The United States House of Representatives is, along with the United States Senate, one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States. Each state is represented in the House proportionally to its population, but each state is entitled to at least one Representative. The total number of Representatives is currently fixed at 435 by the Reapportionment Act of 1929, though Congress could increase that number. Each Representative serves for a two-year term and may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. The presiding officer of the House is known as the Speaker. The bicameral Congress arose from the desire of the Founders to create a "house of the people" that would closely resemble and follow public opinion, in addition to a more deliberative, learned and reserved Senate which would be less susceptible to the frenzies of mass sentiment. It is conventional to consider the House as the "lower house," and the Senate as the "upper house," although the Constitution does not use such language. The Constitution provides that the approval of both houses is necessary for the passage of legislation.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1793: French Revolution: The National Convention voted to implement terror measures, beginning the Reign of Terror. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror)

1836: Sam Houston was elected as the first President of the Republic of Texas. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston)

1905: The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire, USA, officially ending the Russo-Japanese War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Portsmouth)

1972: Munich Massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attacked Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Massacre)

1977: NASA launched the Voyager 1 spaceprobe, currently the most distant man-made object from Earth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"I've probably saved thousands of peoples' lives with my educational message on snake bites — how to get in around venomous anything. Yeah, I'm a thrill seeker, but crikey, education's the most important thing." -- Steve Irwin (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin)