The terms here come from the Web site, TheCapitol.Net

Glossary of Congressional and Legislative terms, www.thecapitol.net/glossary

Account:Control and reporting unit for budgeting and accounting.

Act: Legislation (a bill or joint resolution, see below) that has passed both chambers of Congress in identical form, been signed into law by the President, or passed over his veto, thus becoming law. A bill also becomes an act without the president’s signature if he does not return it to Congress within ten days, Sundays excepted, while Congress is in session. Technically, this term also refers to a bill that has been passed by one house and engrossed (prepared as an official copy). (See also: Pocket Veto; Engrossed Bill.)

Adjourn: A motion to adjourn in the Senate (or a committee) ends that day's session.

Adjourn for More than Three Days: Under the Constitution, neither chamber may adjourn for more than three days without the approval of the other. Such approval is obtained in a concurrent resolution approved by both chambers.

Adjournment Sine Die: Final adjournment of an annual or two-year session of Congress. Adjournment without fixing a definite day for reconvening; literally "adjournment without a day." A session can continue when, under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, it automatically terminates. Both houses must agree to a concurrent resolution for either house to adjourn for more than three days.

Adjournment to a Day and Time Certain: Adjournment under a motion or resolution that fixes the next time of meeting for one or both houses. Under the Constitution, neither house can adjourn for more than three days without the concurrence of the other. A session of Congress is not ended by adjournment to a day certain.

Adoption (Adopted):Usual parliamentary term for approval of conference report. 

Advice and Consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.

Agreed To:Usual parliamentary term for approval of motions, amendments, and simple and concurrent resolutions.

Allowances:Amounts included in the budget to cover possible additional expenditures for statutory pay increases and other requirements.

Amendment: A proposal of a member of Congress to alter the language, provisions or stipulations in a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, treaty or in another amendment. An amendment is usually printed, debated and voted upon in the same manner as a bill.

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute: Usually an amendment that seeks to replace the entire text of a bill. Passage of this type of amendment strikes out everything after the enacting clause and inserts a new version of the bill. An amendment in the nature of a substitute can also refer to an amendment that replaces a large portion of the text of a bill.

Amendment Tree:Diagram showing the number and types of amendments to a measure permitted by the chamber. It also shows the relationship among the amendments, their degree or type, and the order in which they may be offered and the order in which they are voted on.

Amendments between the Houses:Method for reconciling differences between the two chambers' versions of a measure by passing the measure back and forth between them until both have agreed to identical language. (Contrast to Conference Committee.)

Amendments in Disagreement: Provisions in dispute between the two chambers.

Appeal: A member’s challenge of a ruling or decision made by the presiding officer of the chamber. In the Senate, the senator appeals to members of the chamber to override the decision. If carried by a majority vote, the appeal nullifies the chair’s ruling. In the House, the decision of the Speaker traditionally has been final; seldom are the appeals to the member to reverse the Speaker’s stand. To appeal a ruling is considered an attack on the Speaker.

Appropriated Entitlement:An entitlement for which budget authority is provided in annual appropriations acts.

Appropriation: Provision of law that provides authority for Federal agencies to obligate funds and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriations for the Federal government are provided both in annual appropriations acts and in permanent provisions of law. (See also Budget Authority.)

Appropriations Bill:A bill that gives legal authority to spend or obligate money from the Treasury. The Constitution forbids money to be drawn from the Treasury "but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."

By congressional custom, an appropriations bill originates in the House, and it is not supposed to be considered by the full House or Senate until a related measure authorizing the funding is enacted. The latter restriction is often ignored, however. An appropriation bill grants the actual money approved by authorization bills, but not necessarily the full amount permissible under the authorization. The 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law stipulated that the House pass by June 30 the last regular

appropriations bill for the fiscal year starting October 1. (There is no such deadline for the Senate.) However, appropriations often have not been completed until well after the fiscal year begins, requiring a succession of stopgap bills to continue the government’s functions. In addition, much federal spending - about half of all budget authority, notably that for Social Security and interest on the federal debt - does not require annual appropriations; those programs exist under permanent appropriations. (See also Report, Clean Bill, By Request, Budget Authority.)

Authorization: Basic, substantive legislation that establishes or continues the legal operation of a federal program or agency, either indefinitely or for a specific period of time, or which sanctions a particular type of obligation or expenditure. An authorization normally is a prerequisite for an appropriation or other kind of budget authority. Under the rules of both houses, the appropriation for a program or agency may not be considered until its authorization has been considered. An authorization also may limit the amount of budget authority to be provided or may authorize the appropriation of "such sums as may be necessary." (See also Backdoor Spending.)

Authorizations Act:A law that establishes or continues one or more Federal agencies or programs, establishes the terms and conditions under which they operate, authorizes the enactment of appropriations, and specifies how appropriated funds are to be used. Authorizations acts sometimes provide permanent appropriations.

Backdoor Spending Authority: Budget authority provided in legislation outside of the normal appropriations process. The most common forms of backdoor spending are borrowing authority, contract authority, entitlements, and loan guarantees that commit the government to payments of principal and interest on loans - such as Guaranteed Student Loans - made by banks or other private lenders. Loan guarantees result in actual outlays only when there is a default by the borrower. 

In some cases, such as interest on the public debt, a permanent appropriation is provided that becomes available without further action by Congress.

Balanced Budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.

Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted, would alter current spending and revenue levels.

"Bigger Bite" Amendment:Although an amendment cannot amend previously amended language under House rules, a "bigger bite" amendment can be offered because it changes more of the measure or amendment than the original amendment.

Bills: Most legislative proposals before Congress are in the form of bills. Bills are designated H.R. if they originate in the House of Representatives and S. if they originate in the Senate and by a number assigned in the order in which they are introduced during the two-year period of a congressional term. "Public bills" deal with

general questions and become public laws if approved by Congress and signed by the president. "Private bills" deal with individual matters such as claims against the government, immigration and naturalization cases, land titles, etc., and become private laws if approved and signed. (See also Concurrent Resolution, Joint Resolution.)

Bills Introduced: In both the House and Senate, any number of members may join in introducing a single bill or resolution. The first member listed is the sponsor of the bill, and all members’ names following his or hers are the bill’s cosponsors. 

Many bills are introduced under the name of the chairman of the committee or subcommittee with jurisdiction over the measure. All appropriations bills fall into this category. A committee frequently holds hearings on a number of related bills and may agree to one of them or to an entirely new bill. (See also Report, Clean Bill, By Request)

Bills Referred: When introduced, a bill is referred to the committee or committees that have jurisdiction over the subject with which the bill is concerned. Under the standing rules of the House and Senate, bills are referred by the Speaker in the House and by the presiding officer in the Senate. In practice, the House and Senate parliamentarians act for these officials and refer the vast majority of bills. 

Block Grants: A type of grant in which the donor government may structure and design an intergovernmental program for a variety of purposes with borrowed money. 

Blue-Slip Resolution:House resolution ordering the return to the Senate of a Senate bill or amendment that the House believes violates the constitutional prerogative of the House to originate revenue measures.

Borrowing Authority: Statutory authority that permits a federal agency to incur obligations and make payments for specified purposes with borrowed money. 

Budget:The document sent to Congress by the president early each year estimating government revenue and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year. 

Budget Act: The common name for the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974, which established the current budget process and created the Congressional Budget Office. The act also put limits on presidential authority to refuse to spend appropriated money. (See also Impoundments, Budget Process.)  

Budget Authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of 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-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action

(current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).

Budget Enforcement Act of 1990: The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 was adopted to replace the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1987, as a response to the budget crisis that persisted through the 80’s. The Budget Enforcement Act concentrated on devising a new deficit control process that would contain the deficit by controlling the amount of revenue raised and money spent. In line with this reasoning, the Budget Enforcement Act established three sets of rules for controlling the deficit: adjustable deficit targets, caps on discretionary spending, and pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules for revenue and direct spending. 

Budget Process: Congress enacted legislation in 1985 to strengthen its 11-year-old budget process with the goal of balancing the federal budget by fiscal year 1991. The law, called the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act but commonly known as Gramm-Rudman-Hollings for its congressional sponsors, was amended in 1987 so the federal budget would be balanced by 1993. The law established annual maximum deficit targets and mandated automatic across-the-board cuts ("sequestration") if the deficit goals were not achieved through regular and appropriations action (See also Sequestration.)  

The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law also established an accelerated timetable for presidential submission of budgets and for congressional approval of budget resolutions and reconciliation bills, two mechanism created by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Budget resolutions, due by April 15 annually, set guidelines for congressional action on spending and tax measures. The resolutions are adopted by the House and Senate but are not signed by the president and do not have the force of law. Reconciliation bills, due by June 15, actually make changes in existing law to meet budget resolution goals. (See also Budget Resolution, Reconciliation.)

Budget Resolution: Legislation in the form of a concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget, but not requiring the president’s signature. The budget resolution establishes various budget totals, divides spending totals into functional categories (e.g., transportation), and may include reconciliation instructions to designated House or Senate committees. (See also Function, Reconciliation.)

Byrd Rule: The term, named for Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), refers to an amendment to the Congressional Budget Act that bars the inclusion of extraneous matter in any reconciliation legislation considered in the Senate. This provision defines different categories of extraneous matter in any reconciliation legislation considered in the Senate. 

By Request: A phrase used when a senator or representative introduces a bill on behalf of the president, an executive agency, or private individual or organization but does not necessarily endorse the legislation. The practice goes back to the earliest history of Congress. 

Calendar of Business:An agenda or list of business eligible for floor consideration. Each house decides which measures are discussed, and in what order, in accordance with its rules and practices.

Calendar Wednesday: On Wednesdays in the House, committees may be called in the order in which they appear in Rule X of the House, for the purpose of bringing up any of their bills for either the House or the Union Calendar, except bills that are privileged. General debate is limited to two hours. Bills called up from the Union Calendar are considered in the Committee of the Whole. It is primarily a method for circumventing the Rules Committee’s refusal to report special rules granting privilege to those measures. Calendar Wednesday is not observed during the last two weeks of a session and may be dispensed with at other times by a two-thirds vote. This procedure is rarely used and is routinely dispensed with by unanimous consent. 

