# Congress — The Conscience of a Conservative character guide

> Congress in The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Congress, the Congress, its, it

**First appearance:** 0001-the-conscience-of-a-conservative

## Who they are

The federal legislature whose expanding appetite for power over the states and the citizenry becomes the narrator's prime exhibit of government overreach.

## Relationships

### [Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/characters/narrator)

_rivalry_

The narrator criticizes Congress for failing to uphold constitutional limits and conservative values.

## In the story

### [III: States’ Rights](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/iii-states-rights)

Criticized for failing to act on recommendations to return programs to the states and for authorizing federal interference.

### [IV: And Civil Rights](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/iv-and-civil-rights)

Congress is urged to propose a constitutional amendment reaffirming states' exclusive jurisdiction over education.

### [Freedom for the Farmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/v-freedom-for-the-farmer)

Congress is criticized for enacting the Agricultural Adjustment Acts and for distorting the commerce clause to justify federal control over farming.

### [Freedom for Labor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/vi-freedom-for-labor)

Criticized for passing the Kennedy-Ervin bill 90-1 (with Goldwater the lone dissenter) and for failing to address the real evil of concentrated union power.

### [VII: Taxes and Spending](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/vii-taxes-and-spending)

Implicitly criticized for voting for spending projects that make tax cuts impossible.

### [VIII: The Welfare State](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/viii-the-welfare-state)

Congress is implicitly referenced as the body that appropriates funds for welfare and votes on related measures.

### [IX: Some Notes on Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/ix-some-notes-on-education)

Mentioned as the body that would appropriate funds and impose controls on education.

### [X: The Soviet Menace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/chapters/x-the-soviet-menace)

Implied as the body that must authorize constitutional foreign aid and military actions.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/characters/congress
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conscience_of_a_conservative_se/characters