AP Government: Congress Unit

How a Bill becomes a Law

A bill becomes a law by being introduced to the floor, then committees review and vote on the bill, then it is sent to the next house and the same process happens.

Wesberry v. Sanders (1963)

A case that issued the ruling that all congressional districts must contain the same population.

Joint Committee

A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.

Standing Committee

A committee to which proposed bills are referred.

Subcommittees

A congressional subcommittee in the United States Congress is a subdivision of a United States congressional committee that considers specified matters and reports back to the full committee.

Resolutions: Joint

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.

Filibuster

A formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate in the Senate.

Pork Barrel Legislation

A government project that benefits a specific location or lawmaker's home district and constituents, typically enacted to gain individual legislature's votes.

Conference Committee

A joint committee appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same passed bill.

Lame Duck

A lame duck session is a session in between an election and the swearing in of new offices.

Cloture

A mechanism requiring sixty senators votes to cut off a debate (especially a filibuster)

Caucus

A meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement.

Discharge Petition

A petition that, if signed by majority of the House of Representatives' members, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration

Senatorial Courtesy

A process by which presidents, when selecting district court judges, defer to the senator in whose state the vacancy occurs

Party Whips

A representative who serves under the majority or minority leader, and who keeps in close contact with all party members, takes nose counts, provides summaries of bills, and acts as a communication link within the legislative party.

Unanimous Consent

A situation when no one objects to the proposed bill or other proposal.

Resolutions: Concurrent

A statement of position on an issue used by the House and Senate acting jointly; does not have the force of law and does not require the President's signature.

Select/Special Committee

A temporary legislative committee established for a limited time period and for a special purpose.

Advantages of Incumbents

Advertising (they already have visibility), credit claiming (pork barrel, casework), position taking (emphasize their position through experience, hard work, etc.), weak opponents (advantages of incumbency scare off opponents, and no adequate campaign funds lead to weak campaigns), and campaign spending (it costs a ton to elect members of congress).

Differences between the Senate and House

Age requirements, different number of members in each, and there is a difference in turnover. The representatives are apportioned in the house but they are set in the senate.

Rider

An additional provision annexed to a bill under the consideration of a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill.

Appropriation Bills

An appropriation bill or running bill or supply bill is a legislative motion (bill) that authorizes the government to spend money. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In most democracies, approval of the legislature is necessary for the government to spend money.

Logrolling

An arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's bills.

Resolutions: Simple

An expression of opinion either in the House or Senate to settle procedural matters in either body.

House Rules Committee

An institution unique to the House of Representatives that determines the rules for debate of each bill, including whether the bill may be amended.

Speaker of the House

An order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate; forbids a bill from being amended on the floor.

Key Powers of the Speaker of the House

Decides who the recognize to speak on the floor, rules on the germaneness of motions, decides to which committee bills go, schedules bills for action, and appoints members of special and select committees.

Divided Government

Divided government is the term used in the USA to refer to the situation in which one party controls the presidency while the other party controls Congress. In other words, one party controls the executive while the other party controls the legislature.

Earmarks

Funds dedicated for a specified program or purpose; revenues are earmarked by law; expenditures are earmarked by appropriation bills.

Who draws the lines of Congressional Districts?

In most cases, a state's district lines--for both state legislative and congressional districts--are redrawn by the state legislature, and the majority party controls the process. Some states require bi-partisan or non-partisan commissions to oversee the line-drawing.

Malapportionment

Malapportionment or misapportionment is the creation of electoral districts with divergent ratios of voters to representatives. For example, if one single-member district has 10,000 voters and another has 100,000 voters, voters in the former district have ten times the influence, per person, over the governing body.

Closed Rule, Open Rule

Open Rule: An order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor. Closed Rule: An order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate; forbids a bill from being amended on the floor.

Party Polarization

Political polarization refers to cases in which an individual's stance on a given issue, policy, or person is more likely to be strictly defined by their identification with a particular political party

House that does Revenue Legislations

Revenue legislation originates in the House of Representatives.

Reynolds v. Simms (1964)

Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964) was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population.

Who does Redistricting?

State legislatures are in charge of the redistricting process.

Shaw v. Reno

The Court ruled that although it was a legitimate goal for state legislatures to take race into account when they draw electoral districts in order to increase the voting strength of minorities, they may not make race the sole reason for drawing district lines.

Ways & Means Committee

The House of Representatives committee that, along with the Senate Finance Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as whole.

20th Amendment

The Twentieth Amendment (Amendment XX) to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the President and Vice President from March 4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March 4 to January 3.

Franking Privilege

The ability of members to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

The case that established "one man one vote". This decision created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state.

Incumbency

The fact that being in office helps a candidate stay in office because of a variety of benefits that go along with the position.

Oversight

The investigation and analyzation by Congress of the executive branch and its federal programs as well as policy and legislative implementations.

Senate Majority Leader

The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy, confers with other party leaders, and tries to keep members of the party in line. He/she is the 2nd most powerful member of the HOR and is the most powerful member of the Senate.

Gerrymandering

The legislative process through which the majority party in each state house tries to redraw congressional districts so that the maximum number of representatives from its party can be elected to Congress.

Quorum

The minimum number of members who must be present to permit a legislative body to take official action.

Committee Chairs (Who, why, what party)

The most important influencers of the congressional agenda. They play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff ,appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house.

Impeachment

The power delegated to the HOR by the constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other civil officers, with treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing such government officials from office.

Reapportionment (How often?)

The proportional process of altering congressional seats to each state following the decennial census.

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats alloted to states, as well as population shifts within a state.

Congressional District Drawing Rules

There must be the same population in each, you cannot draw them in a way that hurts a certain race, and you cannot draw the lines in a way that benefits some people over the other.

Revenue Bills

These are the group of bills that impose the federal taxes. These bills originate in the House of Representatives.

Thornburg v. Gingles

Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case in which a unanimous Court found that "the legacy of official discrimination ... acted in concert with the multimember districting scheme to impair the ability of ... cohesive groups of black voters to participate equally in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice."

US Term Limits v. Thorton

U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of the U.S. Congress stricter than those specified in the Constitution.

Double Tracking

a procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster, whereby disputed bill is temprairly shelved so that the Senate can go on with other business