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Senate Glossary

 
act

adjourn

adjourn for more than 3 days

adjournment sine die

adjournment to a day and time certain

advice and consent

amendment

amendment in the nature of a substitute

appeal

appropriation

authorization

authorizations act

balanced budget

baseline

bill

budget authority

budget resolution

Calendar of Business

caucus

chairman

chaplain

"christmas tree" bill

class

clean bill

cloakroom

cloture

committee

committee amendment

committee calendar

committee jurisdiction

committee membership

committee on committees

committee print

committee substitute

companion bill or measure

concurrent resolution

conditional adjournment

conferees

conference committee

conference, party

conference report

confirmation

Congressional Record

consideration

continuing resolution/continuing appropriations

controlled time

deficit (surplus)

discretionary spending

enacted

engrossed bill

enrolled bill

entitlement

ex officio

executive business

Executive Calendar

executive communication

executive session

filibuster

fiscal year

floor

floor amendment

floor leaders

floor manager

germane

hearing

hold

item veto

joint committee

joint meeting

joint resolution

joint session

journal

"lame duck" session

layover

leave to sit

legislative day

legislative session

majority leader

majority whip

mandatory spending

markup

measure

minority leader

minority whip

morning business

motion to proceed to consider

"must pass" bill

nomination

nongermane amendment

obligation

off-budget entities

original bill

outlays

override of a veto

oversight

parliamentarian

parliamentary inquiry

permanent appropriation

pocket veto

point of order

policy committees

president of the Senate

president pro tempore

presidential signature

presiding officer

private law

pro forma session

proxy voting

public debt

public law

question

quorum

quorum call

ranking minority member

receipts

recess

recognize

reconciliation bill

reconciliation instruction

reconciliation process

reconsider

referral

regular meeting day

relevant

report

rescission

Riddick's Senate Procedure

rider

roll call vote

scheduling

scorekeeping

secretaries, party

secretary of the Senate

select or special committee

Senate Manual

senator

seniority

sergeant at arms

session

simple resolution

slip law

standing committee

statutes at large

statutory limit on the public debt

subcommittee

supplemental appropriation

supplemental, minority, and additional views

table, motion to

trust funds

unanimous consent

unanimous consent agreement

user fees

veto

vice president

voice vote

vote

whips

yeas and nays

yield

yield the floor

yield time

 
  

Sessions of Congress

Congressional Sessions lists all Congresses and corresponding years  - from 1789, when the 1st Congress met, through the current Congress.

 


Find bills in THOMAS

You can access legislative information, by bill number or key words, from the THOMAS Web site.  Information from the present back to the 93rd Congress (1973) is available on THOMAS.


Virtual Reference Desk

For information on the Senate, Congress, the legislative process and the federal government, the Virtual Reference Desk is a good place to begin.