Call of the Calendar: Senate bills not brought up for debate by a motion, unanimous consent or a unanimous consent agreement are brought before the Senate for action when the calendar listing them is "called." Bills must be called in the order listed. Measures considered by this method usually are non-controversial, and debate on the bill and any proposed amendments is limited to a total of five minutes for each senator. Party leaders and their aides check with senators beforehand to make sure that no one objects to the measures. The system is referred to as "the clearance process."

Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of Members of the House or the Senate, or both, that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.

Chairman: The presiding officer of a committee or subcommittee. In the Senate, chairmanship is based on seniority of committee tenure, but a Senator may not chair more than one standing committee.

Chairman's Mark/Staff Draft:Recommendation by committee (or subcommittee) chair of the measure to be considered in a markup, usually drafted as a bill.

Chamber:The meeting place for the membership of either the House or Senate; also the membership of the House or Senate meeting as such. A chamber is often referred to as "the floor."

Chaplain: A clergyman elected by the Senate to open its daily sessions with prayer. The chaplain is also available as an advisor and counselor to Senators, Senators' families, and congressional employees.

"Christmas Tree" Bill: Informal nomenclature for a bill on the Senate floor that attracts many, often

unrelated, floor amendments. (See also Rider.) The amendments that adorn the bill may provide special benefits to various groups or interests. 

Classes of Senators: Senators are elected to six-year terms, and the terms of one-third of the Senators expire every two years. A class is the approximately one-third of the Senate elected in the same general election.

Clean Bill:Frequently after a committee has finished a major revision of a bill, one of the committee members, usually the chairman, will assemble the changes and what is left of the original bill into a new measure and introduce it as a "clean bill." The revised measure, which is given a new number, then is referred back to the committee, which reports it to the floor for consideration. This often is a time-saver, as separate floor votes are avoided for committee-recommended changes in a clean bill. Reporting a clean bill also protects committee amendments that are subject to points of order concerning germaneness.

Clerk of the House: Chief administrative officer of the House of Representatives, responsible principally for administrative support of the legislative process in the House. Duties correspond to those of the Secretary of the Senate. (See also Secretary of the Senate.)

Closed Rule:Permits general debate for a specified period of time but generally permits no amendments.

Cloakroom: Democratic and Republican cloakrooms adjacent to the Senate chamber serve as gathering places for party members to discuss chamber business privately.

Cloture:The process by which a filibuster can be ended in the Senate other than by unanimous consent. A motion for cloture can apply to any measure before the Senate, including a proposal to change the chamber’s rules. A cloture motion requires the signatures of 16 senators to be introduced. To end a filibuster, the cloture motion must obtain the votes of three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (60 if there are no vacancies), except when the filibuster is against a proposal to amend the standing rules of the Senate and a two-thirds vote of senators present and voting is required. The cloture request is put to a roll-call vote one hour after the Senate meets on the second day following the introduction of the motion. 

If approved, cloture limits each senator to one hour of debate. The bill or amendment in question comes to a final vote after 30 hours of consideration (including debate time it takes to conduct roll calls, quorum calls and other procedural motions.) (See also Filibuster.)   Also see the CRS Reports discussing filibusters and cloture linked on our Legislation and Legislatures page.

Cluster Voting:Allowance for sequential recorded votes on a series of measures or amendments that the House finished debating at an earlier time or on a previous date. The Speaker can reduce the minimum time for the second and subsequent votes in the series to five minutes each.

Colloquy:Discussion between members during floor proceedings, generally to put on the record a mutual understanding about the intent of a provision or amendment. The discussion is usually scripted in advance.

Committee Amendment: An amendment recommended by a committee in reporting a bill or other measure.

Committee Calendar: Senate committees periodically publish a committee calendar that lists the bills and resolutions referred to them, action taken on those measures, and other relevant information.

Committee Jurisdiction: The subjects and functions assigned to a committee by rule, resolution, precedent, or practice, including legislative matters, oversight and investigations, and nominations of executive officers.

Committee Membership: Senators are assigned to specific committees by their party conference. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.

Committee of the Whole:The working title of what is formally "The Committee of the Whole House (of Representatives) on the State of the Union." The membership is composed of all House members sitting as a committee. Any 100 members present on the floor of the chamber to consider legislation comprise a quorum of the committee. Any legislation taken up by the Committee of the Whole, however, must first have passed through the regular legislative or Appropriations Committee, and have been placed on the calendar.

Technically, the Committee of the Whole considers only bills directly or indirectly appropriating money, authorizing appropriations or involving taxes or charges on the public. Because the Committee of the Whole need number only 100 representatives, a quorum is more readily attained, and legislative business is expedited. Before 1971, members’ positions were not individually recorded on votes taken in Committee of the Whole. (See Teller Vote.)

When the full House resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole, it supplants the Speaker with a "chairman." A measure is debated and amendments may be proposed, with votes on amendments as needed. (See also Five-Minute Rule.) The committee, however, cannot pass a bill. When the committee completes its work on the measure, it dissolves itself by "rising." The Speaker returns and the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole reports to the House that the committee’s work has been completed. At this time members may demand a roll-call vote on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole. The final vote is on passage of the legislation.

Committee on Committees: Committees formed in each party conference and responsible for nominating the party's Senators to committee membership and committee leadership positions. Nominations are subject to approval by the full party conference and to a formal vote of the Senate.

Committee Print: A publication used by committees for various purposes. For example, the rules of each standing committee may be published as a committee print, and drafts of bills or committee reports may be produced as committee prints.

Committee Report:Document accompanying a measure reported from a committee. It contains an explanation of the provisions of the measure, arguments for its approval, and other information.

Committee Substitute: Short for committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.

Committee Veto:A requirement added to report language directing that certain policy directives by an executive department or agency be reviewed by certain congressional committees before they are implemented. Under common practice, the government department or agency and the committee involved are expected to reach a consensus before the directives are carried out especially when an appropriations committee is involved. (See  also Legislative Veto.)

Companion Bill or Measure: Similar or identical legislation that is introduced in the Senate and House. House and Senate lawmakers who share similar views on legislation may introduce a companion bill in their respective chambers to promote simultaneous consideration of the measure.

Concurrent Resolution:A concurrent resolution, designated H. Con. Res. in the House or S. Con. Res. in the Senate, must be adopted by both houses but is not sent to the president for his signature and therefore does not have the force of law. A concurrent resolution, for example, is used to fix the time for adjournment of a Congress. It also is used as the vehicle for expressing the sense of Congress on various foreign policy and domestic issues, and it serves as the vehicle for coordinated decisions on the federal budget under the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act. (See also Bills, Joint Resolution.)

Conditional Adjournment: When Congress adjourns for more than three days, authority is often provided the Speaker and President Pro Tempore (or the Senate Majority Leader) to reconvene Congress at an earlier date to address an emergency or important issue. This authority is provided in the concurrent resolution authorizing the conditional adjournment.

Conferees: Senators appointed to serve on conference committees. They are also called "managers." Conferees are usually appointed from the committee or committees that reported the legislation; they are expected to try and uphold the Senate's position on measures when they negotiate with conferees from the other body.

Conference: (1) A formal meeting between the representatives of the House and the Senate to reconcile differences between the two houses on provisions of a bill passed by both chambers. Members of the conference committee are appointed by the Speaker and

the presiding officer of the Senate and are called "managers" for their respective chambers. A majority of the managers for each house must reach agreement on the provisions of the bill (often a compromise between the versions of the two chambers) before either chamber can consider it in the form of a "conference report." When the conference report goes to the floor, it cannot be amended, and if both chambers do not approve it, the bill may go back to conference in certain situations, or a new conference must be convened. Many rules and informal practices govern the conduct of conference committees.

Bills passed by both houses with only minor differences must be sent to conference. Either chamber may "concur" in the other’s amendments, completing action on the legislation. Sometimes leaders of the committee of jurisdiction work out an informal compromise instead of having a formal conference. (See Custody of the Papers.) (2) A common reference to a conference committee. (3) The official title and the organization of all Republicans in both houses of Congress.

Conference Committee: A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of House and Senate conferees that is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation. (See also Amendments between the Houses.)

Conference, Party: The organization of all party members in the chamber. The conferences elect the party and committee leaders as well as rank-and-file committee members from their party. The conferences meet periodically to discuss political strategy and review party positions on pending legislative business.

Conference Report: The compromise product negotiated by the conference committee. The "conference report," which is printed and available to Senators, is submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval. (See also Joint Explanatory Statement of Managers.)

Confirmations: Informal term for the Senate giving "Advice and Consent" to a presidential nomination for an executive or judicial position.  (See also Nominations.) 

Congressional Record: The daily printed account of proceedings in both the House and Senate chambers, showing substantially verbatim debate, statements, and a record of floor action. Highlights of legislative and committee action are embodied in a Daily Digest section of the Record, and members are entitled to have their extraneous remarks printed in an appendix known as "Extension of Remarks." Members may edit and revise remarks made on the floor during debate, and quotations from debate reported by the press are not always found in the Record.

The Congressional Record provides a way to distinguish remarks spoken on the floor of the House and Senate from undelivered speeches. In the Senate, large black dots, or bullets set off all speeches, articles and other matter that members insert in the Record without actually reading them on the floor. However, a loophole allows a member to avoid the bulleting if he delivers any portion of the speech in person. In

the House, undelivered speeches and other material are printed in a distinctive typeface. (See also Journal.)

Congressional Terms of Office: Normally begin on January 3 of the year following a general election and are two years for representatives and six years for senators. Representatives elected in special elections are sworn in for the remainder of the predecessor’s term. A person may be appointed to fill a Senate vacancy and either serves until a successor is elected or until the next general election. The successor serves until the end of the term applying to the vacant seat. 

Consideration: To "call up" or "lay down" a bill or other measure on the Senate floor is to place it before the full Senate for consideration, including debate, amendment, and voting. Measures normally come before the Senate for consideration by the Majority Leader requesting unanimous consent that the Senate take it up.

Continuing Resolution (CR): A joint resolution enacted by Congress and signed by the president (when the new fiscal year is about to begin or has begun) to provide new budget authority for federal agencies and programs to continue in operation until the regular appropriations acts are enacted. (See also Appropriations Bills.)

