Congress

Front 1

Closed rule

Back 1

The provision by the House Rules Committee that prohibits the introduction of amendments during debate.

Front 2

Cloture rule

Back 2

A rule allowing a supermajority of the members of a legislative body t set a time limit on a debate over a given bill.

Front 3

Committee of the Whole

Back 3

A Committee of the Whole is a device in which a legislative body or other deliberative assembly is considered one large committee. All members of the legislative body are members of such a committee. This is usually done for the purposes of discussion and debate of the details of bills and other main motions.

Front 4

Conference Committee

Back 4

A joint committee created to work out a compromise for House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation.

Front 5

Discharge Petition

Back 5

A discharge petition is a means of bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from a Committee and usually without cooperation of the leadership. Discharge petitions are most often associated with the U.S. House of Representatives, though many state legislatures have similar procedures.

Front 6

Double-Tracking

Back 6

a procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster, whereby disputed bill is temporarily shelved so that the Senate can go on with other business

Front 7

Filibuster

Back 7

A tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a cloture vote of three fifths of the Senate to end a filibuster.

Front 8

Joint committee

Back 8

committee on which both representatives and senators serve

Front 9

Joint resolution

Back 9

a formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of Congress and by the president; however, joint resolutions proposing constitutional amendment need not be signed by the president

Front 10

Open rule

Back 10

The provision by the House Rules Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of amendments bill.

Front 11

Private Bill

Back 11

a legislative bill that deals with specific, private, personal or local matter, like a bill pertaining to an individual becoming a naturalized citizen

Front 12

Public Bill

Back 12

a legislative bill that deals with matters of general concern, like defense expenditures

Front 13

Quorum and Quorum call

Back 13

Quorum-the minimum number of members required to be in attendance for Congress to conduct official business.
Quorum Call-a calling of the roll in either house of Congress to see whether the number of representatives in attendance meets the minimum number required to conduct business.

Front 14

Restrictive rule

Back 14

an order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to a bill on the floor.

Front 15

Rider

Back 15

In legislative practice, a rider is an additional provision annexed to a bill under the consideration of a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill.[1] Riders are usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision which would not pass as its own bill.

Front 16

Roll call Vote

Back 16

Votes in which each legislator’s yes or no vote is recorded

Front 17

Select committee

Back 17

permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area.

Front 18

Simple resolution

Back 18

an expression of opinion, without the force of law, either in the House or the Senate, to settle housekeeping or procedural matters in either body.

Front 19

Standing committees

Back 19

A permanent legislative committee that considers legislation within its designated subject area; the basic unit of deliberation in the House and Senate.

Front 20

Teller vote, Division Vote, and Voice Vote

Back 20

Teller Vote- A congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, first the yeas, then the nays. Since 1971, teller votes are recorded at the request of twenty members.
Division Vote- a congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted.
Voice Vote- A congressional voting procedure used in both houses in which members vote by shouting yea or nay.

Front 21

Bicameral legislature

Back 21

A legislative assembly into two chambers or houses.

Front 22

Incumbency

Back 22

Holding a political office for which on is running.

Front 23

Gerrymandering

Back 23

Apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one political party

Front 24

Party Conference & Party Caucus

Back 24

A normally closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters.

Front 25

Congressional Caucus

Back 25

An association of members of Congress based on party, interest, or social characteristics such as gender or race.

Front 26

Staff Agencies

Back 26

The agencies responsible for providing Congress with independent expertise, administration and oversight capabilitly.

Front 27

Logrolling

Back 27

A legislative practice wherein reciprocal agreements are made between legislators of Representatives or the Senate. In the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker.

Front 28

Marginal Districts

Back 28

Political districts in which candidates elected to the House of Representatives win in close elections, typically with less than 55 percent of the vote.

Front 29

Safe Districts

Back 29

a legislative district in which the likely voters support one political party or the other by an overwhelmingly large margin.

Front 30

Conservative Coalition

Back 30

a coalition in the U.S. Congress that brought together the majority of the Northern Republicans and a conservative, mostly Southern minority of theDemocrats. The coalition usually defeated the liberals of the New Deal Coalition; the Coalition largely controlled Congress from 1937 to 1963. It continued as a potent force until the 1990s when most of the conservative southern Democrats were replaced by southern Republicans. The coalition no longer exists.

Front 31

Whip

Back 31

A member of a party who is responsible for pressuring members of that party to vote for the betterment of the party. There are some restrictions regarding the pressuring of members of the party.

Front 32

Standing Committees

Back 32

A permanent legislative committee that considers legislation within its designated subject area; the basic unit of deliberation in the house and senate.

Front 33

Select Committees

Back 33

A select committee is a committee consisting of 15 main members from different parties. It's job is to keep the Government in check and to monitor their many departments.

Front 34

Multiple Referral

Back 34

the process of sending legislation to be considered by more than one committee.

Front 35

Sequential Referral

Back 35

the practice of sending a bill to more than one congressional committee for consideration and doing so in an ordered sequence

Front 36

Concurrent Resolution

Back 36

a concurrent resolution is a resolution passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate but is not presented to the President and does not have the force of law

Front 37

Pork-barrel Legislation

Back 37

A form of patronage in which a representative attempts to capture federal projects or funds for their districts such as Alaska’s bridge to nowhere.

Front 38

Franking Privilege

Back 38

A tool of incumbency in which members or representatives receive 100,000 dollars for free postage for mailing to their constituents.