Chapter 11 Congress Vocabulary

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Appropriations

Back 1

Legislative grants of money to finance a government program.

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bicameral legislature

Back 2

a lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts. The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Hint 2

Congress is a bicameral legislature.

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Bill

Back 3

A proposal for a law.

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caucus

Back 4

an association of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest.

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closed rule

Back 5

an order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate and forbids a particular bill from being amended in the legislative floor.

Hint 5

A type of restriction in Congress.

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cloture rule

Back 6

a rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate. designed to prevent "talking a bill to death" by filibuster. for a bill to pass in the Senate, three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (or sixty senators) must vote for it.

Hint 6

Cloture sounds like the word closure, doesn't it?

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select committees

Back 7

Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose.

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standing committees

Back 8

permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area. Examples are the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Committee of the Whole

Back 9

a device used in the House of Representatives to expedite the passage of legislation. The quorum is reduced from 218 members to 100, and the Speaker appoints a member of the majority party as chair. Time allotted for debating the bill is split evenly between its opponents and proponents. The committee itself cannot pass legislation but may debate and propose amendments.

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Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

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advises Congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is a counterweight to the president's OMB.

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discharge position

Back 11

a device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had a bill for 30 days, may petition to have it brought to the floor. If a majority of the members agree, the bill is discharged from the committee. The discharge position was designed to prevent a committee from killing a bill by holding it for too long.

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Earmarks

Back 12

a measure that appropriates money for a project in a specific district added in a bill in a way that allows it to avoid the conventional appropriations process. Therefore, earmarks are not counted for in the budget.

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enumerated powers

Back 13

powers of the federal government mentioned specifically in the Constitution.

Hint 13

Specifically mentioned...

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filibuster

Back 14

an attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on the bill.

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General Accounting Office (GAO)

Back 15

investigates agencies and policies and makes recommendations on almost every aspect of government -- defense contracting, drug enforcement policies, Medicare, Medicaid, water pollution and so on; provides routine financial audits of the money spent by the executive branch departments.

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germane

Back 16

technical term for "relevant." the House requires at all times unless an exception is made by special rule while the Senate does not.

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impeachment

Back 17

a formal accusation against a public official by the lower house of a legislative body. impeachment is merely an accusation, and not a conviction. only two presidents, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998, were ever impeached. they were not, however, convicted, for the Senate failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote required for conviction.

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implied powers

Back 18

powers inferred by the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions (powers not expressly stated in the Constitution but are reasonably suggested, implied by the expressed powers)

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joint committee

Back 19

committee on which both representatives and senators serve. an especially important kind of joint committee is a conference committee, made up of representatives and senators appointed to reduce differences in the Senate and the House versions of the same piece of legislation before final passage.

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logrolling

Back 20

mutual aid amongst politicians, whereby one legislator supports another's pet project in return for the latter' support of his. this expression dates from the days when American pioneers help from neighbors in moving logs off of land to be farmed.

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markup

Back 21

rewrite of a bill after hearings have been held on it (happens in sub-committee)

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minority leader

Back 22

the legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.

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necessary and proper clause

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the final paragraph of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers. sometimes called the "elastic clause" because of the flexibility it provides Congress.

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omnibus bill

Back 24

vote for a series of laws as a single package

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parliamentary procedure

Back 25

the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies.

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party whip

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appointed person who assists each floor leader and keeps track of how party members vote and persuades members' votes.

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pork barrel

Back 27

legislation that gives tangible benefits (highways, dams, post offices) to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return.

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quorum

Back 28

the minimum number of members who must be present for business to be conducted in Congress.

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simple resolution

Back 29

an expression of opinion either in the House of Representatives or the Senate to settle housekeeping or procedural matters in either body. such expressions are not signed by the president and do not have the force of law.

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joint resolution

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a 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.

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continuing resolution

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when Congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriation bills. these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year.

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concurrent resolution

Back 32

an expression of congressional opinion without the force of law that requires the approval of both the House and the Senate but not of the president. used to settle housekeeping and procedural matters that affect both houses.

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riders

Back 33

amendment on matter not related to a bill that it is added to the bill so that it will "ride" to passage through the Congress. when a bill has a lot of riders, it is called a Christmas tree bill.

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rules committee

Back 34

unique powerful position (gatekeeper power), determines the terms on which legislation will reach the floor, sets the time limit of the debate time for a bill, decided whether and how a bill can be amended.

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senate majority leader

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the most influential member of the senate, who is responsible for managing the senate's business and managing the floor

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speaker of the house

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the top-ranking member and presiding officer of the House of Representatives

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statute

Back 37

law; an enactment made by a legislature and expressed in a formal document

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sunset legislation

Back 38

laws requiring that existing programs be reviewed regularly for their effectiveness and terminated unless specially extended as a result of those reviews

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voice vote

Back 39

a Congressional voting procedure in which members shout "yea" in approval or "nay" in disapproval; allows members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills.

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teller vote

Back 40

a Congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, the "yeas" first then the "nays." since 1971 the identities of members in a teller vote can be "recorded."

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roll vote

Back 41

a Congressional voting procedure that consists of members answer "yea" or "nay" to their names. when roll calls were handled orally, it was a time-consuming process in the House. since 1973 am electronic voting system permits each House member to record their vote and learn the total automatically.

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division vote

Back 42

a Congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted