| A | B |
|---|
| Senate | The upper house of Congress, consisting of two representatives from each state |
| House of Representatives | The lower house of Congress, consisting of a different number of representatives from each state, depending on population |
| census | A population count taken every 10 years by the Census Bureau |
| constituent | A person from a legislator's district |
| gerrymander | An oddly shaped election district designed to increase the voting strength of a particular group |
| majority party | In both the House and Senate, the political party to which more than half the members belong |
| minority party | In both the House and Senate, the political party to which fewer than half the members belong |
| John Boehner | Speaker of the House (Republican) |
| Joe Biden | Presiding officer of the Senate |
| 435 | Number of representatives in the House of Representatives |
| 100 | Number of Senators in the Senate |
| seniority | Years of service, which is used as a consideration for assigning committee members |
| committee | Where Congress does its work |
| standing committee | Permanent committe |
| select committee | Temporary committee set up to deal with special issues |
| joint committe | Committee made up of members of both the Senate and House |
| 6 year term | Senator |
| 2 year term | Representative from the House of Representatives |
| President pro tempore | Person in charge of Senate when the vice president cannot be present. (Harry Reid) |
