S. For a minimum period of nine years at the time of election. Also, he or she has to be a resident of the state from which he or she is elected so that the state can be well-represented. In the case of representative, he or she should be at least 25 years old and must be a citizen of the U.S. For at least seven years at the time of election. Also, he or she has to be a resident of the state, but there is no mandatory rule that the representative should be a resident of the district that he or she represents. Major steps in the process of a bill becoming a law

The first step is a member of the congress should introduce a bill and by doing so, he or she sponsors the bill. Any person can draft a bill, but it should be introduced only by a member of the Congress. The second step is committee action in which a bill is scrutinized by a committee to checks for its benefits and validity. If the committee does not check the bill, then it becomes dead right away.

The bill is then sent to the appropriate sub-committee for its review. This committee will consists of experts in that particular area and they will carefully look through the bill and express their opinion on the same. It also puts on record the view of the supporters as well as the opponents to the bill. The next step after the hearings from the sub-committee is to "mark up" or make any changes to the bill as required before it is heard by the entire committee. At this point, if the sub-committee decides to not present it to the full committee, then the bill dies.

In the next step, known as the ordering of the bill, the full committee votes on the bill and recommends it to the senate or the house of representatives. Then the members of the congress vote on the bill and depending on the number of votes, it is either passed or defeated. Once it is approved by the senate or the house, it is then sent to the next chamber where it goes through the same process and finally...

In this process, if the actions of the house or senate is vastly different from the other, then a conference committee is formed to reconcile the opposing points. An agreement should be proposed by the conference committee and it should be approved by both the houses. Finally, the president approves and signs the bill and it becomes a law. The President has the right to veto it, if he chooses to and this veto can be overridden by a two-thirds majority in the house and senate.
US Free-enterprise economic system

The U.S. free enterprise system is an economic system that makes it possible for Americans to buy or sell goods and services. It is the fundamental building block of business ventures and economic operations that produce goods and services for consumption. It is based on freedom of choice, a right to own private property and the right to control by the owner without any government intervention.

There are many benefits to this system. The primary benefit is the ability of people to work hard and boost their business because of the lucrative end result of more money. This encourages innovation and helps people to break out of poverty and other social problems. Competition enhances the quality of products produced and makes it more affordable to consumers. It is a win-win situation for all parties concerned.

There has been numerous controversies regarding government intervention in the economic affairs of the country. In this economic recession, the government has been criticized for buying shares in ailing companies like AIG, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and others. This works against the free enterprise because it is believed that the market will correct itself better and faster without government intervention. However, the government officials believe that such intervention is required to pull the economy from the recession. This is an example of government intervention in recent years.