American Government 100 Part III
Patterson, pgs. 350-368, A:AG16-15
How A Bill Becomes Law
True/False Questions
1. Full committees cannot override a decision to kill a bill rejected by a subcommittee just like Congress cannot override a decision made by a committee. True or False
2. Unlike the House, in the Senate the power to implement a markup of a bill is usually reserved for the full committee. True or False
3. If the majority of a committee recommends passage of a bill, it is referred to the full chamber for action. True or False
4. Prior to 1995, Democrats employed closed rules to prevent Republicans from proposing amendments to major bills, a tactic House Republicans would forgo after taking control of the House. True or False
5. Unlike the House where debate is limited, the Senate has unlimited debate unless such debate is ended by cloture. True or False
6. In the House, an open rule allows members to introduce non-germane amendments whereas a closed rule does not. True or False
7. On major bills, the party leaders have increasingly assumed the lead in assuring the proposed legislation gets through the committee gauntlet expeditiously. True or False
8. Aside from a couple of strong leaders, presidents did not play a major legislative role in the nineteenth century. True or False
9. Congress is structured in such a way that makes agreement on large issues easy to obtain. True or False
10. Under special circumstances, the House can enact legislation without the approval of the Senate. True or False
11. In 2013 and 2014, most of President Obama’s major legislative initiatives were pronounced “dead on arrival” when they reached Congress because the latter institution is controlled by the opposition party. True or False
12. The same fragmentation that makes it difficult for Congress to take the lead on broad issues makes it easy for Congress to tackle scores of small issues simultaneously. True or False
13. Distributive policies are the type that Congress is organizationally best suited to handle because of its committee system. True or False
14. Although most democracies have a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature, one chamber is typically much more powerful than the other. True or False
15. Similar to members of Congress in the United States, European legislators are free to vote their personal interests and not follow their party’s directive. True or False
16. The test scores of American schoolchildren on standardized reading, math, and science examinations are substantially below those of children in many other industrial democracies. True or False
17. Today, the large majority of congressional Democrats are liberal and the large majority of congressional Republicans are conservative, which has enabled each group to pursue a legislative agenda rooted in its ideology. True or False
18. In a European parliamentary system, the majority party has full control of legislative and executive power and therefore, can enact its agenda more easily than the presidential system of the U.S . True or False
19. The partisan divide has become so acrimonious in Congress that even on low-stake issues, lawmakers exploit negotiation and floor debate to attack opponents and promote their party’s image. True or False
20. As congressional partisanship has intensified, the public’s positive image of Congress has dramatically improved. True or False
21. Most federal programs must have their funding renewed every year, a requirement that gives Congress leverage in its ongoing oversight function. True or False
22. Congress's investigative power is listed in the Constitution and the judiciary has cited it in many cases historically. True or False
23. Congress’s zeal for oversight increases substantially when the White House is the target, particularly if the presidency is in the hands of the opposition party. True or False
24. The intention of the framers of the Constitution was to create a legislative institution designed to foster compromise, for the purpose of having the resulting legislation reflect the interests of many rather than one powerful faction. True or False
25. What the writers of the Constitution did not clearly anticipate was the degree to which members of Congress, out of self-interest and because of their local base, would cater to the demands of special interests. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is a bill in Congress? a) an amount of debt owed by a federal agency, b) the hard currency that’s printed by the Treasury, c) a formal request by the Finance Committee, d) a proposed legislative act.
2. Who can formally submit a bill for consideration by Congress? a) executive agencies, b) interest groups, c) outside parties, d) members of Congress.
3. What percent of the bills submitted to committees in Congress reach the floor? a) Less than 10%, b) About 15%, c) Slightly more than 18%, d) Less than 27%
4. Most bills die in committee because: a) members are unwilling to compromise their principles, b) most bills are too complicated for members to comprehend, c) they are either poorly conceived or of little interest other than to a few members, d) members in Congress feel that there are already too many laws on the books.
5. The authority to revise a proposed bill by a committee in Congress: a) mark up, b) adjust, c) rectify, d) designate.
6. In the House, the following powerful committee schedules the proposed legislation for consideration on the floor: a) Ways and Means, b) Rules, c) Authorizations, d) Appropriations.
7. The following prevents amendments on a bill when it is on the floor of the House: a) logrolling, b) report out, c) open rule, d) closed rule.
8. A procedural tactic whereby a minority of senators monopolize discussion; thus, preventing a bill from coming to a vote: a) legislative mandate, b) resolution, c) filibuster, d) hung legislature.
9. To end a filibuster in the Senate, requires how many votes? a) 45 votes, b) 60 votes, c) 70 votes, d) It is impossible to end a filibuster once started.
10. If a Senate filibuster is successfully defeated by achieving cloture, how many hours are left available to debate the proposed legislation? a) 24 hours, b) 30 hours, c) 45 hours, 72 hours.
11. In 2013, the filibuster was eliminated for Senate votes on: a) presidential nominees, b) legislation, c) confirmation of Supreme Court justices, d) resolutions.
