A collection of pleasant, readable definitions of terms and processes in the United States. Designed for integration in various user-facing applications.
Ease of understanding is the #1 priority. Precision and completeness are #2.
Definitions are stored in text files, one per file. The name of the entry is the filename (no extension).
The first line is a short, single sentence definition. It should be possible to form a small, light glossary by using the first sentence of every entry.
A longer definition can follow, with paragraphs separated by two line breaks.
The longer definition can use links, but the text should hold up even if the links are stripped out. It should be possible to form a rich glossary using the full text of every entry, whether or not HTML is an option in the user's environment.
The words "Referred to Committee" are shown as the status of the vast majority of bills in the House and Senate, and it sounds important, but it usually means the bill is dead.
In file "Referred to Committee":
After a bill is introduced, it is immediately sent to one or more committees for consideration and approval.
Every bill is referred to a committee, but few bills actually receive committee attention, so most bills die here. It's up to each committee to vote on whether the bill should be considered by the whole chamber.
Almost every bill will need a committee's approval to be considered by the whole chamber. On rare occasions, a bill can bypass the committee process and be brought directly to the floor.
Bills are referred to committees by subject area. For example, a bill about wind energy investment in the House might be referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. If that bill involves taxes, it might also be referred to the House Appropriations Committee.
In the Senate, cloture votes are often practically equivalent to passage votes.
In file "Cloture":
Before a bill can proceed to a final up-or-down vote in the Senate, 60 senators must agree to end debate through a vote on "cloture".
Preventing the Senate from ending debate in order to avoid voting to pass a bill is often called a filibuster.
The 60-senator threshold for cloture votes is a Senate rule - it is not part of the Constitution. The Constitution mandates a majority vote for the passage of bills, but the Senate is allowed to set its own rules that govern the process of getting to that final vote.