Significance

• Congress "checks and balances" the executive and judiciary branches of government from overstepping their legal bounds. For example, only Congress--not the president or the judicial branch--can officially declare war; this minimizes the threat of one man deciding foreign policy.
  
  

Passing Laws

• A bill is passed into law only by a majority vote in both houses of Congress and the signature of the president. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress can override it with a two-thirds majority in both houses.
  
  

Amendments

• No other branch of government has the power to ratify bills and amend the Constitution.
  
  

Bicameral System

• Two senators are appointed for each state. The number of representatives in the House depends on how many constituents live in that state. There are 535 members of Congress: 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House.
  
  

Civil Liberties

• Congress must protect the citizens' right to claim the Bill of Rights as protection of civil liberties. No branch of government can infringe upon those inalienable rights.