Legislative/Congress test

Because of the __________, only ____________of the Senate is up for reelection in every even-number year.

6 year term; 1/3

U.S. House members represent about __________________ people.

740,000

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a member of Congress supporting pork-barrel legislation?

A Senator from an agricultural state amending legislation to establish a potato research institute in his or her state

The process by which bills are rewritten and amended in a committee is known as

A markup.

What is a filibuster?

A senator's attempt to kill a bill if the president does not sign it in the last ten days of a session

Which of the following is true according to the diagram?

Both chambers make use of a system of majority and minority whips.

A vote of __________ will limit the amount of time spent debating a bill in the U.S. Senate

Cloture

A Senator realizes a Senate vote on an immigration bill is coming up. The Senator examines public opinion polls on the issue and carefully reads her inbox for constituents' views on the bill and issues. This senator is following which model of representation?

Delegate

Eighty to ninety percent of all bills introduced in Congress

Die during the committee phase.

Which of the following statements about congressional reapportionment and redistricting is true?

Districts must be drawn so that, within a state, every person's vote is roughly equal to every other person's vote.

A member of the House of Representatives has introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage, but it has been in committee for 36 days and is unlikely to make it to the floor. Which of the following is the best course of action for the representative to take to get a vote on the bill?

Filing a discharge petition

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate?

HOUSE: Has more rules of procedure to guide its lawmaking process SENATE: Has authority over the ratification of treaties with other nations

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the House of Representatives and the Senate?

HOUSE: Members are elected by constituents in a local district based on population SENATE: Members are elected by constituents of an entire state.

Members of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Veterans Affairs are concerned about the quality of services at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Which of the following is an action the committee can take to address the problem?

Holding a hearing and subpoenaing high-level officials in the Department of Veterans affairs to testify

The ultimate in congressional oversight is

Impeachment

In what way did the 17th amendment broaden democracy?

It gave citizens greater impact on lawmaking in the U.S. Senate.

The map shows the outline of a congressional district. Which of the following statements best explains the motivation behind the way in which it is drawn?

It has likely been drawn to pack together voters who are registered with the same party.

Which of the following is a consequence of the way the district is drawn on the map?

It will likely lead to a less competitive general election, which could lead to increased partisanship.

Which statement would a 17th amendment supporter agree?

Legislatures should be representative bodies.

Which of the following is an accurate conclusion based on the data in the table above?

Levels of reelection in both the House and Senate are high.

Appointments to the federal judiciary are often contentious for which of the following reasons?

Life terms for federal judges means that presidential appointments will continue to have influence long after the president's term is over.

Which one of the following lists is correctly ordered? How a Bill becomes a Las

Member introduces a bill; one chamber takes floor action; conference committee version is approved

____________ tend to be policy specialists

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

Which of the following statements is reflected in the table above?

Newly elected senators were on average older than newly elected House members.

The majority party in the Senate is concerned that the Supreme Court has made a number of ideologically dangerous and controversial rulings. Which of the following actions would the Senate take in their attempt to limit the Supreme Court's power?

Pass legislation that would limit the impact of the Supreme Court's recent rulings

Senator Smith votes her conscience on bills that her constituents care little about, but she votes according to the wishes of the majority of her constituents on other bills. Which model of representation do her actions embody?

Politico

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 authorized the government to deny income tax deductions for employer health plans that did not offer employees the option of keeping their health insurance after leaving the job. Which enumerated power allowed Congress to make the law?

Regulating commerce among the states

Members of Congress are primarily guided by a desire to ______________, while being subject to the constraints of _____________________.

Respond to constituent interests; institutional structures

A ________________ committee is created temporarily to deal with a specific policy topic, while a _______________ committee is created to resolve differences between U.S. House and U.S. Senate versions of the same bill.

Select; conference

______________ provides "advice and consent" on presidential appointments and approval of treaties.

Senate

The legislative process at the national level of government reflects the intent of the framers of the Constitution to create a legislature that would be

Slow and deliberate in the law-making process

Conference committees are typically staffed by

Standing committee members that worked on the bill in question from both the House and Senate.

Which one of the following is NOT a way for Congress to engage in oversight of the bureaucracy?

Suspending rules

Which of the following statements best summarizes this excerpt from Senator Paul's speech?

The U.S. Senate should decide on war-like actions on its merits, not along with other legislation.

Which foreign policy reality might limit what the Senate can do in this scenario?

The War Powers Act gives the president freedom to act with the military for a limited time.

Which power of Congress is Senator Paul probably most concerned about on this passage?

The expressed power to declare war.

Which of the following enumerated powers would permit Congress to stimulate the economy by hiring unemployed citizens?

The power to pass a federal budget

Based on your knowledge and the diagram, which of the following is true regarding the leadership structure of Congress?

The role of the minority leader in both the House of Representatives and the Senate is to coordinate a strategy for the minority

The elastic clause in Article I of the Constitution created a situation in which Congress

Took a lead role in the American constitutional system.

The president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate is

Usually held by the most senior member of the majority party