2.2 Congress Knowledge Check

A member of the House of Representatives has introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage, but it has been in committee for 36 days and is unlikely to make it to the floor. Which of the following is the best course of action for the representative to take to get a vote on the bill?

• presenting a cloture motion

• Placing a hold on the bill

• Introducing a concurrent resolution

• Filling for a discharge petition

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the House of Representatives and the Senate?

• House only the Speaker of the House can initiate the legislative process by proposing bills and Senate only the majority leader can initiate the legislate process by proposing bills

• Members of the House can delay the policy-making process by invoking cloture and Senate members can delay the policy making process through the use of a filibuster

• Members of the House are elected by constituents in a local district based on population and members of the Senate are elected by constituents of the entire state

• House members serve six year terms and Senate members serve two year terms

When a bill passes the House and the Senate in different versions, the bill is resolved by which of the following types of committees?

• conference

• select

• reconciliation

• standing

A discharge peition is rarely used in the House of Represenatives because

• it is unconstitutional to use a discharge petition in the House of Representatives

• The House is too large for a discharge petition to be effective

• a two thirds majority is required to issue a discharge petition

• it is a challenge to majority leadership and informal rules of behavior

Based on the information on the line graph, which of the following is the most likely implication of entitlement and defense spending as a portion of the federal budget?

• Changes in entitlement spending put pressure on discretionary spending

• Discretionary spending levels are set by law and cannot be changed

• Congressional budget committees can ignore entitlement spending

• Democrats and republicans generally agree on increasing entitlement spending

WHich of the following is an accurate statement about the information in the line graph?

• Defense spending has consistently been a larger part of the federal budget than entitlement spending

• Entitlement spending has steadily become a larger portion of the federal budget

• Between 1980 and 2000, defense spending increased faster than entitlement spending

• In 2000 entitlement spending passed defense spending as a share of the federal budget

An example of discretionary item in the federal budget is

• interest on the public debt

• spending on national parks

• social security payments

• veterans' pensions

Which of the following actions by congressional representative is an example of "Pork Barreling"?

• Misusing campaign contributions

• Directing federal funds into the representative's district through legislation

• Accepting money form a Political Action Committee (PAC)

• voting for a salary increase