Congress vocabulary
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| 257123718 | "Elastic Clause" | Also known as the "Necessary and Proper" Clause; authorizes Congress to pass all laws that are necessary and proper to carry out enumerated powers; provides flexibility to Congress | |
| 257123719 | 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act | On Friday November 19, 2004, the United States government was in danger of running out of money by midnight that night; the House responded by drafting a 3,500 page Consolidated Appropriations Act approving $388 billion in spending cuts in a late night session; gave the chairmen of the House or Senate Committee on Appropriations the ability to access anyone's tax returns | |
| 257123720 | Amendments | Changes in, or additions to, the Constitution; proposed by two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of state legislatures; ratified by approval of three-fourths the states | |
| 257123721 | Apportionment | Determining the proportional number of members each US state sends to the House of Representatives, based on population figures | |
| 257123722 | Appropriation | A legislative grant of money to finance a government program | |
| 257134111 | Authorization | Legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency; authorization bill may grant permission to spend a certain amount of money, but that money is not available until it is appropriated (see Appropriation) | |
| 257134114 | Baker v. Carr | Supreme Court ruled that malapportionment violates the equal protection clause | |
| 257134116 | Bicameral | Lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts; US bicameral legislature is composed of the Senate and the House of Reps | |
| 257134118 | Bills | Drafts of proposed laws presented to parliament for discussion | |
| 257134121 | Calendar of Business | A Senate publication sent to each lawmaker's office (and other offices) every day the Senate is in session; contains information on, for instance, measures reported from the various standing committees, bills in conference, and the status of appropriation bills | |
| 257134123 | Casework | The process of solving constituents' problems in dealing with the bureaucracy; assistance provided by Members of Congress and their staff to constituents in their transactions with federal agencies | |
| 257134125 | Caucuses | Associations of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest | |
| 257134128 | Christmas Tree Bill | A bill that has lots of "riders" (riders are amendments on a matter unrelated to a bill that is added to the bill so that it can "ride" its way to Congress) | |
| 257134131 | Closed Rule | An order from the House Rules Committee; sets a time limit on debate and forbids a particular bill from being amended on the legislative floor | |
| 257152848 | Cloture | Rule used by Senate to end or limit a debate to prevent filibusters; for a bill to pass in the Senate, three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (or 60 senators) must vote for it | |
| 257152849 | Concurrent Resolutions | An expression of congressional opinion without the force of the law that requires the approval of both the House and Senate but not of the president; used to settle housekeeping and procedural matters affecting both houses | |
| 257152850 | Conference Committees | A kind of joint committee made up of representatives and Senators appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same piece of legislation before final passage | |
| 257152851 | Congressional Redistricting | The process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census | |
| 257152852 | Constituents | People in the states that Senators represent | |
| 257152853 | Delegate | A person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular, an elected representative sent to a conference; to entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself | |
| 257152854 | Double-Tracking | Procedure that keeps the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business | |
| 257152855 | Earmark | A legislative (especially congressional) provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees | |
| 257152856 | Easley v. Cromartie | Stated that redistricting for political reasons did not violate Federal Civil Rights Law banning race-based gerrymandering | |
| 257152857 | Executive Calendar | A list of executive business (i.e., treaties and nominations) available for Senate floor consideration | |
| 257152858 | Filibuster | An attempt to defeat a bill in Senate by talking indefinitely; prevents the Senate from taking action on it | |
| 257152859 | Floor Leaders | The legislator who organizes his party's strategy | |
| 257152860 | Franking Privilege | The ability of members of Congress to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage | |
| 257152861 | Germane Amendments | Amendments that are strictly relevant to the bill on focus | |
| 257152862 | Gerrymandering | Majority party in a state legislature redraws districts to favor their party; creates strange divisions | |
| 257152863 | House Calendar | Calendar in the United States House of Representatives that schedules major bills which don't involve money | |
| 257152864 | Incumbency Effect | The incumbent has advantages over newcomers in getting re-elected | |
| 257154006 | Joint Committees | Committees on which both representatives and senators serve | |
| 257154007 | Joint Resolutions | Formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of Congress and by the president; joint resolutions proposing a constitutional amendment need not be signed by the president | |
