根据美国宪法第一条第一款：本宪法授予的全部立法权，属于由参议院和众议院组成的合众国国会。从美国宪法实施以来的绝大多数时间中，国会在美国政治中一直居于主导地位，只是到了二十世纪二十年代以后，随着政治经济社会的发展，以及美国国际地位的提高。
All China-specific bills introduced in Congress between 1973 and 2006 were collected and classified. With this dataset of China bills， the author analyzed the role of Congress in U.S.-China relations， using the new institutionalism. The results indicate that the committee system， bicameralism， and presidential veto combine to make it extremely difficult—if not altogether impossible—for Congress to impose its policy preferences on the president through substantive legislation. Yet by enacting procedural legislation， influencing public opinion， and utilizing the rule of anticipated reactions， Congress has been quite influential in determining the agenda of U.S.-China relations. Moreover， it has often set up roadblocks that slow down the development of bilateral relations. The policy implications of the findings are also discussed.
