Honors Civics - chapter 12
A ___ is a closed meeting of the members of each party in each house.
party caucus
a closed meeting of the members of each party in each house
party caucus
to set aside a bill
pigeonhole
if Congress adjourns its session within 10 days of submitting a bill to the President that the President does not sign, the bill dies
pocket veto
may occur when Congress adjourns before the President signs a bill
pocket veto
Who is in charge of the executive branch?
president
special committee set up for a limited time
select committee
ives jobs to those who served longest
seniority rule
What does the Constitution do?
sets up the government
the elected presiding officer of the House and the leader of its majority party
speaker of the house
permanent committee that considers certain topics
standing committee
a smaller part of a standing committee
subcommittee
Members of each standing committee are elected by a floor vote at the beginning of each ___ of Congress.
term
Who is currently one of your state's U.S. Senators? Last Name ONLY.
toomey
(T or F) A conference committee is a joint committee of House and Senate members. It meets privately to work out a compromise version of a bill so it can then go to the President for approval. This is necessary because a bill must be passed in the same form in the Senate and the House.
true
(T or F) A filibuster is a stalling tactic used by a minority of senators to talk a bill to death.
true
(T or F) A joint committee is one composed of members of both the Senate and House of Representatives.
true
(T or F) Bills that leave their standing committee must then be scheduled for floor consideration by the Rules Committee.
true
(T or F) Congress starts a new term every two years (on January 3 of every odd-numbered year).
true
(T or F) Congressional committees and subcommittees often conduct investigations into public issues.
true
(T or F) Due to its large size, the House has had to impose strict limits on debate. One of these limits allows a member to demand a vote on the issue to stop debate.
true
(T or F) Joint committees coordinate the efforts of both houses on key issues, while select committees conduct special investigations.
true
(T or F) More than 300 measures have been killed by filibusters.
true
(T or F) Public bills are measures applying to the nation as a whole; private bills apply to certain persons or places rather than to the entire nation.
true
(T or F) Select committees help Congress to exercise its oversight function by ensuring its laws are being followed. They help Congress investigate specific issues.
true
(T or F) Senate bills are scheduled on one calendar after they come out of committee.
true
(T or F) Senate standing committees deal with bills in a similar way as the House of Representatives.
true
(T or F) Standing committees play a very important role in the lawmaking process. Most bills receive their most thorough consideration in standing committees. Members of both houses regularly respect the decisions and follow the recommendations of standing committees.
true
(T or F) Standing committees review and modify bills and decide if they should be reported to the floor for a vote. Subcommittees then do much of the work of reviewing a bill.
true
(T or F) The Senate is given more freedom to debate than the House.
true
(T or F) The Speaker of the House and the presiding officer of the Senate settle rules issues and direct the flow of floor debate.
true
(T or F) The Speaker of the House follows the Vice President in the line of succession to the presidency.
true
(T or F) The committee chairs guide the passage of bills through each house.
true
(T or F) The most influential House committees are Rules, Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Judiciary, Agriculture, and Appropriations.
true
(T or F) The most influential Senate committees are Armed Services, Finance, Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Appropriations, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
true
(T or F) The president pro tempore leads the Senate when the Vice President is not present.
true
(T or F) The seniority rule favors those with experience. It is a custom that gives the most important jobs in Congress to the members who have served the longest.
true
(T or F) There are 99 subcommittees in the House and nearly 70 in the Senate.
true
(T or F) When the House and the Senate cannot agree on a single version of a bill, the measure is turned over to a conference committee. This is a temporary joint committee of the two houses that seeks to iron out differences and come up with a compromise version of the bill.
true
(T or F) committee chairmen: the heads of the standing committees in Congress
true
(T or F) seniority rule: the unwritten custom that the party members with the longest records of service should hold the most important posts in Congress
true
(T or F) whip: assistant floor leaders
true
President's rejection of a bill
veto
to refuse to sign
veto
assistant floor leader
whip
assistant floor leaders
whip
What is the supreme law of the land?
Constitution
Who is currently your U.S. Representative in the House?
Doyle
the Senate's presiding officer
President of the Senate
the Vice President of the United States
President of the Senate
the elected Senate officer who presides in the Vice President's absence
President pro tempore
controls the flow of bills to the House floor
Rules Committee
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
Senate and House of Representatives
most powerful position in Congress
Speaker of the House
requires both houses to act together
concurrent resolution
joint committee of the two houses that comes up with a compromise bill
conference committee
settles House and Senate differences in a bill
conference committee
a proposed law
bill
What is the economic system in the United States?
capitalist economy
What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
checks and balances
a Senate rule limiting debate
cloture
limits debate in the Senate
cloture
leaders of standing committees
committee chairman
the heads of the standing committees in Congress
committee chairperson
What did the Declaration of Independence do?
declared our independence
forces a bill out of committee and onto the floor
discharge petition
(T or F) A open meeting of the members of each party in each house is called the party caucus. The meetings are held just before Congress convenes in January and occasionally during a session.
false
(T or F) A standing committee is formed to iron out the differences and create a compromise bill.
false
(T or F) Many Senate bills are not debated under a unanimous consent agreement that limits the amount of floor debate.
false
(T or F) Most of the millions of bills introduced in each session of Congress are pigeonholed. That is, they are buried in committee and never acted upon. Sometimes these bills are held by a committee and then released in response to a discharge petition introduced by a member of the House and signed by a House majority.
false
(T or F) Senate has 20 standing committees.
false
(T or F) The House is very small and considers a great many measures. The rules and calendars help the House of Representatives organize and complete its work.
false
(T or F) The Senate also has the filibuster and the cloture rule, which allow the minority to allow measures supported by the majority.
false
(T or F) The Senate has more rules limiting floor debate than the House.
false
(T or F) The majority and minority leaders and whips organize party policy and stop the voting on issues.
false
(T or F) Today the House has 18 standing committees.
false
(T or F) majority leader: the floor leader of the minority party in either house
false
(T or F) minority leader: the floor leader of the majority party in either house
false
a tactic by which a minority of Senators seeks to delay or block Senate action on a measure
filibuster
tactic of "talking a bill to death"
filibuster
political party leaders in Congress
floor leaders
unofficial party officers who serve in each house
floor leaders
members of both houses working together
joint committee
proposal that has the force of law when passed
joint resolution
What are two rights included in the Declaration of Independence?
life, liberty
calls bills to the Senate floor
majority leader
the floor leader of the majority party in either house
majority leader
the floor leader of the minority party in either house
minority leader
Does the House of Representatives have unlimited debate on a measure once it reaches the floor?
no
