| A | B |
|---|
| bicameral | two houses |
| constituent | person in a legislative district |
| district we live in | district 7 |
| number of districts in VA | 11 districts |
| franking priviledge | sending job related mail w/o paying postage |
| recess | when congress is not in session |
| interest group | people with similar viewpoints who work together for that cause |
| bill | a proposed law |
| census | taken every 10 years to determine the population |
| censure | formal disapproval of a Congressman |
| expulsion | removing a Congressman from office |
| immunity | benefit of congress, can't get in trouble |
| president pro-tempore | in charge of day-to-day business in the Senate |
| speaker of the house | leader of the house of rep & delegates |
| party whips | assistants in the house and senate, keep track of how members vote |
| majority leader | leader of the majority party in the house and senate |
| minority leader | leader of the minority party in the house and senate |
| president of the senate | VP of the US , head of the Senate |
| lobbyists | persuade govt officials to support goals of interest groups |
| general assembly | the VA legislative branch |
| delegate | a member of the General Assembly |
| gerrymandering | drawing political boundaries based on an areas political beliefs |
| session | when Congress meets |
| seniority system | congressmen that have served the longest get the best committee assignments |
| appropriations | bill dealing with money |
| standing committee | committees that exists all the time (agriculture, energy) |
| select committee | committees for temporary issues |
| conference committee | members of the house and senate that work out the details of a bill |
| expressed powers | stated specifcally in the Consitution |
| implied powers | not stated in the Constitution, they are suggested by the "elastic clause" |
| impeach | process of formally accusing the president or Supreme Court justice of a wrongdoing |
| 2 presidents that have been impeached | Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton |
| pocket veto | an indirect veto by the President |
| filibuster | a tactic for defeating a bill in the Senate (talking) |
| cloture | ending a debate in Congress |
| quorum | number of Congressmen needed to have a meeting be valid |
| pigeonhole | when a bill is set aside in a committee and never looked at |
| voice vote | voting by saying "yea" or "nea" |
| roll call vote | each person announces his vote |
| precedent | an act that may be used as an example |
