This Glossary will remain as is and is no longer updated - please use the version on Hobnob Blog, located at CongressionalGlossary.com.

Obligations
Orders placed, contracts awarded, services received and similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or future period. Such amounts include outlays for which obligations had not been previously recorded and reflect adjustments for differences between obligations previously recorded and actual outlays to liquidate those obligations.

Off-Budget Entities
The budget authority, outlays, and receipts of certain Federal entities that have been excluded from budget totals under provisions of law. At present, off-budget entities include the Social Security trust funds and the Postal Service.

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Official Objectors
House members who screen measure on the Private Calendar.

Official Title
Statement of a measure's subject and purpose, which appears before the enacting clause. (See also Popular Title.)

Omnibus Bill
A measure that combines the provisions related to several disparate subjects into a single measure. Examples include continuing appropriations resolutions that might contain two or more of the thirteen annual appropriations bills.

One-Minute Speeches
Addresses by House members at the beginning of a legislative day. The speeches may cover any subject but are limited to one minute.

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Open Rule
Permits general debate for a specified period of time and allows any member to offer an amendment that complies with the standing rules of the House.

Ordered Reported
Committee's formal action of agreeing to report a measure to its chamber

Original Bill
A bill drafted by a committee. It is introduced by the committee or subcommittee chairman after the committee votes to report it, and it is placed directly on the Senate's Calendar of Business.
 

Outlays
Payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for the payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.

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Override a Veto
If the president disapproves a bill and sends it back to Congress with his objections, Congress may try to override his veto and enact the bill into law. Neither house is required to attempt to override a veto. The override of a veto requires a recorded vote with a two-thirds majority in each chamber. The question to put to each house is "Shall the bill pass, the objections of the president to the contrary notwithstanding?"  Historically, Congress has overridden fewer than ten percent of all presidential vetoes.  (See also Pocket Veto, Veto.)

Oversight
Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program. 

Oversight Committee
A congressional committee, or designated subcommittee of a committee, charged with general oversight of one or more federal agencies activities. Usually, the oversight panel for a particular agency also is the authorizing committee for that agency's programs and operations. 

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Pair
A voluntary, informal arrangement that two lawmakers, usually on opposite sides of an issue, make on recorded votes. In many cases the result is to subtract a vote from each side, with no effect on the outcome. Pairs are not authorized in the rules of either house, are not counted in tabulating the final result, and have no official standing. However, members pairing are identified in the Congressional Record, along with their positions on such votes, if known. A member who expects to be absent for a vote can pair with a member who plans to vote, with the latter agreeing to withhold his vote.

There are three types of pairs: (1) A live pair involves a member who is present for a vote and another who is absent. The member in attendance votes and then withdraws the vote, saying he has a live pair with colleague "X" and stating how the two members would have voted, one in favor and the other opposed. A live pair may affect the outcome of a closely contested vote, since it subtracts one "yea" or one "nay" from the final tally. A live pair may cover one or several specific issues.

(2) A general pair, widely used in the House, does not entail any arrangement between two members and does not affect the vote. Members who expect to be absent notify the clerk that they wish to make a general pair. Each member is then listed in the Congressional Record. The member may or may not be paired with another taking the opposite position, and no indication of how the members would have voted is given.

(3) A specific pair, also known as a special pair, is similar to a general pair, except that the opposing stands of the two members are identified and printed in the Record.

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Papers
Documents passed back and forth between the chambers, including the engrossed measure, the amendments, the messages transmitting them, and the conference report. (See also Custody of the Papers.)

Parliamentarian
The Parliamentarian is the Senate's advisor on the interpretation of its rules and procedures. Staff from the Parliamentarian's office sit on the Senate dais and advise the Presiding Officer on the conduct of Senate business. The office also refers bills to the appropriate committees on behalf of the Senate's Presiding Officer.
 

Parliamentary Inquiry
A question from the floor to the Presiding Officer by a senator requesting a clarification of the procedural situation on the floor. Responses to parliamentary inquiries are not rulings of the Presiding Officer but may lead the senator posing the inquiry or another to raise a point of order.