The continuing resolution usually specifies a maximum rate at which an agency may incur obligations, based on the rate of the prior year, the president’s budget request or an appropriations bill passed by either or both houses of Congress but not yet enacted.

Continuing resolutions are also called "CRs" or continuing appropriations. In the House, CRs are privileged after September 15.

Contract Authority: Budget authority contained in an authorization bill that permits the federal government to enter into contracts or other obligations for future payments from funds not yet appropriated by Congress. The assumption is that funds will be available for payment in a subsequent appropriations act.

Controllable Budget Items: In federal budgeting this refers to programs for which the budget authority or outlays during a fiscal year can be controlled without changing existing, substantive law. The concept "relatively uncontrollable under current law" includes outlays for open-ended programs and fixed costs such as interest on the public debt, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits and outlays to liquidate prior-year obligations. More and more spending for federal programs has become uncontrollable or relatively uncontrollable. 

Controlled Time: When a unanimous consent agreement limits the time for debate on a bill or other measure and places it under the control of bill floor managers, the time is said to be controlled. Each manager then allows any senator to participate in debate by yielding a specified amount of time to the senator.

Cordon Rule:Senate rule that requires a committee report to show changes the reported measure would make in current law.

Correcting Recorded Votes: Rules prohibit members of both houses from changing their votes after the result has been taken, a member may announce that he/she was "incorrectly recorded." In the Senate, a request to change one’s vote almost always receives unanimous consent. In the House, members are prohibited from changing their votes if tallied by the electronic voting system. If the vote was taken by roll call, a change is permissible if consent is granted. 

Corrections Day Calendar: A June 20, 1995 House Resolution allowed the replacement of the Consent Calendar by a new Corrections Day Calendar. This recent resolution enables the house Speaker to invoke the new House Floor Schedule on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month after "consultation" with the Minority Leader. Any legislation considered under the new floor schedule requires a 3/5 majority for passage. In addition, only bills reported favorably by a committee will be considered under the new calendar.

Cost Estimate:A Congressional Budget Office estimate of outlays from reported legislation.

Credit Authority:Authority to incur direct loan obligations or make loan guarantee commitments.

Current Services Estimates: Estimated budget authority and outlays for federal programs and operations for the forthcoming fiscal year based on continuation of existing levels of service without policy changes. The president transmits these estimates of budget authority and outlays to Congress, accompanied by the underlying economic and policy assumptions upon which they are based, when the budget is submitted.

Custody of the Papers: Possession of an engrossed measure and certain related basic documents that the two houses produce as they try to resolve their differences over the measure. To reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill, a conference may be arranged. The chamber with "custody of the papers" - the engrossed bill, engrossed amendments and messages of transmittal - is the only body empowered to request the conference report once agreement has been reached on the bill by the conferees.

Custody of the papers sometimes is manipulated to ensure that a particular chamber acts either first or last on the conference report. (See also Papers.)

Date Shifting:One of the budgetary maneuvers used by Congress.  Congress can shift scheduled payments for contracts, or even for federal employee salaries, by a few days in order to move expenditures from one fiscal year to another.  For example, a payment scheduled for September 30, 2005, delayed a day to October 1, 2005, would shift the cost from the books of fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2006.  (Source: CQ Today)

Deferral:Executive branch action to defer, or delay, the spending of appropriated money. The 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act requires a special message from the president to Congress reporting a proposed deferral of spending. Deferrals may not extend beyond the end of the fiscal year in which the message is transmitted. A federal district court in 1986 struck down the president’s authority to defer spending for policy reasons; a federal appeals court upheld the ruling in 1987. Congress can and has prohibited proposed deferrals by enacting a law doing so; most often cancellations of proposed deferrals are included in appropriations bills.

At present, the president may defer funds only for limited reasons set forth in the Antideficiency Act: to provide for contingencies, or to achieve savings made possible through changes in requirements or efficiency of operations. The president may not defer funds for policy rescissions. (See also Rescission.)

Deficit (Surplus): The amount by which outlays exceed receipts in a given fiscal period. (A surplus would be the amount by which receipts exceed outlays.)

Degrees of Amendment:Designations that indicate the relationship of an amendment to the text of a measure and of one amendment to another. Amendments are permitted only in two degrees.

Dilatory Motion or Tactic: A motion made for the purpose of killing time and preventing action on a bill or amendment by a house or a committee. House rules outlaw dilatory motions, but enforcement is largely within the discretion of the Speaker or chairman of the Committee of the Whole. The Senate does not have a rule banning dilatory motions, except under cloture. The tactics include, among others, demanding quorum calls and votes at every opportunity.

Direct Spending:Budget authority, and the resulting outlays, provided in laws other than appropriations acts. (See also Entitlement Program; contrast to Discretionary Spending.)

Directed Scoring:Congress can order budget scorekeepers to estimate the cost of a spending proposal a certain way to make it appear less expensive.  (Source: CQ Today)

Disagree:To reject an amendment of the other chamber.

Discharge a Committee: To remove a measure from committee to which it has been returned in order to make it available for floor consideration. This is attempted more often in the House than in the Senate, and the procedure rarely is successful.

In the House, if a committee does not report a bill within 30 days after the measure is referred to it, any member may file a discharge motion. Once offered, the motion is treated as a petition needing the signatures of 218 members (a majority of the House.) After the required signatures have been obtained, there is a delay of seven days. Thereafter, on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, except during

the last six days of a session, any member may enter a motion to discharge the committee. The motion is handled like any other discharge petition in the House.

Occasionally, to expedite non-controversial legislative business, a committee is discharged by unanimous consent of the House, and a petition is not required. (Senate Procedure, see Discharge Resolution.)

Discharge Calendar: 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. Short title for it is Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committee.

Discharge Petition: (See also Discharge a Committee.)

Discharge Resolution: A special motion in the Senate that any senator may introduce to relieve a committee from consideration of a bill before it. The resolution can be called up for Senate approval or disapproval in the same manner as any other Senate business. (House procedure, see Discharge a Committee.)

Discretionary Appropriations: Appropriations not mandated by existing law and therefore made available annually in appropriation bills in such amounts as Congress chooses. As defined by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, it refers to budget authority - and the outlays derived from it - provided in the annual appropriations acts, other than appropriated entitlements.

Discretionary Spending: Spending (budget authority and outlays) controlled in annual appropriations acts. (Contrast to Direct Spending.)

Discretionary Spending Limits: Ceilings or "caps" on budget authority and outlays for discretionary spending programs as set by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. Congressional rules and sequestration procedures enforce these spending limits. Discretionary spending limits apply to three categories for fiscal years 1991-93 (domestic, defense, and international affairs) and to total discretionary spending for fiscal years 1994-95.

Division of a Question for Voting: A practice that is more common in the Senate but also is used in the House whereby a member may demand a division of an amendment or a motion for purposes of amendment. The individual parts are voted on separately when a member demands a division. Each part should present a separate proposition so that if any part is rejected the other parts can logically stand-alone. This procedure occurs most often during the consideration of conference reports.

Division Vote: (See also Standing Vote.)

Earmark:For expenditures, an amount set aside within an appropriations account for a specified purpose.

Electronic Vote:A vote in the House using electronic voting machines. Members insert voting cards into one of the devices located throughout the House chamber.

"Emergency" Spending:Spending with the "emergency" designation does not count against budget caps.  While often used for one-time, unforeseen events, this designation has also been used to circumvent budget limits. For example, spending for the census has been designated as "emergency" spending. (Source: CQ Today)

En Bloc Amendment:Several amendments offered as a group after obtaining unanimous consent.

Enacted: Once legislation has passed both chambers of Congress in identical form, been signed into law by the President, become law without his signature, or passed over his veto, the legislation is enacted.

Enacting Clause:Key phrase in bills beginning "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives . . ." A successful motion to strike it from legislation kills the measure.

Engrossed Bill/Engrossed Measure:The final official copy of a bill as passed by one chamber, with the text as amended by floor action and certified by the clerk of the House or the secretary of the Senate.

Enrolled Bill:The final official copy of a bill that has been passed by both chambers in identical form. It is certified by an officer of the house of origin (clerk of the House or secretary of the Senate) and then sent on for the signatures of the House Speaker, the Senate president pro tempore and the president of the United States. An enrolled bill is printed on parchment.

Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.

Entitlement Authority:A provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility requirements established by such law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the federal government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Entitlement legislation requires annual appropriations unless the existing appropriation is permanent. Examples of entitlement programs are Social Security benefits and veterans’ compensation. 

Entitlement Program:A federal program that guarantees a certain level of benefits to persons or other entities who meet requirements set by law, such as Social Security, farm price supports or unemployment benefits. It thus leaves no discretion with Congress on

how much money to appropriate, and some entitlements carry permanent appropriations.

Executive Business: Nominations and treaties; called executive business because these categories of business are received by the Senate from the president, rather than introduced by senators.

Executive Calendar: This is a non-legislative calendar in the Senate on which presidential documents such as treaties and nominations are listed.

Executive Communication: A message sent to the Senate by the president or other executive branch official. Presidential veto messages are an example of an "executive communication."

Executive Document: A document, usually a treaty, sent to the Senate by the president for approval. Executive documents are identified for each session of Congress as Executive A, 101st

Congress, 1st Session; Executive B, etc. They are referred to committee in the same manner as other measures. Unlike legislative documents, however, treaties don’t die at the end of a Congress but remain "live" proposals until acted on by the Senate or withdrawn by the president.

Executive Session:(1) A meeting of a Senate or House committee (or occasionally of either chamber) that only its members may attend. Witnesses regularly appear at committee meetings in executive session - for example, Defense Department officials during presentations of classified defense information. Other members of Congress may be invited, but the public and press are not allowed to attend.

(2) A Senate meeting devoted to the consideration of treaties and nominations.

Ex Officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office. The term refers to the practice under Senate rules that allows the chairman and ranking minority member of a committee to participate in any of the subcommittees of that committee, but generally not to vote.