12. An extraneous amendment that is not germane to the bill being considered on the floor of the Senate: a) rescission, b) authorization, c) addition, d) rider.
13. To become law, a bill must be passed in identical form by both the House and Senate by a: a) majority vote, b) two-thirds vote, c) three-fourths vote, d) three-fifths vote.
14. About what percent of the bills that pass both chambers differ in important respects from their House and Senate versions? a) 10 percent, b) 19 percent, c) 42 percent, d) 59 percent.
15. The following committee's primary purpose is to try and resolve the differences between the House version of a bill with its Senate counterpart: a) ad hoc committee, b) rules committee, c) concurrent committee, d) conference committee.
16. In the past century, what caused the rise of executive power and the weakening of congressional power? a) Historically, the U.S. has had many strong presidents since its founding, b) The Constitution was not interpreted properly in the beginning, c) Congress is a highly centralized, hierarchical institution that limited its ability to compete with the president, d) national and international forces combined to place greater policy demands on the federal government requiring a greater role for the president.
17. According to Patterson, what are Congress's three legislative functions? a) lawmaking, pork barrel, casework, b) lawmaking, investigating, oversight, c) lawmaking, representation, oversight, d) lawmaking, authorizations, appropriations.
18. How many House members does California have? a) 49, b) 53, c) 61, d) 72.
19. How many members are there in the House of Representatives? a) 237, b) 345, c) 435, d) 564.
20. Unlike Congress, why is the president better suited to assume a leadership role in many issue areas? a) because Congress's authority is divided, b) because the president's power is divided, c) because Congressional members are concerned with the public interest, d) because of the media.
21. The practice of trading one's vote with another member so that each gets what he or she wants in Congress: a) logrolling, b) quid pro quo, c) service strategy, d) casework.
22. What has been the positive aspect of the polarized nature of partisan politics that accentuates the differences between the two major parties? a) the voters now have a clearer choice, generating greater accountability, b) the voters are now better informed about the most important issues, c) the parties are more willing to compromise to achieve greater efficiency, d) there is a heightened sense of patriotism with both voters and their representatives feeling a need to compromise on important issues.
23. Why did the framers of our Constitution establish a system of divided government unlike the European model? a) to create greater efficiency and accountability, b) to foster compromise and cooperation, c) to give the voters a greater voice in legislative outcomes, d) to assure that special interest based politics would be prevented.
24. How many Americans had confidence in Congress according to a recent Pew Research Center poll? a) fewer than 1 in 2, b) fewer than 1 in 3, c) fewer than 1 in 4, d) fewer than 1 in 5.
25. The supervisory function of Congress that assumes the responsibility of trying to assure that the executive carries out the laws faithfully and spends the money properly: a) authorization, b) appropriations, c) legislation, d) oversight.
26. The right to withhold confidential information affecting national security: a) classified information, b) dual secrecy, c) executive privilege, d) internal security.
Fill-in Questions
1. The Rules Committee in the House exercises the following powers:
a) to determine _____ a bill will be voted on,
b) how _____ the debate on the bill will _____, and
c) whether the bill will receive a “_______ rule” or an “_____ rule.”
2. When are other members potentially less deferential to a committee’s support for a bill that it passed?
a) when the committee vote is ________ divided,
b) on ______ bills and
c) on those that affect their _____________.
3. What are the four possible options available to the president once a bill arrives at the oval office?
a) He can _____ it, and it becomes law.
b) He can ____ it, sending the bill back to the original chamber in Congress where it originated, requiring a ____-_______ vote of both houses of Congress to override.
c) If Congress is in session and he does ____ _____ it, after ten days (excluding weekends and holidays) it will become law
d) If he receives a bill within ten days that Congress has concluded its term, this results in a _______ _____.
4. The Constitutional powers of Congress are substantial and they include:
a) The power to ____,
b) to ______,
c) to regulate ________,
d) and to declare ____.
5. The following three agencies that assist the Congress in its lawmaking activities:
a) the ______________ _______ _______, which was created as part of the Budget Impoundment and Control Act of 1974 provides Congress with estimates of government expenditures and revenues, which Congress uses in determining fiscal policy.
b) the ________ ___________ _______, formed in 1921, its focus is overseeing whether executive agencies are complying with laws passed by Congress,
c) the ______________ ________ ________, the oldest congressional agency, is a non-partisan research and information service for congressional members and committees.
Answers
True/False Questions
1. False
3. True
5. True
7. True
9. False
11. True
13. True
15. False
17. True
19. True
21. True
23. True
25. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. d
3. a
5. a
7. d
9. b
11. a
13. a
15. d
17. c
19. c
21. a
23.b
25. d
Fill-in Questions
1. a) when, b) long, last, c) closed, open
3. a) sign, b) veto, two-thirds, c) not sign, d) pocket veto
5. a) Congressional Budget Office, b) Government Accountability Office, c) Congressional Research Service
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