Aaron Rodriguez - 304949598
Describe a Structural or Organizational aspect of Congress and by using a specific example explain why this aspect makes the goals of Congress difficult or easy to achieve?
The structure of Congress is a complex system used in order to pass laws and shape public values. There is a bicameral structure with a total of 535 member in Congress. There are a total of 100 senators having 2 senators in each state of 50 and 435 members of the House of Representatives which is differently distributed by state. This number has been set by the Reapportionment Act of 1929. With all these members of Congress there is also a process to how laws are passed. According to factmonster.com the way a bill becomes a law there is four steps. First a member of Congress introduces a bill. Then a committee reviews and votes on the bill. After that the Senate and the House debate over the bill and vote. Finally the President reviews the bill and signs it or vetoes it. This process takes a lot of steps and if any of the steps are not finished then the bill is dead and it will have to go through the process again in order to try an be passed.
This process makes it hard for bills to go through but it makes sure that all opinions are heard about a bill and all things are considered into each bill brought up.One way this makes it hard to do something is when trying to take action. For example the immigration policy. Politicians have been looking for ways to approach immigration but have not been able to come to a clear conclusion on what they wanted to do as far as immigration. This gave Donald Trump the opportunity to pass an executive order on immigration to block immigrants from entering the US. This has caused a mass change in the way that Americans live and how the country functions. The way that this was able to happen was because of the long drawn out process of trying to pass an immigration policy. So, because of the fact that the bill had to be introduced, their had to be so many discussions and voting this allowed the President to be able to pass an executive order in order to do something about the immigration policy. This did create action and change, however, this created the change that no one agreed upon. So, although that the process creates a place where all ideas and opinions can be heard. It also makes it hard for action to be taken and allows the President to take action on his own without consulting anyone, besides possibly his cabinet. This can cause dangerous decisions such as creating a ban on all people coming from the middle east such as what Trump has done. Things that the public has one in order to combat this is that companies like Starbucks will hire 10,000 refugees across the next 5 years. This is to help focus on those who helped alongside soldiers in the military who were interpreters for them and give them the opportunity to stay in the country that they served opposed to being deported, which would happen under the Trump administration. Starbucks is also looking to support immigrants by supporting farms in Mexico if trade sanctions were to be put upon them as well as provide health care if the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” is repealed. With all these changes having the possibility of being made companies such as Starbucks are taking action in order to make sure that the public values are not infringed upon. Companies would not have to take on this task if Congress would be able to pass things quickly. This is why the structure of Congress makes it hard for them to achieve what they want to achieve because of the long drawn out process. Other companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft have also voiced their concerns on how this immigration policy would affect them and their employees. This shows how companies are worried about their employees because it will not only reduce their manpower as a company but it will also reduce the amount of ideas that their company as well as the nation has at its disposal.
In conclusion, the structure of Congress stops them from achieving what they want to achieve because of the long process of making a bill into becoming a law. This does have its advantages of being able to consider all factors but it allows Presidents to have the power to bypass them by having executive orders such as Trump and cause the public to not be happy with the decision that the government is making. This will have a bad perception as the government as a whole because they will be the ones to be seen as the ones to allow this to happen when it is not what they intended to happen. Congress was still considering the factors which immigration policies had and still was thinking of the impact of it as a whole. With all this time taken in order to try and get policy written the President was able to take action that no one wanted. This unwanted action now causes the public and companies to take action in order to help those individuals which the policy that the President is passing is hurting. According to Congress the executive action is “as ridiculous, ill-conceived, un-American, and mean-spirited”. This shows how their inability to act has created an action that nobody wanted and is against American values. America has been seen as the land of opportunity and the “melting pot” of the world. This executive order goes against all those values. It causes immigrants to give of the opportunity to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as well as decrease the diversity of this country. The country has been at its strongest when it has been open to new ideas as well as expanding its opportunities. If we open up who can enter this country we can have the ability to find the next great individual who can help the world by providing the resources and training to them that otherwise could not be found. This is something that large corporations have found out and that they are encouraging by supporting the acceptance of immigrants and trying to help them become established. This is so they can be provided the tools in order to make this country stronger and a better place. The stepping in of corporation is only necessary because of the long process of Congress and in the end Congress is not able to get done what they want to accomplish because they have a long and complicated process in order to pass policies and this has given the opportunity for the executive branch to take advantage of the situation and implement a policy that no one want and that is worse off for the country because it limits the flow of ideas and the main goal of America. This causes us to be weaker as a nation and forces corporations to take on the role of government to give the people what they want and help the country become as strong as its greatest potential by investing in the immigrants who want to contribute to this country. In Conclusion, the structure of Congress gets in the way of making policy and makes it harder for it to achieve its goals and puts it on the public as well as private corporation to take the initiative to make the country better, stronger and more diverse to make a long lasting future which can strengthen the United States for generations to come.
Bibliography
Sozynski, Mike . "Starbucks to Hire 10,000 Refugees." Lady Freethinker. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 09 May 2017. <https://ladyfreethinker.org/starbucks-hire-10000-refugees/>.
