Lingo Quiz

Question 1

Act

Answer 1

Legislation that passed both houses and signed by pres, or override of pres veto.

Also a bill that has been passed by one house and engrossed.

Question 2

Adjournment sine die

Answer 2

“Adjournment w/o a day”

Adjournment w/o fixing a day for reconvening. Usually connots the final adjournment of a session of Congress.

A session can continue until Jan. 3 the following year when under the 20th amendment it automatically terminates.

Both houses must agree to a concurrent resolution for a house to adjourn for > 3 days.

Question 3

Amendment in the nature of a substitute

Answer 3

An amendment replaces the entire text of a bill.

Does so by striking out everything after the enactment clause and inserts a new version.

Question 4

Appeal

Answer 4

A members challenge of a ruling or decision made by the presiding officer.

In the S the senator appeals to members of the chambers to override the decision. If carried by a majority the appeal nullifies the chair’s ruling.

In the house, the decision of the Speaker is final. Essentially appeals don’t happen here.

Question 5

Apprpriations bill

Answer 5

Leg that provides legal authority to obligate and spend money from the Treasury.

The Con requires that money drawn from the Treasury must be, “in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”

Can be one of three types:

1. )Annual also called regular or general
2. ) Supplemental
3. ) Continuing, often called a CR.

H and S rules place a number of restrictions on consideration of appropriations bills in an effort to separate funding decisions from the creation of new policies.

Question 6

Authorization bill

Answer 6

Leg that establishes or continues the legal operation of a federal program or agency.

Can be indefinite or for a set period of time.

Can be limits on budget, or may authorize “ such sums as may be necessary.”

H and S rules prohibit appropriations for a program or agency not authorized in law.

Question 7

Budget authority

Answer 7

Authority to enter into obligations that will result in future outlays involving federal funds.

The basic forms of budget authority are: appropriations, contract authority, and borrowing authority.

Budget authority may be classified by

• the period of availability (one years, 5 years, unlimited)
• timing of congressional action (current or permanent)
• manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite)

i.e. putting money into a checking account.

Then agency writes check (obligated)

Then it is cashed (outlays)

Question 8

Budget outlays

Answer 8

Money spent in a given fiscal year as opposed to money appropriated for that year. (cashing the check)

One year’s budget authority can result in outlays over several years, and the outlays in any given year result from a mix of budget authority for that year and previous.

Question 9

Calendars

Answer 9

Agendas or lists of business awaiting action by each chamber.

House has 4
Discharge-
House-
Private-
Union- 

In S all leg matters reported from committee go on one calendar. They are listed in the order in which committees report them, or when the S places them on the calendar. But may be called up out of order by majority leader, by unanimous consent of S or by a motion to call up a bill.

The S uses on nonleg calendar that is devoted to treaties and nominations.

Question 10

Calendar Wednesday

Answer 10

In H, only committee chairs or authorized committee members may invoke a Cal. Wed. procedure.

Under this procedure, any bill from either the H calendar or Union calendar, except priveleged bills may be called up.

General debate is limited to 2 hours. bills from union calendar are considered by committee of the whole.

Rarely used.

Question 11

Clean bill

Answer 11

After a committee has finished major revision to a bill they reassemble changes into a new measure.

This revised measure is referred back to the committee which then reports it back to the floor.

Tactical for 2 reasons:

1. time saver- committee recommended changes are not subject to consideration and vote by the chamber.
2. Protects committee amendments that might be subject to points of order on germaneness.

Question 12

Cloture

Answer 12

The formal procedure by which a fillbuster can be ended in the S.

A motion for cloture can apply to any measure before the S, including a proposal to change the chamber’s rules.

The signatures of 16 S’s are needed for intro of a cloture motion, and to end a fillibuster the cloture motion must be approved by 3/5 of the entire S membership. (2/3 of those present needed to amend standing rules of the S)

The cloture request is put to a roll call vote 1 hour after the S meets on the second day after intro of the motion. If approved, the bill or amendment in question comes to a final vote after 30 hours of consideration

Question 13

Committee of the Whole

Answer 13

All members of the house sitting as a committee.

Quorum = 100

Any leg must have passed through the regular legislative committee or appropriations committee and must have been placed on the calendar.

Technically bills must deal with money.

When the whole house resolves itself into the comm of the whole it supplants the speaker w/ a chair. It then debates and votes on measures and amendments.

