Unit 3 Part 1: Congress

Question 1

What is the minimum age for the house?

Answer 1

25 years

Question 2

What is the minimum time of citizen ship for the house?

Answer 2

7 years

Question 3

How long are terms for the House Representatives?

Answer 3

2 years

Question 4

What House leader is leader of majority party and has great power and influence?

Answer 4

Speaker of the House

Question 5

Who helps steer bills through committees?

Answer 5

floor leaders

Question 6

What do Party whips do?

Answer 6

assist floor leaders to persuade party members to support laws that the party favors

Question 7

What does the rules committee do?

Answer 7

Sends bills from committee to the floor

Question 8

How many members are composed in a quorum?

Answer 8

100

Question 9

What is the function of the Committee of the Whole?

Answer 9

it speeds up the process on important bills

Question 10

What is the minimum age of the senate?

Answer 10

30

Question 11

What is the minimum residency of the US for senators?

Answer 11

9

Question 12

How long are senate terms?

Answer 12

6 years

Question 13

What does the Calendars of General Orders do?

Answer 13

schedules bills to be considered in the Senate

Question 14

What does the Executive Calendar do?

Answer 14

schedules treaties and nominations

Question 15

What are four benefits of being a congressman?

Answer 15

set your own salary, allowances for office staff and business trips, tax breaks for maintaining two residences, retirement pensions

Question 16

What is filibuster?

Answer 16

unlimited debate on a bill in order to defeat it;

Question 17

What do standing committees deal with?

Answer 17

certain issues continuing from one congress to the next

Question 18

What do subcommittees do?

Answer 18

handle special subcategories of standing committee work and continue from one Congress to the next

Question 19

What are select committees?

Answer 19

special committees created in both houses for one term only to study a specific issue and report their findings

Question 20

Who are in joint committees?

Answer 20

joint members of both houses to act as a study group

Question 21

What do conference committees do?

Answer 21

resolve the differences in the house and Senate versions of a bill

Question 22

What does the Library of Congress do?

Answer 22

provides information requested by congress, congressional staff, and committees

Question 23

What does the Government Printing Office do?

Answer 23

Prints the “Congressional Record”, a complete account of all congressional speeches and testimony and “Statistical Abstract of the United states”, an annual publication.

Question 24

What does Legislative Oversight do?

Answer 24

Check how the executive branch carries out Congressional laws

Question 25

What do Authorization bills do?

Answer 25

set up federal program and how much money to spend on it

Question 26

How many representatives are there?

Answer 26

435

Question 27

In Congress, _____________ are informal organizations of individual congressional representatives with like interests or constituencies.

Answer 27

caucuses

Question 28

What amendment allowed for the direct election of senators?

Answer 28

17th

Question 29

What is the franking privileged?

Answer 29

Benefit allowing members of Congress to mail letters and other materials postage-free

Question 30

What is logrolling?

Answer 30

An arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other’s bills

Question 31

What are the four Congressional checks on the President?

Answer 31

override the presidential vetos; power of the purse; impeachment; approval powers over appointments

Question 32

Identify three possible sources of incumbency advantage.

Answer 32

Voting recordName recognitionFinancial advantage

Question 33

Describe how voting record works to an incumbent’s advantage.

Answer 33

Incumbents can show what they have done to help the district they represent while the challenger can’t. If they are voting the way their constituents want, they can point to a tangible source for their true beliefs. The challenger can only say what his beliefs are, he has no proof.

Question 34

Describe how name recognition works to an incumbent’s advantage.

Answer 34

the candidate has run, and won, in an election in the past. This means that people know who they are and what they represent. This means that they do not have to work as hard to establish their platform or to get their name out to voters.

Question 35

Describe how financial advantage works to an incumbent’s advantage.

Answer 35

Incumbents already have developed budgets, resources, and incomes for campaigning. New candidates have to start from scratch to create a successful campaign.

Question 36

3 Reasons why incumbents tend to lose elections.

Answer 36

Scandal, bad voting record, redistricting

Question 37

What is a bill of attainder and is it legal?

Answer 37

A legislative act that pronounces a person guilty of a crime and imposes an attainder and it is prohibited.

Question 38

What is the advantage of serving longer in congress?

Answer 38

choice of committee assignments and more committee power.

Question 39

What are three unique powers of the senate?

Answer 39

Approve presidential appointments to key federal offices, Confirm all federal judicial appointments, and Ratify treaties.

Question 40

What is Congressional Oversight?

Answer 40

the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation.