Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 3 > Chapter 2 - Office and Compensation of President

• Adjournment sine die: The end of a legislative session "without day." These adjournments are used to indicate the final adjournment of an annual or the two-year session of legislature.
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Advisory board: means a board, whether elected or appointed, which is distinct from the board of directors or board of trustees, of an investment company, and which is composed solely of persons who do not serve such company in any other capacity, whether or not the functions of such board are such as to render its members "directors" within the definition of that term, which board has advisory functions as to investments but has no power to determine that any security or other investment shall be purchased or sold by such company. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affiliated company: means a company which is an affiliated person. See 15 USC 80a-2
• agency: has the meaning given that term in section 551(1) of title 5. See 2 USC 1602
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Alternate valuation date: The earlier of the date six months after the decedent
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• AMT: means the Alternative Minimum Tax for individuals under sections 55-59 of title 26, the term "EGTRRA" means the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-16), and the term "JGTRRA" means the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief and ¹ Reconciliation Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-27). See 2 USC 932
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• application for qualification: means the application provided for in section 77eee of this title or section 77ggg of this title, and includes any amendment thereto and any report, document, or memorandum accompanying such application or incorporated therein by reference. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assignment: includes any direct or indirect transfer or hypothecation of a contract or chose in action by the assignor, or of a controlling block of the assignor's outstanding voting securities by a security holder of the assignor. See 15 USC 80a-2
• association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Balanced budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
• Bank: means (A) a depository institution (as defined in section 1813 of title 12) or a branch or agency of a foreign bank (as such terms are defined in section 3101 of title 12), (B) a member bank of the Federal Reserve System, (C) any other banking institution or trust company, whether incorporated or not, doing business under the laws of any State or of the United States, a substantial portion of the business of which consists of receiving deposits or exercising fiduciary powers similar to those permitted to national banks under the authority of the Comptroller of the Currency, and which is supervised and examined by State or Federal authority having supervision over banks, and which is not operated for the purpose of evading the provisions of this subchapter, and (D) a receiver, conservator, or other liquidating agent of any institution or firm included in clauses (A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Bankruptcy Act: means the Bankruptcy Act or title 11. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• BBEDCA: means the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. See 2 USC 932
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• borrow: includes a sale coupled with a similar agreement. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Budget authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).
• budgetary effects: means the amount by which PAYGO legislation changes outlays flowing from direct spending or revenues relative to the baseline and shall be determined on the basis of estimates prepared under section 933 of this title. See 2 USC 932
• Business development company: means any closed-end company which&mdash. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Calendar of Business: A Senate publication sent to each lawmaker's office (and other offices) every day the Senate is in session. It contains information on, for instance, measures reported from the various standing committees, bills in conference, and the status of appropriation bills.
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• charitable lead trust: means a trust described in section 170(f)(2)(B), 2055(e)(2)(B), or 2522(c)(2)(B) of title 26. See 15 USC 80a-3
• charitable organization: means an organization described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 170(c) or section 501(c)(3) of title 26. See 15 USC 80a-3
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Circumstantial evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• client: means any person or entity that employs or retains another person for financial or other compensation to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of that person or entity. See 2 USC 1602
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• Commission: means the Securities and Exchange Commission. See 15 USC 77b
• Commission: means the Securities and Exchange Commission. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Commission: means the Securities and Exchange Commission. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. See 26 USC 7701
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Company: means a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a trust, a fund, or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Conference committee: A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of conferees from both chamber of a legislature which is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation.
• Conference report: The compromise product negotiated by the conference committee. The "conference report" is submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval.
• Congressional Record: The substantially verbatim account of daily proceedings in Congress. It is printed for each day Congress is in session. At the back of each daily issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Control: means the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a company, unless such power is solely the result of an official position with such company. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Convicted: includes a verdict, judgment, or plea of guilty, or a finding of guilt on a plea of nolo contendere, if such verdict, judgment, plea, or finding has not been reversed, set aside, or withdrawn, whether or not sentence has been imposed. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• cooperative bank: means an institution without capital stock organized and operated for mutual purposes and without profit, which&mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• corporation: includes associations, joint-stock companies, and insurance companies. See 26 USC 7701
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
• covered employee: means any employee of an employing office. See 3 USC 401
• covered executive branch official: means &mdash. See 2 USC 1602
• covered legislative branch official: means &mdash. See 2 USC 1602
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Cross examine: Questioning of a witness by the attorney for the other side.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• dealer: means any person who engages either for all or part of his time, directly or indirectly, as agent, broker, or principal, in the business of offering, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing or trading in securities issued by another person. See 15 USC 77b
• debit: refers to the net total amount, when positive, by which costs recorded on the PAYGO scorecards for a fiscal year exceed savings recorded on those scorecards for that year. See 2 USC 932
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• director: means any director of a corporation, or any individual performing similar functions with respect to any organization whether incorporated or unincorporated. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Director: means any director of a corporation or any person performing similar functions with respect to any organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, including any natural person who is a member of a board of trustees of a management company created as a common-law trust. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• domestic: when applied to a corporation or partnership means created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State unless, in the case of a partnership, the Secretary provides otherwise by regulations. See 26 USC 7701
• domestic building and loan association: means a domestic building and loan association, a domestic savings and loan association, and a Federal savings and loan association&mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• election day: means the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President held in each State, except, in the case of a State that appoints electors by popular vote, if the State modifies the period of voting, as necessitated by force majeure events that are extraordinary and catastrophic, as provided under laws of the State enacted prior to such day, "election day" shall include the modified period of voting. See 3 USC 21
