LANGUAGE PRACTICE AND COMPREHENSION CHECK

Terms and notions:

Standing committee –a committee that is established for ongoing business, that continues to exist from session to session, and that is usu. charged with considering business of a certain recurring kind.

Joint committees– a legislative committee composed of members of both Houses of a legislature

Legislative jurisdiction – a legislature’s general sphere of authority to enact laws and conduct all business related to that authority, such as holding hearings

TASK I USEFUL VOCABULARY

Sponsor n. – 1.a legislator who proposes a bill; 2. one who acts as a surety for another

Oversight– regulatory supervision (congressional oversight)

Task force – a temporary grouping under one leader for the purpose of accomplishing a definite objective Subject matter –matter presented for consideration in discussion, thought, or study

Sequentially adv. –in sequence

Respective – particular, separate (their respective homes)

Caucus – 1. representatives from a political party who assemble to nominate candidates and decide party police; 2. a meeting of a group, usu. within a deliberative assembly, of people aligned by party or interest to formulate a policy or strategy.

Contingent – likely but not certain to happen : possible, dependent on

Commencement n. – Syn.: beginning , start

Creed n. – 1 :a brief authoritative formula of religious belief; 2 : a set of fundamental beliefs; also : a guiding principle

Bipartisan – of, relating to, or involving members of two parties (a bipartisan commission)

Floor n. – a main level space (as in a stock exchange or legislative chamber) distinguished from a platform or gallery b : the members of an assembly (took questions from the floor) c : the right to address an assembly (the senator from Utah has the floor)

TASK II Complete sentences with suitable prepositions

1. Members who cosponsor a bill ………. its date of introduction are original cosponsors.

2. Occasionally, a Member may insert the words "……..request" after the Member's name.

3. A task force may be established formally ………. a resolution passed by the House

4. A Senator may use a more formal procedure by rising and introducing the bill or resolution …….the floor.

5. If any Senator objects ……. the introduction of a bill or resolution, the introduction of the bill or resolution is postponed until the next day.

6. If there is no objection, the bill is read …… title and referred …… the appropriate committee

7. The bill is then referred as required …. the rules of the House to the appropriate committee

8. . In total, the rules of the House and [rules] of the Senate each provide …….. over 200 different classifications of measures to be referred to committees.

9. Each committee's jurisdiction is divided into certain subject matters ……… the rules of each House and all measures affecting a particular area of the law are referred to the committee with jurisdiction ……. that particular subject matter.

10. Speaker may refer an introduced bill to multiple committees for consideration of those provisions of the bill …… the jurisdiction of each committee concerned.

11. Members rank …….seniority in accordance with the order of their appointment to the full committee

TASK III Insert the following verb forms into their proper contexts: require, obtain, serve, entered, placed, cosponsor, rising, apply, objects to, sign, submitted

1. An unlimited number of Members may ……… a bill.

2. Cosponsors are not required to ………the bill.

3. A Senator may use a more formal procedure by …….. and introducing the bill or resolution from the floor.

4. Frequently, Senators …….. consent to have the bill or resolution printed in the Congressional Record following their formal statement.

5. If any Senator ………. the introduction of a bill or resolution, the introduction of the bill or resolution is postponed until the next day.

6. The title is ……… in the Journal and printed in the Congressional Record, thus preserving the purpose of the custom.

7. The rules of the House ………that committee chairmen be elected from nominations ……...by the majority party caucus at the commencement of each Congress.

8. Minority staff requirements do not …….. to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

9. No Member of the House may …….. as chairman of the same standing committee or of the same subcommittee thereof for more than three consecutive Congresses.

10. A time limit is …… on an additional committee only when the primary committee has reported its version to the House.

TASK IV Complete the following statements:

1. To prevent the possibility that a bill might be introduced in the House on behalf of a Member without that Member's prior approval…

2. Occasionally, a Member may insert the words "by request" after the Member's name to indicate that … .

3. If any Senator objects to the introduction of a bill or resolution…. .

4. The House may also create select committees or task forces to … .

5. If any Senator objects to the introduction of a bill or resolution….

6. The rules of the House require that ….

7. The rules of the House prohibit a committee that maintains a subcommittee on oversight from ….

8. Two-thirds of the committee staff are… and one-third of the committee staff are….

9. Minority staff requirements do not apply to ….

10. If a Member ceases to be a Member of the party caucus….

TASK VInsert: bill, forth, out, amendments, approval, entitled, report, unless, filed, session, upon, indicates, matter, rule, committees, notice, departments, communications, law, accomplish

Reported Bills

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 403