When committee completes its work on a measure, it dissolves by rising. The speaker returns and the chair of the comm of the whole reports to the speaker.

Then members may demand a roll call vote on any first-degree amendment adopted by the comm of the whole.

Question 14

Concurrent Resolution

Answer 14

H. Con. Res or S. Con. Res must be adopted by both houses, but isn’t sent to pres.

No force of law.

Used to fix the time of adjournment. Also used to express opinion on foreign policy and domestic issues.

Allows coordinated decisions on the federal budget under the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act.

Question 15

Conference

Answer 15

Meeting between representatives of the H and S to reconcile difference when the chambers pass different versions of the same bill.

Speaker appoints managers of the conference committee.

Senate presiding officer appoints conferees.

A majority of the managers for each house must reach agreement on the provisions.

Then a conference report goes to the floor for up and down vote w/o amendments.

If it doesn’t pass then, it goes back to conference or a new conference can be convened.

Bills with minor differences often have their differences resolved w/o formal conference

Question 16

Congressional Record

Answer 16

verbatim account.

4 parts:

• H proceedings
• S proceedings
• Extension of remarks –> extraneous materials submitted to recognize constituents, etc.
• Daily Digest –> summary of floor acitons

Question 17

Continuing Resolution

Answer 17

Leg, typically a joint resolution, that continues appropriations for ongoing activities of the government.. Usually specifies a max rate at which the agency may incur obligations. Usually the base rate from the previous year, the pres’s budget request, or an appopriations bill that year passed by either or both houses but not cleared.

Question 18

Discharge a committeee

Answer 18

H more often than S

Attempt to relieve a committee from a consideration of a measure before it.

Seldom successful.

Question 19

Discharge Calendar

Answer 19

The House Calendar to which motions to discharge committees are referred when they have the required number of signatures (218) and are awaiting floor action.

Question 20

Discharge resolutions

Answer 20

In the S, special motions that any S may introduce to relieve a committee from consideration of a bill before it.

Rarely used.

Question 21

Earmark

Answer 21

in H rules - means a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a member providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific benefit for a target state/district. Also can be done through changes in formula driven processes or competitive award processes.

Question 22

Enacting clause

Answer 22

Key phrase in bills beginning, “Be it enacted by the S and H of R…”

Important because a successful motion to strike it from the legislation kills the measure.

Question 23

Engrossed bill

Answer 23

The final copy of a bill passed by one chamber with the text amended by floor action and certified by the clerk.

Question 24

Enrolled bill

Answer 24

Final copy of a bill that has been passed in identical form by both chambers. Certified and sent to Speaker, Sen pro-temp, and then off to pres.

Question 25

Executive Calendar

Answer 25

Nonlegislative Calendar in the Senate on which treaties and noms are listed after being reported from committee

Question 26

Filibuster

Answer 26

A time-delaying tactic associated w/ the S. Takes advantage of S’s rules permitting unlimited debate.

Question 27

5 min rule

Answer 27

A debate limiting rule in the H that is invoked when the H sits as the committee of the whole.

Each member offering an amendment can speak 5 min for and the opponents 5 min against.

in practice they often speak 10+ with members gaining the floor by offering pro forma amendments or obtaining unanimous consent.

Question 28

Germane

Answer 28

S requires amendments to be germane for appropriations bills, bills being considered once cloture has been adopted, and if time limit placed.

1974 Congressional Budget Act also requires amendments to concurrent budget resolutions and reconciliation bills be germane.

In the H and first 3 hours of day in S floor debate must be germane.

Question 29

Legislative day

Answer 29

Day extending from the time either house meets after an adjournment until the next time it adjourns.

Since H usually adjourns from day to day usually coincides w/ calendar

In Senate often many calendar day

Question 30

Joint Resolution

Answer 30

H.J.Res.” or “S.J.Res.,” requires
the approval of both houses and the signature of the president, just as a bill
does, and has the force of law if approved. No practical difference exists between
a bill and a joint resolution. A joint resolution generally is used to deal with a
limited matter, such as a single appropriation. Joint resolutions also are used to
propose amendments to the Constitution. They must pass both chambers in
identical form but do not require a presidential signature; they become a part of
the Constitution when three-fourths of the states have ratified them.

