Account:
Control and reporting unit for budgeting and accounting.

Act:
Legislation (a bill or joint resolution, see below) that has passed both chambers of Congress in identical form, been signed into law by the President, or passed over his veto, thus becoming law. A bill also becomes an act without the president’s signature if he does not return it to Congress within ten days, Sundays excepted, while Congress is in session. Technically, this term also refers to a bill that has been passed by one house and engrossed (prepared as an official copy). (See also: Pocket Veto; Engrossed Bill.)

Adjourn:
A motion to adjourn in the Senate (or a committee) ends that day's session.

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Adjourn for More than Three Days:
Under the Constitution, neither chamber may adjourn for more than three days without the approval of the other. Such approval is obtained in a concurrent resolution approved by both chambers.

Adjournment Sine Die:
Final adjournment of an annual or two-year session of Congress. Adjournment without fixing a definite day for reconvening; literally "adjournment without a day." A session can continue when, under the 20^th Amendment to the Constitution, it automatically terminates. Both houses must agree to a concurrent resolution for either house to adjourn for more than three days.

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Adjournment to a Day and Time Certain:
Adjournment under a motion or resolution that fixes the next time of meeting for one or both houses. Under the Constitution, neither house can adjourn for more than three days without the concurrence of the other. A session of Congress is not ended by adjournment to a day certain.

Adoption (Adopted):
Usual parliamentary term for approval of conference report. 

Advice and Consent:
Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.

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Agreed To:
Usual parliamentary term for approval of motions, amendments, and simple and concurrent resolutions.

Allowances:
Amounts included in the budget to cover possible additional expenditures for statutory pay increases and other requirements.

Amendment:
A proposal of a member of Congress to alter the language, provisions or stipulations in a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, treaty or in another amendment. An amendment is usually printed, debated and voted upon in the same manner as a bill.

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute:
Usually an amendment that seeks to replace the entire text of a bill. Passage of this type of amendment strikes out everything after the enacting clause and inserts a new version of the bill. An amendment in the nature of a substitute can also refer to an amendment that replaces a large portion of the text of a bill.

Amendment Tree:
Diagram showing the number and types of amendments to a measure permitted by the chamber. It also shows the relationship among the amendments, their degree or type, and the order in which they may be offered and the order in which they are voted on.

Amendments between the Houses:
Method for reconciling differences between the two chambers' versions of a measure by passing the measure back and forth between them until both have agreed to identical language. (Contrast to Conference Committee.)

Amendments in Disagreement: 
Provisions in dispute between the two chambers.

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Appeal:
A member’s challenge of a ruling or decision made by the presiding officer of the chamber. In the Senate, the senator appeals to members of the chamber to override the decision. If carried by a majority vote, the appeal nullifies the chair’s ruling. In the House, the decision of the Speaker traditionally has been final; seldom are the appeals to the member to reverse the Speaker’s stand. To appeal a ruling is considered an attack on the Speaker.

Appropriated Entitlement:
An entitlement for which budget authority is provided in annual appropriations acts.

Appropriation:
Provision of law that provides authority for Federal agencies to obligate funds and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriations for the Federal government are provided both in annual appropriations acts and in permanent provisions of law. (See also Budget Authority.)

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Appropriations Bill:
A bill that gives legal authority to spend or obligate money from the Treasury. The Constitution forbids money to be drawn from the Treasury "but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."

By congressional custom, an appropriations bill originates in the House, and it is not supposed to be considered by the full House or Senate until a related measure authorizing the funding is enacted. The latter restriction is often ignored, however. An appropriation bill grants the actual money approved by authorization bills, but not necessarily the full amount permissible under the authorization. The 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law stipulated that the House pass by June 30 the last regular appropriations bill for the fiscal year starting October 1. (There is no such deadline for the Senate.) However, appropriations often have not been completed until well after the fiscal year begins, requiring a succession of stopgap bills to continue the government’s functions. In addition, much federal spending - about half of all budget authority, notably that for Social Security and interest on the federal debt - does not require annual appropriations; those programs exist under permanent appropriations. (See also Report, Clean Bill, By Request, Budget Authority.)

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Authorization:
Basic, substantive legislation that establishes or continues the legal operation of a federal program or agency, either indefinitely or for a specific period of time, or which sanctions a particular type of obligation or expenditure. An authorization normally is a prerequisite for an appropriation or other kind of budget authority. Under the rules of both houses, the appropriation for a program or agency may not be considered until its authorization has been considered. An authorization also may limit the amount of budget authority to be provided or may authorize the appropriation of "such sums as may be necessary." (See also Backdoor Spending.)

Authorizations Act:
A law that establishes or continues one or more Federal agencies or programs, establishes the terms and conditions under which they operate, authorizes the enactment of appropriations, and specifies how appropriated funds are to be used. Authorizations acts sometimes provide permanent appropriations.

