| A | B |
|---|
| bicameral | two houses |
| Great Compromise | set up bicameral Congress |
| Article I | established the Legislative branch of government |
| 25 years | minimum age to be member of House of Representatives |
| 7 years | number of years you must be a citizen to be a US Representative |
| 435 members | total number of members in US House of Representatives |
| 2 years | term of US Representatives |
| population | how each states number of representatives is determined |
| gerrymandering | establishing oddly-shaped districts for political reasons |
| 30 years | minimum age for Senators |
| 9 years | how long US Senators have to be citizens |
| 6 years | term length of Senators |
| 100 members | total number of Senators |
| $145,100 year | current salary of Congressmen |
| 27th Amendment | limits Congressional pay raises |
| franking privileges | sending job related mail without paying postage |
| immunity | legal protection in certain circumstances |
| expulsion | punishment for serious misconduct |
| censure | punishment for lesser offenses; formal disapproval |
| party whip | keeps track of party members' votes |
| Speaker of the House | member of majority party in the House |
| President Pro Tempore | the Senate member, elected by the Senate, who stands in as president of the Senate in the absence of the VP. This position is more of an honorary position. |
| President of the Senate | Vice President of the US |
| standing committee | permanent committee that specializes in a particular topic |
| select committee | temporary committee to deal with issues needing special attention |
| joint committee | includes members of both Senate and House of Reps |
| committee membership | based on seniority |
| expressed powers | are written in the Constitution |
| implied powers | based on the elastic clause |
| impeachment | removal of government official for wrong-doing |
| draw up impeachment articles | House of Reps |
| holds trial to determine guilt in impeachment trials | Senate |
| appropriations bills | deal with money and always begin in the House of Reps |
| approves foreign treaties and approves Presidential appts | Senate |
| bill | proposed law |
| pigeonhole | set aside a bill; kills it |
| filibuster | used by Senators to defeat a bill by continuously talking until bill is withdrawn |
| cloture | limits a filibuster to 1 hour |
| pocket veto | no action taken by President, so bill dies |
| 2/3 | Congressional votes needed to override Presidential veto |
| census | a national population count taken every 10 years. |
| reaportionment | the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census. |
| redistrict | the process of setting up new district lines after reapportionment has been completed. |
| incombent | members of Congress who were already in office. |
| constituent | a person whom a member of Congress has been elected to represent |
| caucus | a closed meeting of the majority party choose the House Speaker at the start of each session of Congress |
| majority leader | The Speaker's top assistant, whose job is to help plan the party's legislative program, steer important bills through the House and make sure the chairpersons of the many committees finish work on bills that are important to the party. |
| quorum | The minimum number of members needed for official legislative action. |
| subcommittee | a group within a standing committee that specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee's responsibility. |
| conference committee | a temporary committee that is set up when the House and the Senate have passed different versions of a bill. Its members usually come from the House and Senate standing committees that handled the bill. |
| personal staff | These staff members work directly for individual senators and representatives. |
| committee staff | These staff members work for the many House and Senate committees. |
| administrative assistant | called an AA, is an important legislative aide who runs the lawmakers office, supervises the lawmaker's schedule, and gives advice on political matters. |
| legislative assistant | "LAs" area second type of personal staff member. An LA makes certain that the lawmaker is well informed about the many bills with which she/he must deal. |
| caseworker | a member of a lawmaker's personal staff who handle requests for help from constituents. |
