Lanerian House of Representatives

The Lanerian House of Representatives is, along with the Lanerian Senate, one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States of Laneria. Each state in Laneria is represented in the House in proportion to its population. The total number of representatives is presently fixed at 435 by the Apportionment Act of 1943 but this apportionment could be changed by Congress. Each representative serves a two year term and may be elected for an unlimited number of terms. The presiding officer of the house is the Speaker. Unlike in many Parliamentary systems, the speaker is expected to be the active, partisan leader of the majority in the House as well as the parliamentary arbiter of procedure.

The bicameral Congress arose from a desire of the authors of the Lanerian Constitution to create one house closely linked to public opinion and another more reserved, deliberative Senate. The approval of both houses is necessary for the passage of legislation.

The House is a more partisan chamber than the Senate. The two houses were largely created to be checks on one another's powers. The House has several exclusive powers not shared with the Senate, including the power to elect the President in the event that there is a deadlock in the electoral college, to impeach officials, and to initiate revenue bills. Members of the House of Representatives are normally considered less prestigous than Senators. A member of the House is addressed Congressman or Congresswoman.