Question 31

Law

Answer 31

An act of Congress that has been signed by the president or passed over
the president’s veto by Congress. Public bills, when signed, become public laws
and are cited by the letters P.L. and a hyphenated number (P.L. 113-1). The
three digits before the hyphen correspond to the Congress, and the one or more
digits after the hyphen refer to the numerical sequence in which the bills were
signed by the president during that Congress. Private bills, when signed, become
private laws.

Question 32

Limited tariff benefit

Answer 32

provision modifying harmonized tarriff schedule of the US that benefits 10 or fewer entities

Question 33

Limited tax benefit

Answer 33

revenue-losing provision that provides federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, or preference to 10 or fewer beneficiaries under the IRC of 1986

Question 34

Motion

Answer 34

Request by any MOC to institute any one ofa wide array of parlimentary actions. A MOC moves for a certain procedure, the consideration of a measure or amendment, and so on. The precedence of motions, and whether they are debatable, is set forth by the H and S manuals.

Question 35

1 min speeches

Answer 35

Addresses by H members usually at the beginning of a leg day. The speeches may cover any subject, but only last 1 min,

Question 36

Override a veto

Answer 36

Congress may override a veto with a recorded 2/3 majority in each chamber.

“Shall the bill pass, the objections of the president to the contrary notwithstanding?”

Question 37

Pocket veto

Answer 37

The acto of the pres in witholding approval of a bill after congress has adjourned. When congress is in session, a bill becomes a law without signature in 10 days, excluding Sundays, of receiving it.

If congress adjourns sine die within that 10 day period, the bill will die even if the president does not formally veto it.

Question 38

point of order

Answer 38

An objection raised by a MOC that the chamber is departing from rules governing its conduct of business. The objector cites the rule violeted, and the chair sustains the objection if correctly made. The correct order is restored by the chair suspending proceedings of the chamber, until the H or S conforms to the prescribed order of business.

Question 39

President Pro Tempore

Answer 39

The chief officer of the senate in the absence of the VP.

Elected by full membership of the senate.

Recent practice is to choose the most senior senator of the majority party w/ the longest period of continuous service.

***not the same a majority leader –> orin hatch –> 4th in line under the 25th.

Question 40

Previous question

Answer 40

A motion for the previous question, when carried, has the effect of cutting of all debate, preventing the offering of further amendments, and forcing a vote on the pending matter.

In the H, the previous question is not permitted in Committee of the whole.

The motion for the previous question is a debate-limiting device and is not in order in the S.

Question 41

Private Calendar

Answer 41

In the H, private bills are put on this calendar.

It must be called on the first tuesday of each month.

The speaker may call it on the third tuesday of each month as well.

Question 42

Priveledged business

Answer 42

In the H and S some matters enjoy special priority for consideration under the rules.

In H priveleged business is any matter that can interrupt the regular order of business prescribed in the House Rule XIV. Nothing actually follows regular order. Instead nearly all measures is either priveleged or brought up through priveleged motion or resolution.

In S priveleged business can be brought up w/o a debate.

Question 43

Privileged motion

Answer 43

The order in which bills, motions, and other legislative
measures are considered by Congress is governed by strict priorities. A motion to
table, for example, is more privileged than a motion to recommit. Thus, a motion
to recommit can be superseded by a motion to table, and a vote would be forced
on the latter motion only. A motion to adjourn, however, takes precedence over a
tabling motion and is therefore considered of the highest privilege. (See also
privileged business and questions of privilege.)

Question 44

Question of Privilege

Answer 44

These are matters affecting members of Congress
individually or collectively. Matters affecting the rights, safety, dignity, and
integrity of proceedings of the House or Senate as a whole are questions of
privilege in both chambers. Questions involving individual members are called
questions of personal privilege. A member rising to ask a question of personal
privilege is given precedence over almost all other proceedings.

An annotation in
the House rules points out that the privilege is derived chiefly from the
Constitution, which gives a member a conditional immunity from arrest and an
unconditional freedom to speak in the House. (See also privileged business.)

Question 45

Quorum

Answer 45

of members needed to do business.

In S and H quorum = majority.

Question 46

Reading of a bill

Answer 46

Traditionally must be read three times.

Now little significance.

Question 47

Recess

Answer 47

Distinguished from adjournment in that a recess does not end a legislative day and therefore doesn’t interrupt unfinished business.

Thee rules in each house set forth certain matters to be taken up and disposed of at the beginning of each legislative day.

