AP Govt. Terms: Congress
Important terms (regarding Congress) to know for the AP US Government test.
Terms
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- discharge petition
- A device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had a bill for thirty days, may petition to have it brought to the floor. If a majority of members agree, the bill is discharged for the committee.
- restrictive rule
- 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
- double-tracking
- a procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster, whereby disputed bill is temprairly shelved so that the Senate can go on with other business
- open rule
- an order from teh HOuse Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor
- pork-barrel legislation
- legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hopes of winning their votes in return
- majority leader
- the legislative leader elected by party members holding a majority of seats in the House of the Senate
- roll-call vote
- a congressional procedure that consists of members answering yea or nay when their names are called
- standing committees
- permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area
- safe district
- a house district in which the winner of the general election carries more than 55% of the vote
- marginal districts
- political districts in which cnadidates elected to the House of Representatives win in close elections, typically by less than 55% of the vote
- conservative coalition
- an alliance between conservatice Democrats and Republicans
- 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.
- conference committee
- joint committe appointed to resolve differences in House and Senate version of the same bill
- public bill
- a legislative bill that deals with matters of general concern, like defense expenditures
- joint resolution
- a formal expression of congressional sopinion 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
- caucus
- an asociation of Congressional members created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest
- filibuster
- an attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on the bill
- joint committee
- committee on which both representatices and senators serve
- simple resolution
- an espression of opinion, without the force of law, either in the House or the Senate, to settle housekeeping or procedural matters in either body
- private bill
- a legislative bill that deals with specific, private, personal or local mtter, like a bill pertaining to an individual becoming a naturalized citizen
- sequential referral
- a congressional process by which a speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting
- voice vote
- A congressional voting procedure used in both houses in which members vote by shouting yea or nay
- whip
- a senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking
- party polarization
- a vote in which a majority of Democratic legislators oppose a mjority of Republican legislators
- 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
- minority leader
- the legislative leader elected by praty members holding a minority of seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate
- division vote
- a congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted
- bicameral legislature
- a lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts
- concurrent reolution
- an espression of opinion withouth the force of law that reuires the pproval of both the House and the Senate, but not the President
- cloture rule
- a rule used by the Senate, providing to end or limit debate
- multiple referral
- A congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees that consider it simulaneously in whole or in part
- quorum
- the minimum number of members required to be in attendance for Congress to conduct official business
- select committees
- permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area
- closed rule
- an order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate and forbids a particular bill from being amended on the floor