Rank or Ranking – A member’s position on the list of his party’s members on a committee or subcommittee. When first assigned to a committee, a member is placed at the bottom of the list, then moves up as those above leave the committee. On subcommittees, however, a member’s rank may not have anything to do with the length of his/her service on it.
Ranking Member – Member of a committee who has more seniority on the committee than any other member of his/her party. Usually refers to the most senior minority party member.
Ranking Minority Member – The member whose name appears at the head of the list of minority members on a committee or subcommittee. The ranking minority member usually appoints the minority staff, acts as minority floor manager on committee measures, and recommends minority members for appointment as conferees on such measures.
Reappropriation – Congressional action that permits all or part of the un-obligated portion of an appropriation that has expired, or would otherwise expire, to remain available for obligation for the same or different purposes.
Recommittal – Sending a bill back to the committee which reported it for consideration.
Reconciliation – The process used by Congress to amend tax and entitlement programs to meet the instructions in the budget resolution.
Recorded Vote – Generally, a vote in which members are recorded by name for or against a measure. Also is called a record vote or a roll-call vote.
Redistricting – The redrawing of congressional district boundaries within a state after a decennial census.
Referral – The assignment of a measure to one or more committees for consideration.
Representative – An elected and duly sworn member of the House of Representatives who is entitled to vote in the chamber. The Constitution requires that a representative be at least twenty-five years old, a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, and an inhabitant of the state from which he or she is elected. Customarily, the representative resides in the district her or she represents. Representatives are elected in even-numbered years to two-year terms that begin the following January.
Rescission – An item in an appropriation bill canceling funds previously appropriated but not spent. Also, it is the repeal of a previous appropriation by the President to cut spending, if approved by Congress under procedures in the Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
Report – Both a verb and a noun, as a congressional term. A committee that has been examining a bill referred to it by the parent chamber “reports” its findings and recommendations to the chamber when the committee returns the measure. The process is called “reporting” a bill. A “report” is the document setting forth the committee’s explanation of its action.
Resolution – Expresses the will of the legislature or of either house, but does not have the scope or authority of law.
Revenue Legislation – Measures that levy new taxes or tariffs or change existing ones.
Revolving Fund – A trust fund or account whose income remains available to finance its continuing operations without any fiscal year limitation.
Rider – An amendment proposing substantive legislation attached to another bill.