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Pass Over without Prejudice
A request in the House to defer action on a measure called up from the Private Calendar without affecting the measure's position on the calendar.

Passed
Term for approval of bills and joint resolutions.

Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Process
A process established by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 to ensure that, for fiscal years 1991-95, direct spending and revenue legislation do not add to the deficit. PAYGO requires that direct spending or revenue legislation increasing the deficit be offset or a presidential sequester of resources in certain direct spending accounts will occur. Emergency needs agreed to by the president and Congress may be exempted from the requirement.

Perfecting Amendment
Amendment that alters, but does not completely substitute or replace, language in another amendment. (See also Second-Degree Amendment.)

Permanent Appropriation
Budget authority that becomes available as the result of previously enacted legislation (substantive legislation or prior appropriations act) and does not require current action by Congress. Budget authority is considered to be "current" if provided in the current session of Congress and "permanent" if provided in prior sessions. 

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Petition
A request or plea sent to one or both chambers from an organization or private citizens' group asking support of, or opposition to, particular legislation or favorable consideration of a matter not yet receiving congressional attention. Petitions are referred to appropriate committees. 

Pocket Veto
The act of the president in withholding his approval of a bill after Congress has adjourned. When Congress is in session, a bill becomes law without the president's signature if he does not act upon it within 10 days, excluding Sundays, from the time he gets it. But if Congress adjourns sine die within that 10-day period, the bill will not become law even if the president does not formally veto it. 

Point of Order
An objection raised by a member, in committee or on the floor, that the chamber is departing from rules governing its conduct of business. The objector cites the rule violated, and the chair sustains the objection if correctly made. The chair suspends proceedings of the chamber until it conforms to the prescribed "order of business." 

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Policy Committees
Each party policy committee provides research and other services to senators and also serves as a forum for discussion of party legislative strategy. 

Popular Title
The name by which a measure is known. (See also Official Title.)

Postpone
There are two types of motions to postpone: to postpone (indefinitely) kills a proposal, but to postpone to a day certain merely changes the day or time of consideration.

Preamble
Introductory language in a bill preceding the enacting clause. It describes the reasons for and intent of a measure. In a joint resolution, the language appears before the resolving clause. In a concurrent or simple resolution, it appears before the text.

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Precedence
Order in which amendments or motions may be offered and acted upon.

Precedent
Previous ruling by a presiding officer that becomes part of the procedures of a chamber.

President of the Senate
Under the Constitution, the Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate and is allowed to cast a vote in the event of a tie. In his/her absence, the president pro tempore, or a senator designated by the president pro tempore, presides over the Senate only during very close votes, ceremonial occasions and crucial procedural questions.

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President Pro Tempore
Under the Constitution, the chief officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president; literally, but loosely, the president for a time. His/her fellow senators elect the president pro tempore, and the recent practice has been to elect the senator of the majority party with the longest period of continuous service.

Presidential Signature
A proposed law passed by Congress must be presented to the president, who then has 10 days to approve or disapprove it. The president signs bills he supports, making them law. He vetoes a bill by returning it to the house in which it began, usually with a written message. Normally, bills he neither signs nor vetoes within 10 days become law without his signature.

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Presiding Officer
A majority-party senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.

Previous Question
A motion for the previous question, when carried, has the effect of cutting off all debate, preventing the offering of further amendments, and forcing a vote on the pending matter. If no debate has yet occurred, the proposal is limited to 40 minutes of discussion. In the House, the previous question is not permitted in the Committee of the Whole. The motion for the previous question is a debate-limiting device and is not in order in the Senate.

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Printed Amendment
A House rule guarantees five minutes of floor debate in support and five minutes in opposition, and no other debate time, on amendments printed in the Congressional Record at least one day prior to the amendment's consideration in the Committee of the Whole. 

In the Senate, while amendments may be submitted for printing, they have no parliamentary standing or status. Any senator, however, may call up an amendment submitted for printing in the Senate.

