| Congress of the Union Congreso de la Unión |
|
|---|---|
| LXI Legislature | |
| Type | |
| Founded | September 28, 1821 |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses | Senate Chamber of Deputies |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Senate |
José González, (PAN) since September 1, 2011 |
| President of the Chamber of Deputies |
Emilio Chuayffet, (PRI) since September 1, 2011 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 628 (128 Senators) (500 Deputies) |
| Senate Political groups |
Independent |
| Chamber of Deputies Political groups |
Independent |
| Authority | Title III, Chapter II of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States |
| Elections | |
| Senate Last election |
July 2, 2006 |
| Chamber of Deputies Last election |
July 5, 2009 |
| Motto | |
| La Patria Es Primero (The Country Is First) |
|
| Meeting place | |
| Senate Palacio del Senado Mexico City |
|
| Meeting place | |
| Deputies Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro Mexico City |
|
| Website | |
| Senate Website Chamber of Deputies Website |
|
The Congress of the Union (formally: Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos; English: General Congress of the United Mexican States) is the legislative branch of the Mexican government. Its structure and responsibilities are defined in Articles 50 to 79 of the 1917 Constitution.
Congress is bicameral – that is, it is composed of two chambers.
The upper chamber is the Senate (Cámara de Senadores or Senado). It comprises 128 seats, 96 members are elected by direct popular vote for six-year terms; the other 32 seats are allocated based on proportional representation.
The lower house is the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados). It has 500 seats, 300 members are elected by popular vote to three-year terms; the other 200 seats are allocated according to proportional representation.
In keeping with the Mexican tradition of "no reelection," deputies and senators are not eligible to immediately succeed themselves. Thus, the Congress is one of the few democratically elected legislatures in the world that is completely renewed at each election.
the "Comisión Permanente del Congreso de la Unión", translated variously as the Permanent Committee or Standing Committee, is a body of 19 deputies and 18 senators that is responsible for tasks relating to the Congress when it is in recess.
It is conventional to refer to each Legislature by the Roman numeral of its term. Thus, the current Congress (whose term lasts from 2009 to 2012) is known as the "LXI Legislature"; the previous Congress (whose term lasted from 2006 to 2009) was the "LX Legislature," and so forth. The I Legislature of Congress was the first Constitutional congress after the 1857 Constitution.
Early in the 20th century, the revolutionary leader Francisco I. Madero popularized the slogan, Sufragio Efectivo – no Reelección (effective suffrage, no reelection). In keeping with that long held principle, the current 1917 Constitution states that "Deputies and Senators cannot be reelected for the next immediate term."[1]
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