Government Affairs Term Glossary

 

Act	A bill that has passed through the legislative process and becomes law.
Adjournment	The final adjournment of a session of a Congress, occurring in November or December of every even-numbered year.
Amendment	A proposal to change the language of a bill or act.
Appropriations Bill	A bill reported out of the House or Senate Appropriations Committee, which appropriates funds approved by authorization bills.
Authorization Bill	A bill reported out of one of several authorizing committees, which authorizes a government program that eventually is funded by an appropriations bill.
Bill	A legislative proposal introduced by a member of Congress. Bills are designated as HR (House of Representatives) or S (Senate) according to the body in which they are introduced. Most bills are public bills, dealing with general issues. Private bills deal with individual claims against the government, such as immigration cases and land disputes.
Budget Bill	The document Congress sends the President each year designating how much money the government will spend during the next year (or more) and on what specific programs.
Budget Committees	A committee in each chamber that coordinates spending legislation and formulates the overall Congressional budget.
Budget Resolution	Concurrent Resolution of both the House and Senate that prescribes spending limits in the various areas of government activity.
By Request	A phrase used when a Senator or Representative introduces a bill at the request of someone else.
Calendar	An agenda for pending legislative business.
Chamber	A meeting place for either the House or Senate (as opposed to a committee room).
Clerk of the House	The chief administrative officer of the House of Representatives, with duties corresponding to those of the secretary of the Senate.
Cloakrooms	Small rooms for Democrats and Republicans located off the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives, where members can go for informal conferences and phone calls.
Closed Rule	A rule granted by the House Rules Committee that prohibits amendments to a particular bill during House floor action. Under a "closed rule" the House must either accept or reject the bill as recommended by the sponsoring committee.
Cloture	The procedure by which a filibuster can be ended in the Senate. Cloture requires the signatures of 16 Senators and the votes of three-fifths of the entire Senate membership.
Committee of the Whole House	This device enables the House to act with a quorum of 100 instead of the normally required 218. The House itself becomes a "committee" and is assisted by the parliamentarian. All debate is confined to the pending bill. After it has considered a bill as a "committee of the whole," the "committee" is dissolved and the House then takes up the bill for final action.
Companion Bills	Identical bills introduced separately in the both the House and Senate.
Concurrent Resolution	A statement of opinion approved by a simple majority in the House and Senate but not sent to the President for approval.
Conference Committee	A special committee formed to reconcile differences between differing versions of a bill passed by the Senate and House. Conference committee members, or conferees, are appointed from the bill's sponsoring committees in each chamber.
Congressional Record	The daily printed account of the proceedings of the House and Senate.
Congressional Terms of Office	Congressional terms normally begin on January 3 of the year following a general election. They are two years long for Representatives, six for Senators.
Continuing Resolution	Spending bill that provides funds for government operations for a short period of time until Congress and the President agree on an appropriations bill.
Cosponsor	Member who joins in sponsoring legislation but who is not the principal sponsor or the one who introduced the measure.
Enacting Clause	A clause included in every bill: "Be it enacted by the Senate (or House of Representatives)…."
Engrossed Bill	The final copy of a bill passed by the House or Senate.
Enrolled Bill	The final copy of a bill which has been passed in identical form by both the Senate and the House.
Executive Session	A closed meeting of a Senate or House committee.
Filibuster	A delaying tactic of unlimited debate, used only in the Senate.
Fiscal Year	For the federal government from October 1 to September 30.
Floor Manager	A Member who attempts to direct a bill through the debate and amendment process to a final vote.
Germane	Pertaining to the purpose of a bill.
Hearing	House and Senate Committee session in which testimony regarding legislation is taken from interested parties.
Hopper	A box on the House clerk's desk where bills are placed to be introduced.
Joint Committee	A committee composed of both House and Senate members.
Joint Resolution	A statement of opinion approved by a simple majority in the House and Senate and sent to the President to have the force of law.
Majority Leader	The leading spokesperson and legislative strategist for the party in control of either the House or the Senate.
Majority Whip	The assistant majority leader in the House or Senate.
Marking Up a Bill	The process of going through a bill section-by-section in committee and considering possible changes.
Minority Leader	The leading spokesperson and legislative strategist for the minority party in either the House or the Senate.
Minority Whip	The assistant minority leader in the House or Senate.
Omnibus Bill	A bill containing several separate but related items.
Ordered Reported	The process of moving a bill out of a committee. A full committee approves a bill and orders it "reported" to the House or Senate. The bill has cleared but is not quite ready for floor action. The committee first must write a report explaining the bill. The report may contain not only the "majority views" (opinion of the committee's majority), but also the "minority views" and "individual views" or "additional views." The bill and report are then filed in the House and Senate and at that point in time the bill is considered "reported."
Override a Veto	A procedure that Congress may enact when the President refuses to sign a bill into law. Congress must have a two-thirds vote in each chamber to override the veto. If this occurs, the bill then becomes law over the President's objections.
President of the Senate	The presiding officer of the Senate, normally the Vice President.
President Pro Tempore	The presiding officer of the Senate in the Vice President's absence, elected by the full Senate.
Quorum	The required minimum of number of members present in order for the House or Senate to conduct official business (51 in the Senate, 218 in the House).
Ranking Member	The members of the majority and minority party on a committee next in seniority after the chairman.
Recess	Temporary halt to proceedings, with a time set for proceedings to resume.
Recommit to Committee	A motion to return a bill to the committee that reported it after it has been debated on the floor.
Reconciliation	The process whereby Congress enforces a budget resolution which requires the authorizing and appropriations committees to spend within the resolution's prescribed limits.
Reporting a Bill	What a committee does after approving a bill. A committee that has been examining a bill referred to it by the parent chamber "reports" its findings and recommendations to the chamber when it completes consideration and returns the measure. The process is called "reporting" a bill.
Rider	An amendment, usually not germane, which its sponsor hopes to get through more easily by including it in other legislation.
Rule	The instructions on the time and substance of debate on a bill, which are attached to the bill when reported out to the floor by the House Rules Committee.
Secretary of the Senate	The chief administrative officer of the Senate, responsible for overseeing the duties of the senate employees, educating Senate pages, administering oaths, handling the registration of lobbyists, and handling other tasks necessary for the continuing operation of the Senate.
Select or Special Committee	A committee set up for a special purpose and, usually, for a limited time, by resolution of either the House or Senate.
Sine Die	Final adjournment at the end of a session. Bills under consideration but not enacted must be reintroduced in the next session.
Speaker of the House	The elected presiding officer of the House of Representatives.
Special Session	A session held after Congress has adjourned sine die. The President convenes special sessions.
Sponsor	The Representative or Senator who introduces a measure.
Suspension of the Rules	Procedural action in the House whereby a two-thirds majority can vote to bring a measure to a vote after 40 minutes of debate.
Unanimous Consent	A process for approving non-controversial bills without serious debate. Used to expedite floor action and frequently is used in a routine fashion, such as when a Senator requests the unanimous consent of the Senate to have a specified member of his staff present on the floor during debate on a specific amendment.
US Code	A consolidation and codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States arranged by subject under fifty titles. The first six deal with general or political subjects, and the other forty-four are alphabetically arranged from agriculture to war.
Veto	The rejection of a bill by the President.
Voice Veto	Voting in unison yes or no by voice, without a record of how individuals voted.
Well	The area in front of the speaker's rostrum from which House members address the House.
Yield	Allowing one member to interrupt another. When a member has been recognized to speak, no other member may speak unless he obtains permission from the member recognized