1.
Calendar Wednesday procedure: a procedure used by the House to bypass the Rules Committee.
2.
Christmas Tree Bill: a bil with many riders.
3.
Closed rule: an order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on floor debate, forbids a bill from being emended on the floor.
4.
Cloture rule: a rule used by the Senate to end or limit a debate.
5.
Concurrent resolution: an expression of opinion without the force of law that requires the approval of both the House and the Senate but not the president.
6.
Conference committee: a joint committee appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same bill.
7.
Congressional Budget Office: staff agency that advises Congress on the likely economic effects of different spending programs and provides information on the costs of the proposed policies.
8.
Congressional Research Service: staff agency that employs many people with advance academic training to respond to more than a quarter of a million questions a year.
9.
Discharge petition: a device by which any member of the House after a committee has had the bill for thirty days may petition to have it brought to the floor.
10.
Division vote: a congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted
11.
Double-tracking: a procedure to keep the Senate going during filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business.
12.
Franking privilege: the ability of members to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage.
13.
General Accounting Office: staff agency that investigates agencies and policies and makes reccomendations on almost every aspect of government
14.
Joint committees: Committees on which both senators and reps serve.
15.
Joint resolution: a formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of Congress and by the president; constitutional amendments need not be signed by the president.
16.
Multiple referral: a congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees.
17.
Open rule: an order from the House Rules Committee that permits the bil to be amended on the floor.
18.
Pork-barrel legislation: legislation that gives tangible benefits to contituents in several districts or states in hope of winning their votes in return.
19.
Private bill: a legislative bill that deals only with specific, private, personal, or local matters.
20.
Proxy votes: written authorization to cast another person's vote.
21.
Public bill: a legislative bill that deals with matters of general concern.
22.
Quorum: the minimum number of members who must be present for business to be conducted in Congress.
23.
Quorum call: a roll call in either house of Congress to see whether the minimum number of reps required to conduct business is present.
24.
Restrictive rule: an order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to the bill on the floor.
25.
Rider: a provision added to a piece of legislation that is not germane to the bill's purpose.
26.
Roll-call vote: a congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering yea or nay to their names.
27.
Select committees: Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose.
28.
Sequential referral: a congressional process by which a Speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting.
29.
Simple resolution: an expression of opinion either in the House or Senate to settle procedural matters in either body.
30.
Standing committees: permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area.
31.
Teller vote: a congressional votinf procedure in which members pass between two tellers, the yeas first and the nays second.
32.
Voice vote: a congressional voting procedure iin which members shout yea or nay permitting members to vote quickly or anonymously on a bills.