Expenditures:The actual spending of money as distinguished from the appropriation of funds. The disbursing officers of the administration make expenditures; only Congress makes appropriations. The two are rarely identical in any fiscal year. In addition to some current budget authority, expenditures may represent budget authority made available one, two or more years earlier.

Fast-Track Procedures:Procedures that circumvent or speed up all or part of the legislative process. Some rule-making statues prescribe expedited procedures for certain measures, such as trade agreements.

Federal Debt:The federal debt consists of public debt, which occurs when the Treasury of the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) borrows money directly from the public or other funds

or accounts, and agency debt, which is incurred when a federal agency other than the Treasury of the FFB is authorized by law to borrow money from the public or another fund or account. The public debt comprises about 99 percent of the gross federal debt.

Federal Funds:All monies collected and spent by the federal government other than those designated as trust funds.

Filibuster:A time-delaying tactic associated with the Senate and used by a minority in an effort to delay, modify or defeat a bill or amendment that probably would pass if voted on directly. The most common method is to take advantage of the Senate’s rules permitting unlimited debate, but other forms of parliamentary maneuvering may be used. The stricter rules of the House make filibusters more difficult, but delaying tactics are employed occasionally through various procedural devices allowed by House rules. (Senate Filibusters, see Cloture.)  Also see the CRS Reports discussing filibusters and cloture linked on our Legislation and Legislatures page.

Fiscal Year:The federal government’s annual accounting period. Financial operations of the government are carried out in a 12-month accounting year, beginning on October 1 and ending on September 30. The fiscal year carries the date of the calendar year in which it ends and is referred to as FY; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.  (From fiscal year 1844 to fiscal year 1976, the fiscal year began July 1 and ended the following June 30.)  See Title 31 U.S.C. Section 1102.

Five-Minute Rule:A debate-limiting rule of the House that is invoked when the House sits as the Committee of the Whole. Under the rule, a member offering an amendment is allowed to speak five minutes in its favor, and an opponent of the amendment is allowed to speak five minutes in opposition. Debate is then closed. In practice, amendments regularly are debated more than 10 minutes, with members gaining the floor by offering pro forma amendments or obtaining unanimous consent to speak longer than five minutes. (See  also Pro Forma Amendment.)

Floor Amendment: An amendment offered by an individual senator from the floor during consideration of a bill or other measure, in contrast to a committee amendment.

Floor Leaders: The Majority Leader and Minority Leader are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. By custom, the Presiding Officer gives the floor leaders priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate.

Floor Manager:A member who has the task of steering legislation through floor debate and the amendment process to a final vote in the house or the Senate. Floor managers usually are the chairmen or ranking members of the committee that reported the legislation under debate. Managers are responsible for apportioning the debate time divided between the parties (for general debate in the House Committee of the

Whole) or allocated between supporters and opponents of the bill or amendments to it (under a Senate time agreement). The ranking minority member of the committee normally apportions time among minority party members participating in debate.

Frank:A member’s facsimile signature, which is used on envelopes in lieu of stamps, for the member’s official outgoing mail. The "franking privilege" is the right to send mail postage-free. 

Function (Functional Classification):Categories of spending established for accounting purposes to keep track of specific expenditures. Each account is placed in the single function (such as national defense, agriculture, health, etc.) that best represents its major purpose, regardless of the agency administering the program. The functions do not correspond directly with appropriations or with the budgets of individual agencies. (See also Budget Resolution.)

General Debate:Term for period of time at the beginning of proceedings in the Committee of the Whole to debate a measure. The time is generally divided equally between majority and minority floor managers.

Germane/Germaneness:Pertaining to the subject matter of the measure at hand. All House amendments must be germane to the bill being considered. The Senate requires that amendments be germane when they are proposed to general appropriation bills, bills being considered once cloture has been adopted, or, frequently, when proceeding under a unanimous consent agreement placing a time limit on consideration of a bill. The 1974 budget act also requires that amendments to concurrent budget resolutions be germane. In the House, floor debate must be germane, and the first three hours of debate each day in the Senate must be germane to pending business.

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Process:The process established by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Act (commonly known as the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings or GRH), as amended in 1987 and 1990. The process includes deficit targets and a procedure to sequester budgetary resources if the projected deficit is above the target. The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 amended GRH to provide revised deficit targets for fiscal years 1991-95, and to establish discretionary spending limits and a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) process affecting revenues and direct spending.

Grandfather Clause:A provision exempting persons or other entities already engaged in an activity from new rules or legislation affecting that activity. Grandfather clauses sometimes are added to legislation to avoid antagonizing groups with established interests in the activities affected.

Grants-In-Aid:Payments by the federal government to states, local governments or individuals in support of specified programs, services, or activities.

Hearings:Committee sessions for taking testimony from witnesses. At hearings on legislation, witnesses usually include specialists, government officials and spokesmen for

persons or entities affected by the bill or bills under study. Hearings related to special investigations bring forth a variety of witnesses. Committees sometimes use their subpoena power to summon reluctant witnesses. The public and press may attend open hearings, but are barred from closed or "executive" hearings. The vast majority of hearings are open to the public. (See also Executive Session.)

Hereby Rule:(See also Self-Executing Rule.)

Hold: An informal practice by which a senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the senator's wishes but is on notice that the opposing senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure.

Hold-Harmless Clause:A provision added to legislation to ensure that recipients of federal funds do not receive less in a future year than they did in the current year if a new formula for allocating funds authorized in the legislation would result in a reduction to the recipients. This clause has been used most frequently to soften the impact of sudden reductions in federal grants.

Hopper:Box on House clerk’s desk where members deposit bills and resolutions to introduce them. (See also Bills Introduced.) 

Hour Rule:A provision in the rules of the House that permits one hour of debate time for each member on amendments debated in the House of Representatives sitting as the House. Therefore, the House normally amends bills while sitting as the Committee of the Whole, where the five-minute rule on amendments operates. (See also Committee of the Whole, Five-Minute Rule.)

House:The House of Representatives, as distinct from the Senate, although each body is a "house" of Congress.

House as in Committee of the Whole:A procedure that can be used to expedite consideration of certain measures such as continuing resolutions and, when there is debate, private bills. The procedure can only be invoked with the unanimous consent of the House or a rule from the Rules Committee. It has procedural elements of both the House sitting as the House of Representatives (the Speaker presiding and the previous question motion being in order) and the House sitting as the Committee of the Whole (the five-minute rule pertaining.)

House Calendar:A listing for action by the House of public bills reported by the House committees that do not directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue when favorably reported by House committees.

Immunity:(1) The constitutional privilege of members of Congress to make verbal statements

on the floor and in committee for which they cannot be sued or arrested for slander or libel. Also, freedom from arrest while traveling to or from sessions of Congress or on official business. Members in this status may be arrested only for treason, felonies or a breach of the peace, as defined by congressional manuals.

(2) In the case of a witness before a committee, a grant of protection from prosecution based on that person’s testimony to the committee.

Impoundments:Any action taken by the executive branch that delays or precludes the obligation or expenditure of budget authority appropriated by Congress. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974 was enacted after frequent use of impoundments by President Richard Nixon. In addition to creating the budget process currently used, the 1974 law established procedures for congressional approval or disapproval of temporary or permanent impoundments, which are called deferrals and rescissions.

Insert:Amendment to add new language to a measure or another amendment.

Insist:Motion by one chamber to reiterate its previous position during amendments between the chambers.

Instruct Conferees:Formal action by one chamber urging its conferees to uphold a particular position in conference.

Item Veto: Authority to veto part rather than all of an appropriations act. The President does not now have item-veto authority. He must sign or veto the entire appropriations act. The item veto sometimes is referred to as a line-item veto.

Joint Committee:A committee composed of an equal number of members of both the House and the Senate. A joint committee may be investigative or research oriented. As of 1993 only four joint committees remain: Joint Economic, Joint Taxation, Joint Library, and Joint Printing. None has the authority to report legislation. Standing joint committees are permanent joint committees established by law. The law fixes the number of the majority and minority members from each house.

Joint Explanatory Statement of Managers:Joint Explanatory Statement of Managers:Statement appended to a conference report explaining the conference agreement and the intent of the conferees.

Joint Meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate meet together to hear an address by various dignitaries, such as foreign leaders.

Joint Resolution:A joint resolution, designated HJ Res or SJ 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. There is no practical difference between a bill and a joint resolution. A joint

resolution generally is used to deal with limited matters, such as a single appropriation.

Joint resolutions also are used to propose amendments to the Constitution in Congress. These do not require presidential signature, but become a part of the Constitution only when approved by two-thirds of each chamber of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states. (See also Bill.)

Joint Session: When the House and Senate meet together to conduct formal business or to hear an address by the President of the United States.

Journal:The official record of the proceedings of the House and Senate. The Journal records the actions taken in each chamber, but unlike the Congressional Record, it does not include the substantially verbatim report of speeches, debates, statements and the like. The Constitution requires each house to maintain a journal; the House has one and the Senate has four.   Senate rules stipulate that different Journals be kept for legislative and executive (treaties and nominations) proceedings, as well as for confidential legislative proceedings and proceedings when the Senate sits as a court for impeachment of high Federal officials.

"Lame Duck" Session: When Congress (or either chamber) reconvenes in an even-numbered year following the November general elections to consider various items of business. Some lawmakers who return for this session will not be in the next Congress. Hence, they are informally called "lame duck" members participating in a "lame duck" session.

Law/Public Law/Private Law:An act of Congress that has been signed by the president or passed over his veto by Congress. Public bills, when signed, become public laws, and are cited by the letters PL and a hyphenated number. The 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. (See also Pocket Veto, Slip Laws, Statutes at Large, U.S. Code.)

Layover: Informal term for a period of delay required by rule. For example, when a bill or other measure is reported from committee, it may be considered on the floor only after it "lies over" for one legislative day and after the written report has been available for two calendar days. Layover periods may be waived by unanimous consent.

Leave to Sit: Permission for a committee to meet during the proceedings of the parent chamber. Under Senate Rule XXVI committees are forbidden to meet after the first two hours of the Senate's daily session, and in no case after 2 p.m. while the Senate is in session, without special permission from the majority and minority leaders.