| 257154008 | Legislative Veto | Rejection of a presidential or administrative agency action by a vote of one or both houses of Congress without consent of the president; Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1983 | |
| 257437482 | Line-Item Veto | The power of an executive to veto some provisions in an appropriations bill while approving others; president does not have this right (he/she must approve or reject entire bill) | |
| 257437483 | Lobbying | An interest group organizes to try to influence government decisions, especially legislation | |
| 257437484 | Logrolling | Mutual aid among politicians; one legislator supports another's project in return for the latter's support of his | |
| 257437485 | Majority Leader | The legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House of Reps or the Senate | |
| 257437486 | Malapportionment | Drawing the boundaries of political districts so that districts are very unequal in population | |
| 257437487 | Marking Up | The process of marking up bills and resolutions in committees of the House of Representatives generally resembles, but does not perfectly replicate, the process of amending measures on the House floor | |
| 257437488 | Multiple Referral | Congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees that consider it simultaneously in whole or in part (for example, the 1988 trade bill was considered by 14 committees in the House and 9 in the Senate simultaneously) | |
| 257437489 | Open Rule | An order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the legislative floor | |
| 257437490 | Party Polarization | A vote in which a majority of Democratic legislators oppose a majority of Republican legislators | |
| 257437491 | Pigeonholing | Pigeonholing is a term used to describe processes that attempt to classify disparate entities into a small number of categories (usually, mutually exclusive ones); the expression usually carries connotations of criticism, implying that the classification scheme referred to does not adequately reflect the entities being sorted, or that it is based on stereotypes | |
| 257441108 | Pork Barrel Legislation | Legislation that gives tangible benefits (i.e. highways, post offices, etc.) to constituents in several districts or states in hope of winning their votes in return | |
| 257441109 | President Pro Tempore | A high-ranking senator of the majority party who presides over the US Senate in the absence of the vice president | |
| 257441110 | Private Bill | Deals only with specific, private, personal, or local matters; i.e. immigration and naturalization bills, personal-claim bills | |
| 257441111 | Public Bill | Deals with matters of general concern; i.e. defense expenditure bills | |
| 257441112 | Quorum | Minimum number of members who must be present for business to be conducted in Congress | |
| 257441113 | Reapportionment | Redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives | |
| 257449982 | Riders | Amendments on a matter unrelated to a bill that is added to the bill so that it can "ride" its way to Congress | |
| 257449983 | Roll-Call Vote | Voting procedure that consists of members answering "yea" or "nay" to their names | |
| 257449984 | Rules Committee | A legislative committee responsible for expediting the passage of bills | |
| 257449985 | Safe Districts | Districts in which incumbents win by margins of 55% or more | |
| 257449986 | Select Committees | Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose | |
| 257449987 | Seniority System | concept of a person or group of people being in charge or in command of another person or group; control is often granted to the senior person(s) due to experience or length of service in a given position | |
| 257449988 | Sequential Referral | Congressional process by which a Speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first has finished acting; may refer parts of a bill to separate committees | |
| 257449989 | Shaw v. Reno | Supreme Court ruled that redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause; bodies doing redistricting must be conscious of race to the extent that they must ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act | |
| 257449990 | Simple Resolutions | Expression of opinion either in the House or the Senate to settle housekeeping or procedural matters in either body; not signed by the president and do not have the force of law | |
| 257449991 | Speaker of the House | In the House of Representatives, and in state legislatures and local government councils, the speaker is usually selected by the members of the majority party and functions as a leader of that party | |
| 257449992 | Standing Committees | Permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area | |
| 257449993 | Teller Vote | Congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, the "yeas" and then the "nays" | |
| 257449994 | Trustee | An individual person or member of a board given control or powers of administration of property in trust with a legal obligation to administer it solely for the purposes specified | |
| 257449995 | Union Calendar | Lists all bills to be considered by the House of Representatives that address money | |
| 257449996 | Veto | President disapproves a bill sent to him by Congress | |
| 257449997 | Voice Vote | Congressional voting procedure in which members shout "yea" in approval or "nay" in disapproval; allows members to vote quickly or anonymously for bills | |
| 257449998 | Wesbury v. Sanders | Ruled that both congressional and state legislature districts must have "substantially equal" populations of each party | |
| 257449999 | Whip | Senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking, rounds up members when important votes are to be taken, and attempts to keep a nose count on how voting on issues is likely to go |
