ry's racial composition. Only four African Americans—Carol Moseley-Braun, Edward Brooke, Blanche Bruce, and Hiram Revels—have ever held Senate seats. Other minorities have also found it difficult to win Senate seats. In 1993, when Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado took his Senate seat, he stood as the lone Native American in the chamber, and the first elected to the body since the 1930s. Octaviano Larrazolo of New Mexico became the first Hispanic American elected to the Senate in 1928. Hiram Fong of Hawaii, the first Asian American in the Senate, served from 1959 to 1977.Women have also found it difficult to win Senate seats. Hattie Caraway became the first woman to win a full six-year term in 1932. Before Caraway, senators' wives were sometimes appointed to fill seats when their husbands died in office. Since Caraway's victory, only 13 other women have won election to full six-year Senate terms.IV. What the Senate DoesPowers Along with the House of Representatives, the Senate wields lawmaking powers of the national government granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution. This includes the broad enumerated (listed) powers of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution—for example, issuing currency, regulating banking and interstate or foreign commerce, providing for military forces, and declaring war. Article I, Section 8, also gives Congress implied powers—to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper" for carrying out the enumerated powers, and to investigate and oversee the executive branch. The Senate also has the power to conduct impeachment trials against the president, federal judges, and other officials. The Senate can only impeach someone after the House brings charges, however. A two-thirds majority vote of the senators in the chamber is necessary for a conviction.The Senate has two special duties not shared by the House. When the president negotiates treaties with other countries, they must be ...