Legislative Day:The "day" extending from the time either house meets after an adjournment until the time it next adjourns. Because the House normally adjourns from day to day, legislative days and calendar days usually coincide. In the Senate, however, a

legislative day may, and frequently does, extend over several calendar days, weeks or months. (See also Recess.)

Legislative Session: That part of the Senate's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).

Legislative Veto:A procedure, as of 1983 no longer allowed, permitting either the House or Senate, or both chamber, to review proposed executive branch regulations or actions and to block or modify those with which they disagreed.

The specifics of the procedure varied, but Congress generally provided for a legislative veto by including in a bill a provision that administrative rules or action taken to implement the law were to go into effect at the end of a designated period of time unless blocked by either or both houses of Congress. Another version of the veto provided for congressional reconsideration and rejection of regulations already in effect.

The Supreme Court on June 23, 1983, struck down the legislative veto as an unconstitutional violation of the lawmaking procedure provided in the Constitution.

Line Item Veto:Whenever the president signs a bill or joint resolution, the president may cancel in whole (1) any dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, (2) any item of new direct spending, and (3) certain limited tax benefits. In exercising this authority, the president must determine that such cancellation will (1) reduce the federal budget deficit, (2) not impair any essential government functions, and (3) not harm the national interest. Provisions canceled never become effective unless Congress reverses the action of the president by enacting a "disapproval bill." On June 25, 1998, the Supreme Court (in a 6-3 decision) ruled the "line-item veto law violates a constitutional requirement that legislation be passed by both houses of Congress and presented in its entirety to the president for signature or veto."

Loan Guarantee:Loans to third parties for which the federal government in the event of default guarantees, in whole or in part, the repayment of principal or interest to a lender or holder of a security.

Lobby:A group seeking to influence the passage or defeat of legislation. Originally the term referred to persons frequenting the lobbies or corridors of legislative chambers to speak to lawmakers.

The definition of a lobby and the activity of lobbying is a matter of differing interpretation. By some definitions, lobbying is limited to direct attempts to influence lawmakers through personal interviews and persuasion. Under other definitions, lobbying attempts at indirect, or "grass-roots", influence, such as persuading members of a group to write or visit their districts' representative and states' senators or attempting to create a climate of opinion favorable to a desired legislative goal.

The right to attempt to influence legislation is based on the First Amendment to the Constitution, which says Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people to "petition the government for redress of grievances."

Managers:Representatives from a chamber to a conference committee; also called conferees.

Majority Leader:The Majority Leader is elected by his/her party colleagues. In the Senate, the Majority Leader, in collaboration with the Minority Leader, directs the legislation schedule for the chamber. Each is his/her party’s spokesperson and chief strategist. In the House, the Majority Leader is second to the Speaker in the majority party’s leadership, and serves as his/her party’s legislative strategist. (See also Floor Leaders.)  

Majority Whip: In effect, the assistant majority leader, in either the House or Senate. His job is to help marshal majority forces in support of party strategies and legislation. The party caucus elects the whip.

Mandatory Spending: Spending (budget authority and outlays) controlled by laws other than annual appropriations acts.

Manual:The official handbook in each house prescribing in detail its organization, rules procedures and operations.

Mark:(See also Vehicle.)

Marking Up A Bill:Going through the contents of a piece of legislation in committee or subcommittee to consider its provisions and proposed revisions to the language, and insert new sections and phraseology. If the bill is extensively amended, the committee’s version may be introduced as a separate bill, with a new number, before being considered by the full House or Senate. (See Clean Bill.) 

Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.

Measure: Term embracing bill, resolution and other matters on which the Senate takes action

Minority Leader:Floor leader and chief spokesperson for the minority party in each chamber, elected by the members of that party. The Minority Leader is also responsible for devising the party’s political and procedural strategy. (See also Majority Whip.) 

Minority, Supplemental, and Additional Views:Statements in a committee report presenting individuals' or groups' opinions on the measure.

Minority Whip:Performs duties of whip for the minority party. Members of the minority party elect the Minority Whip. (See also Majority Whip.)

Modified Closed Rule:Permits general debate for a specified period of time, but limits amendments to those designated in the special rule or the House Rules Committee report accompanying the special rule. May preclude amendments to particular portions of a bill.

Modified Open Rule:Permits general debate for a specified period of time, and allows any member to offer amendments consistent with House rules subject only to an overall time limit on the amendment process and a requirement that amendments be pre-printed in the Congressional Record.

Morning Hour (Morning Business):The time set-aside at the beginning of each legislative day for the consideration of regular, routine business. The "hour" is of indefinite duration in the House, where it is rarely used.

In the Senate, it is the first two hours of a session following an adjournment, as distinguished from a recess. The morning hour can be terminated earlier if the morning business has been completed. Business includes such matters as messages from the president, communications from the heads of departments, messages from the House, the presentation of petition, reports of standing and select committees and the introduction of bills and resolutions. During the first hour of the morning hour in the Senate, no motion to proceed to the consideration of any bill on the calendar is in order except by unanimous consent. During the second hour, motions can be made but must be decided without debate. Senate committees may meet while the Senate conducts morning hour.

Motion:In the House or Senate chamber, a request by a member to institute any of a wide array of parliamentary actions. The member "moves" for a certain procedure, such as the consideration of a measure. The precedence of motions, and whether they are debatable, is set forth in the House and Senate manuals.

Motion to Proceed to Consider: A motion, usually offered by the Majority Leader to bring a bill or other measure up for consideration. The usual way of bringing a measure to the floor when unanimous consent to do so cannot be obtained. For legislative business, the motion is debatable under most circumstances, and therefore may be subject to filibuster.

"Must Pass" Bill: A vitally important measure that Congress must enact, such as annual money bills to fund operations of the government. Because of their must-pass quality, these measures often attract "riders" (unrelated policy provisos).

Nominations:Presidential appointments to office subject to Senate confirmation. Although most nominations win quick Senate approval, some are controversial and become the topic of hearings and debate. Sometimes senators object to appointees for patronage reasons - for example, when a nomination to a local federal job is made without consulting the senators of the state concerned. In some situations a senator may

object that the nominee is "personally obnoxious" to him/her. Usually other senators join in blocking such appointments out of courtesy to their colleagues. (See also Senatorial Courtesy.)

Nongermane Amendment: An amendment that would add new and different subject matter to, or may be irrelevant to, the bill or other measure it seeks to amend. Senate rules permit nongermane amendments in all but a few specific circumstances.

Obligations:Orders placed, contracts awarded, services received and similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or future period. Such amounts include outlays for which obligations had not been previously recorded and reflect adjustments for differences between obligations previously recorded and actual outlays to liquidate those obligations.

Off-Budget Entities: The budget authority, outlays, and receipts of certain Federal entities that have been excluded from budget totals under provisions of law. At present, off-budget entities include the Social Security trust funds and the Postal Service.

Official Objectors:House members who screen measure on the Private Calendar.

Official Title:Statement of a measure's subject and purpose, which appears before the enacting clause. (See also Popular Title.)

Omnibus Bill:A measure that combines the provisions related to several disparate subjects into a single measure. Examples include continuing appropriations resolutions that might contain two or more of the thirteen annual appropriations bills.

One-Minute Speeches:Addresses by House members at the beginning of a legislative day. The speeches may cover any subject but are limited to one minute.

Open Rule:Permits general debate for a specified period of time and allows any member to offer an amendment that complies with the standing rules of the House.

Ordered Reported:Committee's formal action of agreeing to report a measure to its chamber

Original Bill: A bill drafted by a committee. It is introduced by the committee or subcommittee chairman after the committee votes to report it, and it is placed directly on the Senate's Calendar of Business.

Outlays:Payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for the payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.

Override a Veto:If the president disapproves a bill and sends it back to Congress with his objections, Congress may try to override his veto and enact the bill into law. Neither house is required to attempt to override a veto. The override of a veto requires a recorded vote with a two-thirds majority in each chamber. The question to put to each house is "Shall the bill pass, the objections of the president to the contrary notwithstanding?"  Historically, Congress has overridden fewer than ten percent of all presidential vetoes.  (See also Pocket Veto, Veto.)

Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program. 

Oversight Committee:A congressional committee, or designated subcommittee of a committee, charged with general oversight of one or more federal agencies activities. Usually, the oversight panel for a particular agency also is the authorizing committee for that agency’s programs and operations. 

Pair:A voluntary, informal arrangement that two lawmakers, usually on opposite sides of an issue, make on recorded votes. In many cases the result is to subtract a vote from each side, with no effect on the outcome. Pairs are not authorized in the rules of either house, are not counted in tabulating the final result, and have no official standing. However, members pairing are identified in the Congressional Record, along with their positions on such votes, if known. A member who expects to be absent for a vote can pair with a member who plans to vote, with the latter agreeing to withhold his vote.

There are three types of pairs: (1) A live pair involves a member who is present for a vote and another who is absent. The member in attendance votes and then withdraws the vote, saying he has a live pair with colleague "X" and stating how the two members would have voted, one in favor and the other opposed. A live pair may affect the outcome of a closely contested vote, since it subtracts one "yea" or one "nay" from the final tally. A live pair may cover one or several specific issues.

(2) A general pair, widely used in the House, does not entail any arrangement between two members and does not affect the vote. Members who expect to be absent notify the clerk that they wish to make a general pair. Each member is then listed in the Congressional Record. The member may or may not be paired with another taking the opposite position, and no indication of how the members would have voted is given.

(3) A specific pair, also known as a special pair, is similar to a general pair, except that the opposing stands of the two members are identified and printed in the Record.

Papers:Documents passed back and forth between the chambers, including the engrossed measure, the amendments, the messages transmitting them, and the conference report. (See also Custody of the Papers.)

Parliamentarian: The Parliamentarian is the Senate's advisor on the interpretation of its rules and procedures. Staff from the Parliamentarian's office sit on the Senate dais and advise

the Presiding Officer on the conduct of Senate business. The office also refers bills to the appropriate committees on behalf of the Senate's Presiding Officer.

Parliamentary Inquiry: A question from the floor to the Presiding Officer by a senator requesting a clarification of the procedural situation on the floor. Responses to parliamentary inquiries are not rulings of the Presiding Officer but may lead the senator posing the inquiry or another to raise a point of order.

