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Congress (formally: Congreso de la Unión or Congress of the Union) is the legislative branch of the...

Congress (formally: Congreso de la Unión or Congress of the Union) is the legislative branch of the Mexican government. Its structure and responsibilities are defined in Articles 50 to 79 of the 1917 Constitution. The Mexican Congress is bicameral – that is, it is composed of two chambers. The upper chamber is the Senate (Cámara de Senadores or Senado). It comprises 128 seats, 96 members are elected by direct popular vote for six-year terms; the other 32 seats are allocated based on proportional representation. The lower house is the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados). It has 500 seats, 300 members are elected by popular vote to three-year terms; the other 200 seats are allocated according to proportional representation. It is conventional to refer to each Legislature by the Roman numeral of its term. Thus, the current Congress (whose term lasts from 2009 to 2012) is known as the "LXI Legislature"; the previous Congress (whose term lasted from 2006 to 2009) was the "LX Legislature," and so forth. The I Legislature of Mexican Congress was the first Constitutional congress after 1857's Constitution. Early in the 20th century, the Mexican leader, Francisco Madero, popularized