that were either killed or harmed in the attacks on September 1122. Another bill was H.R.2883, which increased funding for US intelligence activities23. The most important House Bill, known as the USA Patriots Bill, made it law to "To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes24." The only House Joint Resolution to be signed into law was H.J.Res.71, designated September 11 as Patriots Day25.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Simple Resolutions21, Congress September, Resolutions18 Simple, Overall Congress, President Joint, Democratic Party, House Democrat8, Congress Public, President Concurrent, Day25 Senate, september 11, joint resolution, seats house, concurrent resolutions, hold seats house, signature president, joint resolutions, democratic party, hold seats, force law, simple resolutions, party majority party, resolution legislative proposal, september 11 currently, congress signature president,
Approximate Word count = 1299
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)