Pass Over without Prejudice:A request in the House to defer action on a measure called up from the Private Calendar without affecting the measure's position on the calendar.

Passed:Term for approval of bills and joint resolutions.

Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Process:A process established by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 to ensure that, for fiscal years 1991-95, direct spending and revenue legislation do not add to the deficit. PAYGO requires that direct spending or revenue legislation increasing the deficit be offset or a presidential sequester of resources in certain direct spending accounts will occur. Emergency needs agreed to by the president and Congress may be exempted from the requirement.

Perfecting Amendment:Amendment that alters, but does not completely substitute or replace, language in another amendment. (See also Second-Degree Amendment.)

Permanent Appropriation: Budget authority that becomes available as the result of previously enacted legislation (substantive legislation or prior appropriations act) and does not require current action by Congress. Budget authority is considered to be "current" if provided in the current session of Congress and "permanent" if provided in prior sessions. 

Petition:A request or plea sent to one or both chambers from an organization or private citizens’ group asking support of, or opposition to, particular legislation or favorable consideration of a matter not yet receiving congressional attention. Petitions are referred to appropriate committees. 

Pocket Veto: The act of the president in withholding his approval of a bill after Congress has adjourned. When Congress is in session, a bill becomes law without the president’s signature if he does not act upon it within 10 days, excluding Sundays, from the time he gets it. But if Congress adjourns sine die within that 10-day period, the bill will not become law even if the president does not formally veto it. 

Point of Order: An objection raised by a member, in committee or on the floor, that the chamber is departing from rules governing its conduct of business. The objector cites the rule violated, and the chair sustains the objection if correctly made. The chair suspends proceedings of the chamber until it conforms to the prescribed "order of business." 

Policy Committees: Each party policy committee provides research and other services to senators and also serves as a forum for discussion of party legislative strategy. 

Popular Title:The name by which a measure is known. (See also Official Title.)

Postpone:There are two types of motions to postpone: to postpone (indefinitely) kills a proposal, but to postpone to a day certain merely changes the day or time of consideration.

Preamble:Introductory language in a bill preceding the enacting clause. It describes the reasons for and intent of a measure. In a joint resolution, the language appears before the resolving clause. In a concurrent or simple resolution, it appears before the text.

Precedence:Order in which amendments or motions may be offered and acted upon.

Precedent:Previous ruling by a presiding officer that becomes part of the procedures of a chamber.

President of the Senate: Under the Constitution, the Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate and is allowed to cast a vote in the event of a tie. In his/her absence, the president pro tempore, or a senator designated by the president pro tempore, presides over the Senate only during very close votes, ceremonial occasions and crucial procedural questions.

President Pro Tempore:Under the Constitution, the chief officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president; literally, but loosely, the president for a time. His/her fellow senators elect the president pro tempore, and the recent practice has been to elect the senator of the majority party with the longest period of continuous service.

Presidential Signature: A proposed law passed by Congress must be presented to the president, who then has 10 days to approve or disapprove it. The president signs bills he supports, making them law. He vetoes a bill by returning it to the house in which it began, usually with a written message. Normally, bills he neither signs nor vetoes within 10 days become law without his signature.

Presiding Officer: A majority-party senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.

Previous Question:A motion for the previous question, when carried, has the effect of cutting off all debate, preventing the offering of further amendments, and forcing a vote on the pending matter. If no debate has yet occurred, the proposal is limited to 40 minutes

of discussion. In the House, the previous question is not permitted in the Committee of the Whole. The motion for the previous question is a debate-limiting device and is not in order in the Senate.

Printed Amendment:A House rule guarantees five minutes of floor debate in support and five minutes in opposition, and no other debate time, on amendments printed in the Congressional Record at least one day prior to the amendment’s consideration in the Committee of the Whole. 

In the Senate, while amendments may be submitted for printing, they have no parliamentary standing or status. Any senator, however, may call up an amendment submitted for printing in the Senate.

Private Bill:A measure that generally deals with an individual matter, such as a claim against the government, an individual's immigration, or a land title. Private bills are considered in the House via the Private Calendar on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

Private Calendar:In the House, private bills dealing with individual matters such as claims against the government, immigration, land titles, etc., are put on this calendar. The private calendar must be called on the first Tuesday of each month, and the Speaker may call it on the third Tuesday of each month as well.

When a private bill is before the chamber, two members may block its consideration, which recommits the bill to committee. Backers of a recommitted bill have recourse. The measure can be put into an "omnibus claims bill" - several private bills rolled into one. As with any bill, no part of an omnibus claims bill may be deleted without a vote. When the private bill goes back to the house floor in this form, it can be deleted from the omnibus bill only by majority vote.

Private Law: A private bill enacted into law. Private laws have restricted applicability, often addressing immigration and naturalization issues affecting individuals.

Privilege:Privilege relates to the rights of members of Congress and to relative priority of the motions and actions they may make in their respective chambers. The two are distinct. "Privileged questions" deal with legislative business. "Questions of privilege" concern legislators themselves.

Privileged Questions:The order in which Congress considers bills, motions and other legislative measures is governed by strict priorities. A motion to table, for instance, 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 thus is considered the "highest privilege." (See also Questions of Privilege.)

Pro Forma Amendment:Pro Forma Amendment:Motion whereby a House member secures five minutes to speak on an amendment

under debate, without offering a substantive amendment. The member moves to "strike the last word" or "strike the requisite number of words." The motion requires no vote and is deemed automatically withdrawn at the expiration of five minutes. (See also Strike the Last Word/Strike the Requisite Number of Words, Five-Minute Rule.)

Pro Forma Session: A brief meeting (sometimes only several seconds) of the Senate in which no business is conducted. It is held usually to satisfy the constitutional obligation that neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.

Proxy Voting: The practice of allowing a senator to cast a vote in committee, if committee rules allow it, for an absent senator. Senate Rule XXVI provides that proxies may not be voted when the absent senator has not been informed of the matter on which he is being recorded and has not requested that he be so recorded.

Public Debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.

Public Laws:A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide. (See also Law.)

Queen-of-the-Hill Rule:A special rule that permits votes on a series of amendments, usually complete substitutes for a measure, but directs that the amendment receiving the greatest number of votes is the winning amendment. 

Question: Any matter on which the Senate is to vote, such as passage of a bill, adoption of an amendment, agreement to a motion, or an appeal.

Question of Privilege: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. Under House rules adopted in 1993, the speaker may postpone consideration of certain questions of privilege for two days.

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 rests primarily on the Constitution, which gives him a conditional immunity from arrest and an unconditional freedom to speak in the House. (See also Privileged Questions.)

Quorum:The minimum number of members whose presence is necessary for the transaction of business. In the Senate and House, it is a majority of the membership. A quorum is

100 in the Committee of the Whole House. Both houses usually assume a quorum is present even if it is not. If a point of order is made that a quorum is not present, the only business that is in order is either a motion to adjourn or a motion to direct the sergeant-at-arms to request the attendance of the absentees.

Quorum Call: A call of the roll to establish whether a quorum is present. If any senator "suggests the absence of a quorum," the Presiding Officer must direct the roll to be called. Often, a quorum call is terminated by unanimous consent before completion, which permits the Senate to use the quorum call to obtain a brief delay to work out some difficulty or await a senator's arrival.

Ramseyer Rule:House rule that requires a committee report to show changes the reported measure would make in current law.

Ranking Minority Member: The highest ranking (and usually longest serving) minority member of a committee or subcommittee. Senators may not serve as ranking minority member on more than one standing committee.

Reading of Bills:Traditional parliamentary procedure required bills to be read three times before they were passed. This custom is of little modern significance. Normally a bill is considered to have its first reading when it is introduced and printed, by title, in the Congressional Record. In the House, its second reading comes when floor consideration begins. (This is the most likely point at which there is an actual reading of the bill, if there is any.) The second reading in the Senate is supposed to occur on the legislative day after the measure is introduced but before it is referred to committee. The third reading (again, usually by title) takes place when floor action has been completed on amendments.

Recede:Motion by one chamber to withdraw from a position and agree with the other chamber's position.

Recede and Concur:Motion to withdraw from a position and agree with the other chamber's position.

Recede and Concur with an Amendment:Motion to withdraw from a position and agree, but with a further amendment.

Receipts: Collections from the public and from payments by participants in certain social insurance and other Federal programs. These collections consist primarily of tax revenues and social insurance premiums, but also include receipts from court fines, certain fees, and deposits of earnings by the Federal Reserve System. Total receipts are compared with total outlays in calculating the budget surplus or deficit.

Recess:A temporary interruption of the Senate's (or a committee's) business. Generally, the Senate often recesses (rather than adjourns) at the end of each calendar day. Distinguished from adjournment, a recess does not interrupt unfinished business. The

rules in each house set forth certain matters to be taken up and disposed of at the beginning of each legislative day. The House usually adjourns from day to day. The Senate often recesses, thus meeting on the same legislative day for several calendar days or even weeks at a time.

Recognition:The power of recognition of a member is lodged in the Speaker of the House, or the chairman of the Committee of the Whole, and the presiding officer of the Senate. The presiding officer names the member who will speak first when two or more members simultaneously request recognition.

Recommit to Committee:A motion, made on the floor after a bill has been debated, to return it to the committee that reported it. If approved, recommital usually is considered a deathblow to the bill. In the House, 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 party members. The House limits only one motion to recommit per measure. There is no such limit in the Senate.

A motion to recommit may include instructions to the committee to report the bill again with specific amendments or by a certain date. Or, the instructions may direct that a particular study be made, with no definite deadline for further action. If the recommital motion includes instructions to "report the bill back forthwith" and the motion is adopted, floor action on the bill continues; the committee does not actually reconsider the legislation.

Reconciliation:The 1974 budget act provides for a "reconciliation" procedure for bringing existing tax and spending laws into conformity with ceilings enacted in the congressional budget resolutions. Under the procedure, Congress instructs designated legislative committees to approve measures adjusting revenues and expenditures by a certain amount. The committees have a deadline by which they must report the legislation, but they have the discretion of deciding what changes are to be made. The recommendations of the various committees are consolidated without change by the budget committees into an omnibus reconciliation bill, which the must be considered and approved by both houses of Congress. The orders to congressional committees to report recommendations for reconciliation bills are called reconciliation instructions, and they are contained in the budget resolution.

