英语阅读115.docxVIP

Congressional electionThe constitutional requirements for holding congressional office in the United states are few and simple .They include age (twenty-five years of age for the Houseof Representatives, thirty for the senate),citizenship(seven years for the House, nine years for the senate),and residency in the state from which the officeholder is elected. Thus, the constitutional gateways to congressional office holding are fairly wide. Even these minimal requirements, however, sometimes arouse controversy ,During the 1960’s and 1970’s,when people of the post-Second World War “baby boom” reached maturity and the Twenty-sixth Amendment (permitting eighteen year olds to vote) was ratified, unsuccessful efforts were made to lower the eligible age for senators and representatives.Because of Americans’geographic mobility, residency sometimes is an issue. Voters normally prefer candidates with long-standing ties to their states or districts. In his 1978 reelection campaign,for instance, Texas Senator John Tower effectively accused his opponent, Representative Robert Krueger, of having spent most of his life “overseas or in the East” studying or teaching—a charge★ taken seriously in Texas. Well-known candidates sometimes succeed without such ties. New York voters elected to the Senate Robert F. Kennedy (1965-1968) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977- ) even though each had spent much of his life elsewhere.While members of the House of Representatives are not bound★ to live in the district from which they are elected, most do so prior to their election.In the Senate,the “one person,one vote” rule does not apply, Article I of the constitution assures each state, regardless of population,two Senate seats, and Article V guarantees that this equal representation cannot be taken away ‘without the states’ consent. The founders stipulated that senators be designated by their respective state legislatures rather than by the voters themselves. Thus the Senate was designed to add le