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Backdoor Spending Authority:
Budget authority provided in legislation outside of the normal appropriations process. The most common forms of backdoor spending are borrowing authority, contract authority, entitlements, and loan guarantees that commit the government to payments of principal and interest on loans - such as Guaranteed Student Loans - made by banks or other private lenders. Loan guarantees result in actual outlays only when there is a default by the borrower. 

In some cases, such as interest on the public debt, a permanent appropriation is provided that becomes available without further action by Congress.

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Balanced Budget:
A budget in which receipts equal outlays.

Baseline:
Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted, would alter current spending and revenue levels.

"Bigger Bite" Amendment:
Although an amendment cannot amend previously amended language under House rules, a "bigger bite" amendment can be offered because it changes more of the measure or amendment than the original amendment.

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Bills:
Most legislative proposals before Congress are in the form of bills. Bills are designated H.R. if they originate in the House of Representatives and S. if they originate in the Senate and by a number assigned in the order in which they are introduced during the two-year period of a congressional term. "Public bills" deal with general questions and become public laws if approved by Congress and signed by the president. "Private bills" deal with individual matters such as claims against the government, immigration and naturalization cases, land titles, etc., and become private laws if approved and signed. (See also Concurrent Resolution, Joint Resolution.)

Bills Introduced:
In both the House and Senate, any number of members may join in introducing a single bill or resolution. The first member listed is the sponsor of the bill, and all members’ names following his or hers are the bill’s cosponsors. 

Many bills are introduced under the name of the chairman of the committee or subcommittee with jurisdiction over the measure. All appropriations bills fall into this category. A committee frequently holds hearings on a number of related bills and may agree to one of them or to an entirely new bill. (See also Report, Clean Bill, By Request)

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Bills Referred:
When introduced, a bill is referred to the committee or committees that have jurisdiction over the subject with which the bill is concerned. Under the standing rules of the House and Senate, bills are referred by the Speaker in the House and by the presiding officer in the Senate. In practice, the House and Senate parliamentarians act for these officials and refer the vast majority of bills. 

Block Grants:
A type of grant in which the donor government may structure and design an intergovernmental program for a variety of purposes with borrowed money. 

Blue-Slip Resolution:
House resolution ordering the return to the Senate of a Senate bill or amendment that the House believes violates the constitutional prerogative of the House to originate revenue measures.

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Borrowing Authority:
Statutory authority that permits a federal agency to incur obligations and make payments for specified purposes with borrowed money. 

Budget:
The document sent to Congress by the president early each year estimating government revenue and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year. 

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Budget Act:
The common name for the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974, which established the current budget process and created the Congressional Budget Office. The act also put limits on presidential authority to refuse to spend appropriated money. (See also Impoundments, Budget Process.)  

Budget Authority:
Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds.  The basic forms of budget authority are appropriations, contract authority and borrowing authority. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).

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Budget Enforcement Act of 1990:
The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 was adopted to replace the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1987, as a response to the budget crisis that persisted through the 80’s. The Budget Enforcement Act concentrated on devising a new deficit control process that would contain the deficit by controlling the amount of revenue raised and money spent. In line with this reasoning, the Budget Enforcement Act established three sets of rules for controlling the deficit: adjustable deficit targets, caps on discretionary spending, and pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules for revenue and direct spending. 

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Budget Process:
Congress enacted legislation in 1985 to strengthen its 11-year-old budget process with the goal of balancing the federal budget by fiscal year 1991. The law, called the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act but commonly known as Gramm-Rudman-Hollings for its congressional sponsors, was amended in 1987 so the federal budget would be balanced by 1993. The law established annual maximum deficit targets and mandated automatic across-the-board cuts ("sequestration") if the deficit goals were not achieved through regular and appropriations action (See also Sequestration.)  

The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law also established an accelerated timetable for presidential submission of budgets and for congressional approval of budget resolutions and reconciliation bills, two mechanism created by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Budget resolutions, due by April 15 annually, set guidelines for congressional action on spending and tax measures. The resolutions are adopted by the House and Senate but are not signed by the president and do not have the force of law. Reconciliation bills, due by June 15, actually make changes in existing law to meet budget resolution goals. (See also Budget Resolution, Reconciliation.)

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Budget Resolution:
Legislation in the form of a concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget, but not requiring the president’s signature. The budget resolution establishes various budget totals, divides spending totals into functional categories (e.g., transportation), and may include reconciliation instructions to designated House or Senate committees. (See also Function, Reconciliation.)

Byrd Rule:
The term, named for Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), refers to an amendment to the Congressional Budget Act that bars the inclusion of extraneous matter in any reconciliation legislation considered in the Senate. This provision defines different categories of extraneous matter in any reconciliation legislation considered in the Senate. 

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By Request:
A phrase used when a senator or representative introduces a bill on behalf of the president, an executive agency, or private individual or organization but does not necessarily endorse the legislation. The practice goes back to the earliest history of Congress. 

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A,B

C

D,E,F

G,H,I,J,K

L,M,N

O,P,Q

R

S

T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z

The sources for this glossary include the US Senate and the Congressional Deskbook.

URL:  TheCapitol.Net/glossary/ab.htm      Last updated: April 11, 2008