The H and S usually adjourn from day to day.

Question 48

Recommitt ***

Answer 48

A motion made on the floor after a bill has been debated, to return it to committee that reported it. If approved, a recommittal is usually a death sentence.

In the H a motion to recommit can be made only by a member opposed to the bill, and in recognizing a member to make the motion, the Speaker gives preference to members of the minority party over majority members.

A motion to recommit may include instructions to the committee to report the bill again with specific amendments or by a certain date.

Or instructions may direct that a particular study be made, with no definite deadline for further action.

If the recommit motion includes instructions to report the bill back forthwith and the motion is adopted, floor action of the bill continues; the committee doesn’t actually reconsider the bill.

Question 49

Reconsider a vote

Answer 49

A motion to reconsider has the effect of putting the action in suspension.

In the S the motion can only be made by a member who voted on the prevailing side of the original question or by a member who didn not vote at all.

In the H it can be made only by a member on the prevailing side.

A common
practice in the Senate after close votes on an issue is a motion to reconsider,
followed by a motion to table the motion to reconsider. On this motion to table,
senators usually vote as they voted on the original question, which allows the
motion to table to prevail, assuming there are no switches. The matter then is
finally closed and further motions to reconsider are not entertained. In the
House, as a routine precaution, a motion to reconsider usually is made every
time a measure is passed. Such a motion almost always is tabled immediately,
thus eliminating the possibility of future reconsideration, except by unanimous
consent. Motions to reconsider must be entered in the Senate within the next 2
days of session after the original vote has been taken. In the House, they must
be entered either on the same day or on the next succeeding day the House is in
session.

Question 50

Recorded vote

Answer 50

Vote on which each member’s stand is individually made known.

In the Senate this is via a roll call where people have to say yea or nay or present.

In the H since 72 this has been done electronically.

A recorded vote is commonly obtained on questions
in the House via a request for the constitutional yeas and nays (one-fifth of those
present), on the demand of one-fifth (44 members) of a quorum, or one-fourth
(25 members) of a quorum in the Committee of the Whole. (See yeas and nays.)

Question 51

Report

Answer 51

Both a verb and a noun.

a committee report or votes out a bill once it completes its consideration.

A report is the document setting forth the committee’s explanation of its action. S and H reports are numbered seperately S.Rept or H Rept.

When a committee report isn’t unanimous the dissenting committee members may file minority views or minority reports.

Adverse reports occasionally are submitted by legislative committees.

Question 52

riders

Answer 52

amendments usually not germane. This is done to attach things to must pass legislation. Typically banned from appropriations bills.

The H unlike the S has strict germaneness rules. Thus riders often are Senate devices to get legislation enacted quickly or bypass lengthy H consideration and possibly opposition.

Question 53

rules

Answer 53

the term has two specific meanings:

A rule ma be a standing order governing the conduct of H or S business and listed among the permanent rules of either chamber.. The rules deal with masters such as the duties of officers, the order of business, admission to the floor, parliamentary procedures on handling amendments and voting, and jurisdiction of committees.

In the H, a rule also may be a resolution reported by the Rules Committee.

a rule also may be a resolution reported by the
Rules Committee to govern the handling of a particular bill on the floor. The
committee may report a rule, also called a special rule, in the form of a simple
resolution. If the resolution is adopted by the House, the temporary rule
becomes as valid as any standing rule and lapses only after action has been
completed on the measure to which it pertains. A rule sets the time limit on
general debate. It also may waive points of order against provisions of the bill in
question, such as nongermane language, or against certain amendments
intended to be proposed to the bill from the floor. It may even forbid all
amendments or all amendments except those proposed by the legislative
committee that handled the bill. In this instance, it is known as a closed or gag
rule as opposed to an open rule, which puts no limitation on floor amendments,
thereby leaving the bill completely open to alteration by the adoption of germane
amendments.

Question 54

Speaker

Answer 54

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the overall
leader of the majority party in the chamber. The Speaker is selected by the
caucus of the majority party’s members and is formally elected by the full House
at the beginning of each new Congress

Question 55

standing vote

Answer 55

nonrecorded vote used in both the House and the Senate. (A
standing vote also is called a division vote.) Members in favor of a proposal stand
and are counted by the presiding officer. Then members opposed stand and are
counted. There is no record of how individual members voted.