Reconciliation Bill: A bill containing changes in law recommended pursuant to reconciliation instructions in a budget resolution. If the instructions pertain to only one committee in a chamber, that committee reports the reconciliation bill. If the instructions pertain to more than one committee, the Budget Committee reports an omnibus reconciliation bill, but it may not make substantive changes in the recommendations of the other committees.

Reconciliation Instruction: A provision in a budget resolution directing one or more committees to report (or submit to the Budget Committee) legislation changing existing law in order to bring spending, revenues, or the debt-limit into conformity with the budget resolution. The instructions specify the committees to which they apply, indicate the appropriate

dollar changes to be achieved, and usually provide a deadline by which the legislation is to be reported or submitted.

Reconciliation Process: A process established in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by which Congress changes existing laws to conform tax and spending levels to the levels set in a budget resolution. Changes recommended by committees pursuant to a reconciliation instruction are incorporated into a reconciliation measure.

Reconsider a Vote:A motion to reconsider the vote by which an action was taken has, until it is disposed of, the effect of putting the action in abeyance. In the Senate, the motion can be made only by a member who voted on the prevailing side of the original question or by a member who did not vote at all. In the House, it can be made only by a member on the prevailing side and cannot be made in the Committee of the Whole.

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 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 shutting off the possibility of future reconsideration, except by unanimous consent.

Motions to reconsider must be entered in the Senate within the next two days of actual 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.

Recorded Vote:A vote upon which each member’s stand is individually made known. In the Senate, this is accomplished through a roll call of the entire membership, to which each senator on the floor must answer "yea," "nay" or, if he/she does not wish to vote, "present." Since January 1973, the House has used an electronic voting system for recorded votes, including yea-and -nay votes formerly taken by roll calls. 

When not required by the Constitution, a recorded vote can be obtained on question in the House 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 also Yeas and Nays.)

Refer/Referral: After a bill or resolution is introduced, it is normally referred to the committee having jurisdiction over the subject of the bill. In the Senate, referrals are generally made to the committee with jurisdiction over the predominant subject matter in the bill or resolution, but measures may be referred to more than one committee by unanimous consent.

Regular Meeting Day: Senate Rule XXVI requires that all committees designate at least one day a month on which it will meet to transact business. Additional meetings may be called by the chairman or by demand of a majority of a committee's members.

Relevant: Many unanimous consent agreements require amendments to a specific bill or other measure to be relevant to the measure.

Report/Reported:Both a verb and a noun as a congressional term. 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.

A "report" is the document setting forth the committee’s explanation of its action. Senate and House reports are numbered separately and are designated S Rept. or H Rept. In the House, reports are required, while in the Senate they are not. When a committee report is not unanimous, the dissenting committee members may file a statement of their views, called minority views and referred to as a minority report. Members in disagreement with some provisions of a bill may file additional or supplemental views. Sometimes a bill is reported without a committee recommendation.

Legislative committees occasionally submit adverse reports. However, when a committee is opposed to a bill, it usually fails to report the bill at all. Some laws require that committee reports - favorable or adverse - be made.

Reprogram:Shifting funds from one program to another in the same appropriation account. (Contrast to Transfer.)

Rescission:An item in an appropriations bill rescinding or canceling budget authority previously appropriated but not spent. Also, the repeal of a previous appropriation by Congress at the request of the president. Under the 1974 budget act, however, unless Congress approves a rescission requested by the president within 45 days of continuous session after receipt of the proposal, the funds must be made available for obligation. (See also Concurrent and Joint Resolution, Rules.)

Resolution/Simple Resolution:Sentiment of one chamber on an issue, or a measure to carry out the administrative or procedural business of the chamber. Does not become law. Designated as H. Res. or S. Res.

Resolution of Inquiry:A simple resolution calling on the president or the head of an executive agency to provide specific information or papers to one or both chambers. 

Resolution of Ratification:Senate vehicle for consideration of a treaty.

Resolving Clause:First section of a joint resolution that gives legal force to the measure when enacted: "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled..."

Revenues:Taxes, fees, gifts, and other income received by the federal government. 

Riddick's Senate Procedure: Named after Senate Parliamentarian Emeritus Floyd M. Riddick, this Senate document contains the contemporary precedents and practices of the Senate. It is updated periodically by the Senate Parliamentarian.

Rider:An amendment, usually not germane, that its sponsor hopes to get through more easily by including it in other legislation. Riders become law if the bills embodying them are enacted. Amendments providing legislative directives in appropriations bills are outstanding examples of riders, though technically legislation is banned from appropriations bills. The House, unlike the Senate, has a strict germaneness rule; thus, riders usually are Senate devices to get legislation enacted quickly or to bypass lengthy House consideration, and possibly opposition.

Rise:In order only in the Committee of the Whole during the amendment stage, it has the effect of terminating or suspending debate on the pending matter.

Rise and Report:Term to refer to the culmination of proceedings in the Committee of the Whole. The Committee of the Whole sends the measure it has been considering back to the House for final disposition.

Roll Call (Record) Vote:A vote in which each senator votes "yea" or "nay" as his or her name is called by the Clerk, so that the names of Senators voting on each side are recorded. Under the Constitution, a roll call vote must be held if demanded by one-fifth of a quorum of senators present, a minimum of 11.

Rules:The term has two specific congressional meanings. A rule may be a standing order governing the conduct of House or Senate business that is listed among the permanent rules of either chamber. The rules deal with duties of officers, the order of business, admission to the floor, parliamentary procedures on handling amendments and voting, jurisdictions of committees, etc.

In the House, a rule also may be a resolution reported by its Rules Committee to govern the handling of a particular bill on the floor. The committee may report a "rule", also called a "special order", 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 non-germane 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, thus leaving the bill completely open to alteration by the adoption of germane amendments.

Scheduling: Senate practice today generally concedes to the Majority Leader the prerogative of arranging the floor schedule of the Senate and making unanimous consent requests and motions to proceed to consider bills and other items of business. The Majority Leader is also chiefly responsible for negotiating unanimous consent agreements governing the consideration of items of business.

Scope of Differences:Limits within which a conference committee is permitted to resolve its disagreement.

Scorekeeping:A procedure used by the Congressional Budget Office for up-to-date tabulations of congressional actions on bills and resolutions that provide new budget authority and outlays or change revenues and the public debt for a fiscal year. Such reports include, but are not limited to, status reports on the budgetary effects of these congressional actions to date and of potential congressional actions and comparisons of these actions to targets and ceilings set by Congress in the budget resolution.

Second:The number of members required to indicate support for an actions, such as calling for a vote.

Second-Degree Amendment:An amendment to an amendment. Also called a perfecting amendment. (See also Perfecting Amendment.)

Second Reading:Required reading of a bill or joint resolution to a chamber: in the House, in full before floor consideration in the House or Committee of the Whole (usually dispensed with by unanimous consent or special rule); in the Senate, by title only, before referral to a committee.

Secretaries, Party: The Secretary for the Majority and the Secretary for the Minority are elected to serve as scheduling and information coordinators between the party floor leaders and individual senators within the party. The party secretaries may also assist their party conference with its work.

Secretary of the Senate:Chief administrative and budgetary officer of the Senate, responsible for overseeing the duties of Senate employees, educating Senate pages, administering oaths, handling the registration of lobbyists, and handling other tasks necessary for the continuing operation of the Senate. The Secretary is almost always a candidate of the majority party and the majority leader.  The Secretary affirms the accuracy of bill text by signing all measures that pass the Senate. The Secretary supervises the preparation and printing of bills and reports, the publication of the Congressional Record and Senate journals, and other matters.   (See also Clerk of the House.)

Self-Executing Rule:If specified, the House's adoption of a special rule may also have the effect of amending or passing the underlying measure.  Also called a "hereby" rule.

Select or Special Committee:A committee set up for a special purpose usually for a limited time by resolution of either the House or Senate. Most special committees are investigative and lack legislative authority. Legislation is not referred to them and they cannot report bills to their parent chamber. There are now, however, select committees in both houses that are permanent and have legislative authority. The Senate has permanent select committees on Ethics and Indian Affairs and both houses have a permanent select committee on intelligence. (See also Standing Committees.)

Senate Manual: A document that contains the Senate's standing rules and orders and other laws and regulations that apply to the Senate. It is usually published once each new Congress.

Senator: The Constitution requires that a senator be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least nine years, and an inhabitant of the state from which he or she is elected. A person elected or appointed to the Senate and duly sworn is a senator. 

Senatorial Courtesy: Sometimes referred to as "the courtesy of the Senate," it is a general practice - with no written rule - applied to consideration of executive nominations. Generally, it means that nominations from a state are not to be confirmed unless they have been approved by the senators of the president’s party of that state, with other senators following their colleagues’ lead in the attitude they take toward consideration of such nominations. Senatorial courtesy also applies to sitting or former senators who are nominated, allowing them to be quickly confirmed. (See also Nominations.) 

Seniority: The status given senators according to their length of service, which entitles a senator with greater seniority to preferential treatment in matters such as committee assignments.

Sequester/Sequestration:The cancellation of budgetary resources pursuant to the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. If canceled, sequestration funds will not be available for obligation or expenditure. Sequestration may occur in response to the enactment of appropriations that cause a breach in the discretionary spending limits, the enactment of revenue, direct spending legislation that causes a net increase in the deficit, or the estimation of a deficit in excess of the maximum deficit amount.

Sergeant at Arms: The chief security officer of the Senate, the Sergeant at Arms and staff in the office help to preserve order in the Senate chamber, the Senate galleries, and the Senate side of the Capitol. The Sergeant at Arms is elected by the Senate upon the nomination of the majority party conference.

Session: The period during which Congress assembles and carries on its regular business. Each Congress generally has two regular sessions (a first session and a second session), based on the constitutional mandate that Congress assemble at least once each year.

Simple Resolution: Designated "S. Res.," simple resolutions are used to express nonbinding positions of the Senate or to deal with the Senate's internal affairs, such as the creation of a special committee. They do not require action by the House of Representatives.

Sine Die:(See also Adjournment Sine Die.)

Slip Laws:A few days after a law has been enacted, it is officially published first as a "slip law."  The first official publication of a bill that has been enacted and signed into law. Each is published separately in unbound single-sheet or pamphlet form. (See also Law, Statutes at Large, U.S. Code.)

Speaker:The presiding officer of the House of Representatives, selected by the caucus of the party to which he/she belongs and formally elected by the whole House.

Special Session:A session of Congress after it has adjourned sine die, completing its regular session. The president convenes special sessions.

Spending Authority:The 1974 budget act defines authority as borrowing authority, contract authority, and entitlement authority for which budget authority is not provided in advance by appropriations acts.

Sponsor:(See also Bills Introduced.)

Stage of Disagreement:Stage at which one chamber formally disagrees with an amendment proposed by the other chamber and insists on its own amendment. A measure generally cannot go to conference until this stage is reached.

Standing Committee:Committees permanently established by House and Senate rules. The standing committees are legislative committees. Legislation may be referred to them and they may report bills and resolutions to their parent chambers. (See also Select or Special Committees.)

Standing Vote:A non-recorded vote used in both the House and Senate. (A standing vote is also 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.

Star Print:A reprint of a measure, amendment, or committee report to correct errors in a previous printing. The first page carries a small black star.

Statutes At Large:A chronological arrangement of the laws enacted in each session of Congress.

Though indexed, the laws are not arranged by subject matter, and there is no indication of how they changed previously enacted laws. (See also Law, Slip Laws, U.S. Code.)

Statutory Limit on the Public Debt: The maximum amount, established in law, of public debt that can be outstanding. The limit covers virtually all debt incurred by the Federal Government (primarily the Treasury Department), including borrowing from trust funds, but excludes some debt incurred by agencies.

Strike and Insert:Amendment that replaces text in a measure or an amendment.

Strike from the Record:Remarks made on the House floor may offend some member, who moves that the offending words be "taken down" for the Speaker’s cognizance, and then expunged from the debate as published in the Congressional Record. 

Strike the Last Word/Strike the Requisite Number of Words:Also called a pro forma amendment. Means of obtaining time to speak on an amendment without actually offering a substantive change. (See also Pro Forma Amendment.)

Structured Rule:Another term for a modified open or modified closed rule.

Subcommittee: Subunit of a committee established for the purpose of dividing the committee's workload. Recommendations of a subcommittee must be approved by the full committee before being reported to the Senate.

Substitute/Substitute Amendment:A motion, amendment or entire bill introduced in place of the pending legislative business. Passage of a substitute measure kills the original measure by supplanting it. The substitute also may be amended. (See also Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute.)

Supplemental Appropriations Bill:Legislation appropriating funds after the regular annual appropriations bill for a federal department or agency has been enacted. A supplemental appropriation provides additional budget authority beyond original estimates for programs or activities, including new programs authorized after the enactment of the regular appropriation act, for which the need for funds is too urgent to be postponed until enactment of the next year’s regular appropriations bill. 

Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views: Senate Rule XXVI requires that, when a committee (other than the Appropriations Committee) reports a measure, committee members may have three days to file statements providing their views on the measure, which will be included in the committee's written report.

Surplus:Excess of revenues over outlays.

Suspend the Rules:Often a timesaving procedure for passing bills in the House. The wording of the motion, which may be recognized by the Speaker, is, "I move to suspend the rules and pass bill . . . ." A favorable vote by two-thirds of those present is required for passage. Debate is limited to 40 minutes, and no amendments from the floor are permitted. If a two-thirds favorable vote is not attained, the bill may be considered later under regular procedures. The suspension procedure is in order ever Monday and Tuesday and is intended to be reserved for non-controversial bills.

Table a Bill:Motions to table, or to "lay on the table," are used to block or kill amendments or other parliamentary questions. When approved, a tabling motion is considered the final disposition of that issue. One of the most widely used parliamentary procedures, the motion to table is not debatable, and adoption requires a simple majority vote.

In the Senate, however, different language is sometimes used. The motion may be worded to let a bill "lie on the table," perhaps for subsequent "picking up." This motion is more flexible, keeping the bill pending for later action, if desired. Tabling motions on amendments are effective debate-ending devices in the Senate.

Table, Motion to: A senator may move to table any pending question. The motion is not debatable, and agreement to the motion is equivalent to defeating the question tabled. The motion is used to dispose quickly of questions the Senate does not wish to consider further.

Tax Expenditure:Loss of revenue attributable to an exemption, deduction, preference, or other exclusion under federal tax law.

Teller Vote:This is a largely moribund House procedure in the Committee of the Whole. Members file past tellers and are counted as for, or against, a measure, but they are not recorded individually. In the House, tellers are ordered upon demand on one-fifth of a quorum. This is 44 in the House, 20 in the Committee of the Whole.

The House also has a recorded teller vote, now largely supplanted by the electronic voting procedure, under which the votes of each member are made public just as they would be on a recorded vote.

Third Reading:Required reading of a bill or joint resolution to chamber before vote on final passage; usually a pro forma procedural step.

Transfer:Shifting funds from one appropriation account to another, as authorized by law. (Contrast to Reprogram.)

Treaties:Executive proposals - in the form of resolutions of ratification - that must be submitted to the Senate for approval by two-thirds of the senators present. Treaties today are normally sent to the Foreign Relations Committee for scrutiny before the Senate takes action. Foreign Relations has jurisdiction over all treaties, regardless of the subject matter. Treaties are read three times and debated on the floor in much

the same manner as legislative proposals. After approval by the Senate, the president formally ratifies treaties. Treaties not approved by the Senate at the end of a congressional session do not die. Instead, they can be considered by a future Congress unless withdrawn by the president.

Trust Funds: Funds collected and used by the Federal Government for carrying out specific purposes and programs according to terms of a trust agreement or statute, such as the Social Security trust funds.

Unanimous Consent:Proceedings of the House or Senate and action on legislation often take place upon the unanimous consent of the chamber, whether or not a rule of the chamber is being violated. Unanimous consent is used to expedite floor action and frequently is used for routing procedural requests.

Unanimous Consent Agreement/Time Limitation Agreement:A device used in the Senate to expedite legislation. Much of the Senate’s legislative business, dealing with both minor and controversial issues, is conducted through unanimous consent or unanimous consent agreements. On major legislation, such agreements are usually printed and transmitted to all senators in advance of floor debate. Once agreed to, they are binding on all members unless the Senate, by unanimous consent, agrees to modify them. An agreement may list the order in which various bills are to be considered, specify the length of time bills and contested amendments are to be debated and when they are to be voted upon and, frequently, require that all amendments introduced be germane to the bill under consideration. In this regard, unanimous consent agreements are similar to the "rules" issued by the House Rules Committee for bills pending in the House.

Union Calendar:Bills that directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue are placed on this House calendar according to the date they are reported from committee.

Unprinted Amendment:Senate amendment not printed in the Congressional Record before its offering. Unprinted amendments are numbered sequentially through a Congress in the order of their submission.

U.S. Code:A consolidation and codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States arranged by subject under 50 titles, the first six dealing with general or political subjects, and the other 44 alphabetically arranged from agriculture to war. The U.S Code is updated annually, and a new set of bound volumes is published every six years. (See also Law, Slip Laws, Statutes at Large.)

User Fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the Federal Government. In levying or authorizing these fees, Congress determines whether the revenue should go into the Treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.

Vehicle/Legislative Vehicle:Term for legislative measure that is being considered.

Veto:Disapproval by the president of a bill or joint resolution (other than one proposing an amendment to the Constitution.) When Congress is in session, the president must veto a bill within 10 days, excluding Sundays, after he has received it; otherwise, it becomes law without his signature. When the president vetoes a bill, he returns it to the house of origin with a message stating his objections. (See also Pocket Veto, Override a Veto.)

Vice President: Under the Constitution, the vice president serves as President of the Senate. He may vote in the Senate in the case of a tie but is not required to. The President Pro Tempore (and others designated by him) usually perform these duties during the vice president's frequent absences from the Senate.

Views and Estimates:Annual report of each House and Senate committee on budgetary matters within its jurisdiction to respective chamber's budget Committee; submitted in advance of Budget Committees' drafting of a concurrent resolution on the budget.

Voice Vote:In the House or Senate, members answer "aye" or "no" in chorus, and the presiding officer decides the result. The term is also used loosely to indicate action by unanimous consent or without objection.

Vote: Unless rules specify otherwise, the Senate may agree to any question by a majority of senators voting, if a quorum is present. The Chair puts each question by voice vote unless the "yeas and nays" are requested, in which case a roll call vote occurs.

Waiver Rule:A special rule in the House that waives points of order against a measure or an amendment.

Well:Open space in front of the House chamber between members' seats and the podium. Members may speak from lecterns in the well.

Whip:(See also Majority and Minority Whip.)

Without Objection:Used in lieu of a vote on non-controversial motions, amendments or bills that may be passed in either the House or Senate if no member voices an objection.

Yeas and Nays:The Constitution requires that yea-and-nay votes be taken and recorded when requested by one-fifth of the members present. In the House, the Speaker determines whether one-fifth of the members present requested a vote. In the Senate, practice requires only 11 members. The Constitution requires the yeas and nays on a veto override attempt. (See also Recorded Vote.)

Yield/Yielding:When a member has been recognized to speak, no other member may speak unless

he obtains permission from the member recognized. This permission is called yielding and is usually requested in the form, "Will the gentleman or gentlewoman yield to me?" While this activity occasionally is seen in the Senate, the Senate has no rule or practice to parcel out time.

Yield the Floor: A Senator who has been recognized to speak yields the floor when he or she completes his or her remarks and terminates his or her recognition.

Yield Time: When the Senate has reached a unanimous consent agreement limiting the time for debate and placing it under the control of floor managers, a senator may be recognized to speak only if a manager yields the senator a specified amount of time to speak. The Chair then recognizes the senator receiving the time, not the manager who yields the time, to hold the floor.