Private Bill
A measure that generally deals with an individual matter, such as a claim against the government, an individual's immigration, or a land title. Private bills are considered in the House via the Private Calendar on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

Private Calendar
In the House, private bills dealing with individual matters such as claims against the government, immigration, land titles, etc., are put on this calendar. The private calendar must be called on the first Tuesday of each month, and the Speaker may call it on the third Tuesday of each month as well.

When a private bill is before the chamber, two members may block its consideration, which recommits the bill to committee. Backers of a recommitted bill have recourse. The measure can be put into an "omnibus claims bill" - several private bills rolled into one. As with any bill, no part of an omnibus claims bill may be deleted without a vote. When the private bill goes back to the house floor in this form, it can be deleted from the omnibus bill only by majority vote.

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Private Law
A private bill enacted into law. Private laws have restricted applicability, often addressing immigration and naturalization issues affecting individuals.
 

Privilege
Privilege relates to the rights of members of Congress and to relative priority of the motions and actions they may make in their respective chambers. The two are distinct. "Privileged questions" deal with legislative business. "Questions of privilege" concern legislators themselves.

Privileged Questions
The order in which Congress considers bills, motions and other legislative measures is governed by strict priorities. A motion to table, for instance, is more privileged than a motion to recommit. Thus, a motion to recommit can be superseded by a motion to table, and a vote would be forced on the latter motion only. A motion to adjourn, however, takes precedence over a tabling motion and thus is considered the "highest privilege." (See also Questions of Privilege.)

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Pro Forma Amendment
Motion whereby a House member secures five minutes to speak on an amendment under debate, without offering a substantive amendment. The member moves to "strike the last word" or "strike the requisite number of words." The motion requires no vote and is deemed automatically withdrawn at the expiration of five minutes.
(See also Strike the Last Word/Strike the Requisite Number of Words, Five-Minute Rule.)

Pro Forma Session
A brief meeting (sometimes only several seconds) of the Senate in which no business is conducted. It is held usually to satisfy the constitutional obligation that neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.
 

Proxy Voting
The practice of allowing a senator to cast a vote in committee, if committee rules allow it, for an absent senator. Senate Rule XXVI provides that proxies may not be voted when the absent senator has not been informed of the matter on which he is being recorded and has not requested that he be so recorded.

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Public Debt
Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
 

Public Laws
A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide. (See also Law.)

Queen-of-the-Hill Rule
A special rule that permits votes on a series of amendments, usually complete substitutes for a measure, but directs that the amendment receiving the greatest number of votes is the winning amendment. 

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Question
Any matter on which the Senate is to vote, such as passage of a bill, adoption of an amendment, agreement to a motion, or an appeal.

Question of Privilege
These are matters affecting members of Congress individually or collectively. Matters affecting the rights, safety, dignity and integrity of proceedings of the House or Senate as a whole are questions of privilege in both chambers. Under House rules adopted in 1993, the speaker may postpone consideration of certain questions of privilege for two days.

Questions involving individual members are called questions of "personal privilege." A member rising to ask a question of personal privilege is given precedence over almost all other proceedings. An annotation in the House rules points out that the privilege rests primarily on the Constitution, which gives him a conditional immunity from arrest and an unconditional freedom to speak in the House. (See also Privileged Questions.)

Quorum
The minimum number of members whose presence is necessary for the transaction of business. In the Senate and House, it is a majority of the membership. A quorum is 100 in the Committee of the Whole House. Both houses usually assume a quorum is present even if it is not. If a point of order is made that a quorum is not present, the only business that is in order is either a motion to adjourn or a motion to direct the sergeant-at-arms to request the attendance of the absentees.

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Quorum Call
A call of the roll to establish whether a quorum is present. If any senator "suggests the absence of a quorum," the Presiding Officer must direct the roll to be called. Often, a quorum call is terminated by unanimous consent before completion, which permits the Senate to use the quorum call to obtain a brief delay to work out some difficulty or await a senator's arrival.

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URL:  TheCapitol.Net/glossary/opq.htm
 

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