Table a Bill:
Motions to table, or to "lay on the table," are used to block or kill amendments or other parliamentary questions. When approved, a tabling motion is considered the final disposition of that issue. One of the most widely used parliamentary procedures, the motion to table is not debatable, and adoption requires a simple majority vote.

In the Senate, however, different language is sometimes used. The motion may be worded to let a bill "lie on the table," perhaps for subsequent "picking up." This motion is more flexible, keeping the bill pending for later action, if desired. Tabling motions on amendments are effective debate-ending devices in the Senate.

Table, Motion to:
A senator may move to table any pending question. The motion is not debatable, and agreement to the motion is equivalent to defeating the question tabled. The motion is used to dispose quickly of questions the Senate does not wish to consider further.

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Tax Expenditure:
Loss of revenue attributable to an exemption, deduction, preference, or other exclusion under federal tax law.

Teller Vote:
This is a largely moribund House procedure in the Committee of the Whole. Members file past tellers and are counted as for, or against, a measure, but they are not recorded individually. In the House, tellers are ordered upon demand on one-fifth of a quorum. This is 44 in the House, 20 in the Committee of the Whole.

The House also has a recorded teller vote, now largely supplanted by the electronic voting procedure, under which the votes of each member are made public just as they would be on a recorded vote.

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Third Reading:
Required reading of a bill or joint resolution to chamber before vote on final passage; usually a pro forma procedural step.

Transfer:
Shifting funds from one appropriation account to another, as authorized by law. (Contrast to Reprogram.)

Treaties:
Executive proposals - in the form of resolutions of ratification - that must be submitted to the Senate for approval by two-thirds of the senators present. Treaties today are normally sent to the Foreign Relations Committee for scrutiny before the Senate takes action. Foreign Relations has jurisdiction over all treaties, regardless of the subject matter. Treaties are read three times and debated on the floor in much the same manner as legislative proposals. After approval by the Senate, the president formally ratifies treaties. Treaties not approved by the Senate at the end of a congressional session do not die. Instead, they can be considered by a future Congress unless withdrawn by the president.

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Trust Funds:
Funds collected and used by the Federal Government for carrying out specific purposes and programs according to terms of a trust agreement or statute, such as the Social Security trust funds.

Unanimous Consent:
Proceedings of the House or Senate and action on legislation often take place upon the unanimous consent of the chamber, whether or not a rule of the chamber is being violated. Unanimous consent is used to expedite floor action and frequently is used for routing procedural requests.

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Unanimous Consent Agreement/Time Limitation Agreement:
A device used in the Senate to expedite legislation. Much of the Senate’s legislative business, dealing with both minor and controversial issues, is conducted through unanimous consent or unanimous consent agreements. On major legislation, such agreements are usually printed and transmitted to all senators in advance of floor debate. Once agreed to, they are binding on all members unless the Senate, by unanimous consent, agrees to modify them. An agreement may list the order in which various bills are to be considered, specify the length of time bills and contested amendments are to be debated and when they are to be voted upon and, frequently, require that all amendments introduced be germane to the bill under consideration. In this regard, unanimous consent agreements are similar to the "rules" issued by the House Rules Committee for bills pending in the House.

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Union Calendar:
Bills that directly or indirectly appropriate money or raise revenue are placed on this House calendar according to the date they are reported from committee.

Unprinted Amendment:
Senate amendment not printed in the Congressional Record before its offering. Unprinted amendments are numbered sequentially through a Congress in the order of their submission.

U.S. Code:
A consolidation and codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States arranged by subject under 50 titles, the first six dealing with general or political subjects, and the other 44 alphabetically arranged from agriculture to war. The U.S Code is updated annually, and a new set of bound volumes is published every six years. (See also Law, Slip Laws, Statutes at Large.)

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User Fees:
Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the Federal Government. In levying or authorizing these fees, Congress determines whether the revenue should go into the Treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.

Vehicle/Legislative Vehicle:
Term for legislative measure that is being considered.

Veto:
Disapproval by the president of a bill or joint resolution (other than one proposing an amendment to the Constitution.) When Congress is in session, the president must veto a bill within 10 days, excluding Sundays, after he has received it; otherwise, it becomes law without his signature. When the president vetoes a bill, he returns it to the house of origin with a message stating his objections. (See also Pocket Veto, Override a Veto.)

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Vice President:
Under the Constitution, the vice president serves as President of the Senate. He may vote in the Senate in the case of a tie but is not required to. The President Pro Tempore (and others designated by him) usually perform these duties during the vice president's frequent absences from the Senate.

Views and Estimates:
Annual report of each House and Senate committee on budgetary matters within its jurisdiction to respective chamber's budget Committee; submitted in advance of Budget Committees' drafting of a concurrent resolution on the budget.

Voice Vote:
In the House or Senate, members answer "aye" or "no" in chorus, and the presiding officer decides the result. The term is also used loosely to indicate action by unanimous consent or without objection.

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Vote:
Unless rules specify otherwise, the Senate may agree to any question by a majority of senators voting, if a quorum is present. The Chair puts each question by voice vote unless the "yeas and nays" are requested, in which case a roll call vote occurs.

Waiver Rule:
A special rule in the House that waives points of order against a measure or an amendment.

Well:
Open space in front of the House chamber between members' seats and the podium. Members may speak from lecterns in the well.

Whip:
(See also Majority Whip and Minority Whip.)

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Without Objection:
Used in lieu of a vote on non-controversial motions, amendments or bills that may be passed in either the House or Senate if no member voices an objection.

Yeas and Nays:
The Constitution requires that yea-and-nay votes be taken and recorded when requested by one-fifth of the members present. In the House, the Speaker determines whether one-fifth of the members present requested a vote. In the Senate, practice requires only 11 members. The Constitution requires the yeas and nays on a veto override attempt. (See also Recorded Vote.)

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Yield/Yielding:
When a member has been recognized to speak, no other member may speak unless he obtains permission from the member recognized. This permission is called yielding and is usually requested in the form, "Will the gentleman or gentlewoman yield to me?" While this activity occasionally is seen in the Senate, the Senate has no rule or practice to parcel out time.

Yield the Floor:
A Senator who has been recognized to speak yields the floor when he or she completes his or her remarks and terminates his or her recognition.

Yield Time:
When the Senate has reached a unanimous consent agreement limiting the time for debate and placing it under the control of floor managers, a senator may be recognized to speak only if a manager yields the senator a specified amount of time to speak. The Chair then recognizes the senator receiving the time, not the manager who yields the time, to hold the floor.

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