To represent our state at the national level, we choose U.S. Representatives who serve in the House and U.S. Senators who serve in the Senate. According to the U.S. Constitution, every state sends two Senators to the Senate, so there are a total of 100 Senators. The number of Representatives from each state depends on the population of that state, and there are a total of 435 Representatives in the U.S. House. States with small populations send fewer representatives, for example, Wyoming has only one U.S. Representative, while California has fifty-two. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected every two years and serve for two year terms.
Senators run for election every six years and serve for six year terms.
Each Representative comes from a part of the state known as a Congressional District. You live in the Third Congressional District, which encompasses all of Southwest Washington. If you look around, you will see all kinds of things that you probably take for granted that were actually paid for by government for the benefit of all the people. For example, the school you attend was built with tax dollars. Your teachers' salaries, the roads you drive on, your grandparents' Social Security and Medicare, student loans, Head Start, medical research to cure cancer and other diseases, NASA and the space shuttle, the military, our national parks, and hundreds of other programs that help make our communities stronger and better are all paid for through tax dollars.