hear i told them just what happens when mr to washington hears the stories i told her t the first thing he showed me from the station was capitol hill the seat of our federal government federal agencies are scattered all over the united states but washington is a center of national government activity uncle jim thought we'd better certain violates the constitution which must be divided into two bodies first the house of representatives members of the house are elected on the basis of population the entire country is divided up into congressional districts three hundred thousand people members of the house the only job of making the long the other half is done by the senate which meets in the other wing of the capitol the senators are elected on the basis of state representation two senators from each state regardless of his population they hold office for a long term six years their terms of office are staggered so that some expire every two years thus guaranteeing that there will always be experienced men in the senate well our federal laws have to go through both the house and the senate this is the way it works bill first a proposed law is introduced in the one branch of the legislature as a bill it is always given a number and is printed like this over to one of the legislative committees for consideration the committee holds hearings where the public can come and speak or are against the proposed legislation this gives our citizens a chance to make their wishes on each law known to congress sometimes these hearings go on for months unless it is killed by the committee the bill then goes to the farrar of the house or senate wherever it originated to be discussed then voted on suppose for example that this bill started in the house of representatives if it is passed and then goes on to the senate if the senate votes against the bill it dies but if it's passed in the senate the bill must be sent on to the president the president may either sign it and in which case it becomes a law or he may veto it the bureau of printing and engraving and the federal mint the federal government makes all the coins and all the currency which all of us use in our everyday business of course congress can't just print new money every time it has to pay the expenses of the government so the constitution gives congress the power to raise what it needs by levying and collecting taxes duties imposts and excis you must have heard your father speak about the income tax these excise isn't duties or taxes levied on such things as movie admissions gasoline luxuries such as jewelry furs silverware another thing another way congress raises money around the government is from taxes on goods imported from other countries these are called terry of congress also regulates commerce among the states goods moving across state boundaries are not taxed but french commerce is regulated by congress through the interstate commerce commission congress and only congress has the power to declare war even though the president may call for a declaration of war and run the united states is involved in international agreements the senate is all important but example the signature of our secretary of state to the united nations charter had to be approved by a two thirds majority of the senate a clause in the constitution which states that treaty is are made by the president but only with the advice and consent of the senate from the capitol hill went down pennsylvania avenue for a look at the white house that's where the president lives office of a president the president is chosen by the people through the electoral college some of the president's duties are set by the constitution and others are established by laws treaties precedent and public opinion president's main job is to take care of them for laws should be faithfully executed he must decide whether to sign or to the tow every congressional bill and when a bill becomes law he is responsible for putting that law into to help him the president has ten prominent executive the prominence state treasury justice post office navy interior agriculture commerce and labor the secretary of each department is a member of the president's cabinet which is his chief advisory body from time to time as emergencies arise special independent agencies are created to assist the president to examples of the veterans administration and the federal security agency i probably don't need to tell you that the president is also commander in chief of the armed forces this is a heavy responsibility for congress gives him a power of making many military decisions in conducting a war finally it's the president's duty to record needed he usually does this in an annual message to a joint session of congress uncle jim tell me to notice the inscription over the entrance equal justice under law on he said that this pretty well sums up the purposes of the supreme court then he went on to explain what it me supreme court is the judicial branch of the federal government here the law itself is on trial it is judged according to whether it violates our constitutional rights the court is composed of nine hold office pro life members are nominated by the president but that appointments must be confirmed by the senate now you should have a good idea of how the constitution sets up the three main branches of agata the legislature which is congress the executive branch which is the president which is the supreme court the legislature is charged with making policies that is it passed is the law the executive is responsible for carrying out policy and the judiciary is charged with revealing and judging policies but while each of these branches of government has its own clearly defined duties they all work together as a team through a system of checks and balances there are some examples of what i mean the president appoints justices of the supreme court executive balances judicial congress determines the size of the supreme court legislative balances judicial the president has veto power over the bills sent to him by congress executive checks legislat the president can propose laws he thinks need to be passed executive balances legislative supreme court has power to declare i'm constitutional any law passed by congress judicial checks legislative congress must approve many of the appointments made by the president legislative checks executive congress appropriates money for the executive department legislative balances executive that's the way the constitution balances all three branches to keep them working together as a team it's an important principle of our government by the time i got my story we're getting was beginning to see how important this business and team way is to every american citizen and to realize how far ahead the founding fathers will last i'm guaranteeing that nobody in  federal government would ever get too much power from setting it up so that the three federal branches would have to work together for the people it was at the washington monument that i began to get the feeling that maybe these men were still rather like thomas jefferson believing we could become a nation where people would be more important than anything else and whether people could govern themselves i think jefferson would have a lot to say today about those democratic principles a first time equal rights and equal opportunity  and abraham lincoln while lincoln has become a hero to the oppressed people all over the world because he lived freedom and equality and because he led the country through one of its greatest crises he