Requirements to be a US Senator

Requirements to be a U.S. Senator are established in Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution.  The Senate is the United States higher legislative chamber (the House of Representatives being the lower chamber), containing 100 members. If you have dreams of becoming one of the two senators who represent each state for six-year terms, you might want to check the Constitution first. The guiding document for our government specifically spells out the requirements to be a senator. Individuals must be: At least 30 years oldA U.S. citizen for at least nine years at the time of election to the SenateA resident of the state one is elected to represent in the Senate Similar to those for being a U.S. Representative, the Constitutional requirements for being a Senator focus on age, U.S. citizenship, and residency. In addition, the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any person who has taken any federal or state oath swearing to support the Constitution, but later took part in a rebellion or otherwise aided any enemy of the U.S. from serving in the House or Senate. These are the only requirements for the office that are specified in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, which reads, No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. Unlike U.S. Representatives, who represent the people of specific geographic districts within their states, U.S. Senators represent all of the people in their states. Senate vs. House Requirements Why are these requirements for serving in the Senate more restrictive than those for serving the House of Representatives? In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, delegates looked to British law in setting age, citizenship, and residency or â€Å"inhabitancy† qualifications for senators and representatives, but voted not to adopt proposed religion and property ownership requirements. Age The delegates debated the minimum age for senators after they had set the age for representatives at 25. Without debate, the delegates voted to set the minimum age for senators at 30. James Madison justified the higher age in Federalist No. 62, stating the due to the more impactful nature of the â€Å"senatorial trust,† a â€Å"greater extent of information and stability of character,† was needed for senators than for representatives. Interestingly, English law at the time set the minimum age for members of the House of Commons, the lower chamber of Parliament, at 21, and at 25 for members of the upper house, the House of Lords. Citizenship English law in 1787 strictly prohibited any person not born in â€Å"the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ireland† from serving in either chamber of Parliament. While some delegates might have favored such a blanket ban for the U.S. Congress, none of them proposed it. An early proposal by Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania included a 14-year U.S. citizenship requirement for senators. However, the delegation voted against Morris’ proposal, voting instead for the current 9-year period, two years longer than the 7-year minimum they had earlier adopted for the House of Representatives. Notes from the convention indicate that the delegates considered the 9-year requirement to be a compromise â€Å"between a total exclusion of adopted citizens† and an â€Å"indiscriminate and hasty admission of them.† Residency Recognizing the fact that many American citizens may have lived abroad for some time, the delegates felt a minimum U.S. residency, or â€Å"inhabitancy† requirement should apply to the members of Congress. While England’ Parliament had repealed such residency rules in 1774, none of the delegates spoke for such rules for Congress. As a result, the delegates voted to require that members of the both the House and Senate be inhabitants of the states from which they were elected but placed no minimum time periods limits on the requirement. Phaedra Trethan is a freelance writer and a former copy editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. Updated by Robert Longley