Congress: Legislative Process

A compromise bill created by a conference committee of House and Senate members is

• always passed with amendments

• never passed by both houses of Congress

• sometimes passed with amendments

• usually passed by both houses of Congress

Which example is NOT a similarity between committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate?

• They are organized by subject matter

• Membership in House committees tends to be larger than in the Senate

• Membership in both houses is determined by seniority and expertise

• They are essential to the legislative process

Many people feel that the seniority rules system for committee assignment is unfair because it....

• favors those who have had the longest tenure in office

• allows an unfair advantage to the junior-most (newest ) members of Congress

• does NOT favor the most experienced members of Congress

• it favors those of the same party as the President

Committees in Congress are created and organized by

• political party

• subject matter

• seniority

• geographic location

This committee is often referred to as the 'traffic cop' of the House of Representatives because it controls the flow of bills to the floor and sets conditions for their debate.

• debate committee

• rules committee

• legislative committee

• conference committee

The primary purpose of this committee is to iron out the differences between two different versions of a bill passed by the Senate and the House

• standing committee

• rules committee

• conference committee

• select committee

Most members of the House and Senate would like to become a committee chairperson because

• they control who sits on their committee

• they can override presidential vetoes in their committees

• they get paid twice their normal salary

• they control what bills are debated and voted upon in their committee

Where does most of the work done in House of Representatives takes place?

• In standing committees

• On the floor of House

• In conference committees

• Within congressional districts

The main reason Congress creates committees is to

• override presidential vetoes

• create new party power bases

• divide the overwhelming congressional workload

• educate new members

In both houses, the standing committees

• are permanent panels that report on policy issues

• are not permanent

• are set up for a limited time to investigate a certain matter

• must report on every bill that is referred to them