Congress Vocabulary

Pregunta	Respuesta
Bicameral	a legislative body having two branches or chambers
House of Representatives	Is the larger body of Congress, has 435 voting members allotted to the states according to population
constituents	State legislatures must draw the boundaries so that the districts include roughly the same number of constituents, or people represented
gerrymander	Is an oddly shaped district designed to increase the voting strength of a particular group
Senate	the smaller upper assembly in the US Congress, most US states, France, and other countries.
Speaker of the House	a member of the House, is elected by a majority party caucus.
President pro tempore	a high-ranking senator of the majority party who presides over the US Senate in the absence of the vice president.
Party whips	is a member of parliament who is selected by their parliamentary party to take on the role of team manager
standing committee	a permanent committee that meets regularly.
select committee	a small legislative committee appointed for a special purpose.
Joint Committee	is a term that is used to refer to a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature.
seniority system	is a way to determine employment advantages based on the length of service of employees.
expressed powers	Those powers of Congress specifically listed in the Constitution.
implied powers	that is, powers not explicitly named in the Constitution but assumed to exist due to their being necessary to implement the expressed powers that are named in Article I.
elastic clause	a statement in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.
impeach	call into question the integrity or validity of (a practice).
bills of attainder	an item of legislation (prohibited by the US Constitution) that inflicts attainder without judicial process.
ex post facto laws	is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law.
US Representative Qualifications	(1) be at least twenty-five years old; (2) have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent.
franking privilege	allows Members of Congress to transmit mail matter under their signature without postage.
pork barrel projects	is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district.
US Senator Qualifications	Senate: age (at least thirty years of age); U.S. citizenship (at least nine years); and residency in the state a senator represents at time of election.
filibuster	an action such as a prolonged speech that obstructs progress in a legislative assembly while not technically contravening the required procedures.
cloture	(in a legislative assembly) a procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote.
veto	a constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body.
pocket veto	an indirect veto of a legislative bill by the president or a governor by retaining the bill unsigned until it is too late for it to be dealt with during the legislative session.

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	Creado por NaKayla Pridgen hace casi 9 años