• Eligible portfolio company: means any issuer which&mdash. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• employee: includes an applicant for employment and a former employee. See 3 USC 401
• employee: means any individual who is an officer, employee, partner, director, or proprietor of a person or entity, but does not include&mdash. See 2 USC 1602
• employee: shall include a full-time life insurance salesman who is considered an employee for the purpose of chapter 21. See 26 USC 7701
• employing office: means &mdash. See 3 USC 401
• enrolled actuary: means a person who is enrolled by the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries established under subtitle C of the title III of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. See 26 USC 7701
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Exchange: means any organization, association, or group of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, which constitutes, maintains, or provides a market place or facilities for bringing together purchasers and sellers of securities or for otherwise performing with respect to securities the functions commonly performed by a stock exchange as that term is generally understood, and includes the market place and the market facilities maintained by such exchange. See 15 USC 80a-2
• exchanged basis property: means property having a basis determined under any provision of subtitle A (or under any corresponding provision of prior income tax law) providing that the basis shall be determined in whole or in part by reference to other property held at any time by the person for whom the basis is to be determined. See 26 USC 7701
• executive: means , with respect to any State, the Governor of the State (or, in the case of the District of Columbia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia), except when the laws or constitution of a State in effect as of election day expressly require a different State executive to perform the duties identified under this chapter. See 3 USC 21
• executive officer: means the president, every vice president, every trust officer, the cashier, the secretary, and the treasurer of a corporation, and any individual customarily performing similar functions with respect to any organization whether incorporated or unincorporated, but shall not include the chairman of the board of directors. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Face-amount certificate: means any certificate, investment contract, or other security which represents an obligation on the part of its issuer to pay a stated or determinable sum or sums at a fixed or determinable date or dates more than twenty-four months after the date of issuance, in consideration of the payment of periodic installments of a stated or determinable amount (which security shall be known as a face-amount certificate of the "installment type"). See 15 USC 80a-2
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• fiduciary: means a guardian, trustee, executor, administrator, receiver, conservator, or any person acting in any fiduciary capacity for any person. See 26 USC 7701
• fiscal year: means an accounting period of 12 months ending on the last day of any month other than December. See 26 USC 7701
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• foreign: when applied to a corporation or partnership means a corporation or partnership which is not domestic. See 26 USC 7701
• foreign entity: means a foreign principal (as defined in section 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U. See 2 USC 1602
• foreign estate: means an estate the income of which, from sources without the United States which is not effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States, is not includible in gross income under subtitle A. See 26 USC 7701
• Foreign financial regulatory authority: means any (A) foreign securities authority, (B) other governmental body or foreign equivalent of a self-regulatory organization empowered by a foreign government to administer or enforce its laws relating to the regulation of fiduciaries, trusts, commercial lending, insurance, trading in contracts of sale of a commodity for future delivery, or other instruments traded on or subject to the rules of a contract market, board of trade or foreign equivalent, or other financial activities, or (C) membership organization a function of which is to regulate the participation of its members in activities listed above. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Foreign securities authority: means any foreign government or any governmental body or regulatory organization empowered by a foreign government to administer or enforce its laws as they relate to securities matters. See 15 USC 80a-2
• foreign trust: means any trust other than a trust described in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (30). See 26 USC 7701
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Gross estate: The total fair market value of all property and property interests, real and personal, tangible and intangible, of which a decedent had beneficial ownership at the time of death before subtractions for deductions, debts, administrative expenses, and casualty losses suffered during estate administration.
• group: include any committee, subgroup, or representative of such entities. See 15 USC 77s
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• including: when used in a definition contained in this title shall not be deemed to exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term defined. See 26 USC 7701
• indenture: means any mortgage, deed of trust, trust or other indenture, or similar instrument or agreement (including any supplement or amendment to any of the foregoing), under which securities are outstanding or are to be issued, whether or not any property, real or personal, is, or is to be, pledged, mortgaged, assigned, or conveyed thereunder. See 15 USC 77ccc
• indenture security: means any security issued or issuable under the indenture to be qualified. See 15 USC 77ccc
• indenture to be qualified: means (A) the indenture under which there has been or is to be issued a security in respect of which a particular registration statement has been filed, or (B) the indenture in respect of which a particular application has been filed. See 15 USC 77ccc
• indenture trustee: means each trustee under the indenture to be qualified, and each successor trustee. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Indian tribal government: means the governing body of any tribe, band, community, village, or group of Indians, or (if applicable) Alaska Natives, which is determined by the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, to exercise governmental functions. See 26 USC 7701
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
• individual retirement plan: means &mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurance company: means a company which is organized as an insurance company, whose primary and predominant business activity is the writing of insurance or the reinsuring of risks underwritten by insurance companies, and which is subject to supervision by the insurance commissioner or a similar official or agency of a State. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• international organization: means a public international organization entitled to enjoy privileges, exemptions, and immunities as an international organization under the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U. See 26 USC 7701
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• interstate commerce: means trade or commerce in securities or any transportation or communication relating thereto among the several States or between the District of Columbia or any Territory of the United States and any State or other Territory, or between any foreign country and any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or within the District of Columbia. See 15 USC 77b
• Interstate commerce: means trade, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between any foreign country and any State, or between any State and any place or ship outside thereof. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Investment banker: means any person engaged in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, but does not include an investment company, any person who acts as an underwriter in isolated transactions but not as a part of a regular business, or any person solely by reason of the fact that such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. See 15 USC 80a-2
• investment company: means any issuer which&mdash. See 15 USC 80a-3
• investment securities: includes all securities except (A) Government securities, (B) securities issued by employees' securities companies, and (C) securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries of the owner which (i) are not investment companies, and (ii) are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company in paragraph (1) or (7) of subsection (c). See 15 USC 80a-3
• issuer: means every person who issues or proposes to issue any security. See 15 USC 77b
• Issuer: means every person who issues or proposes to issue any security, or has outstanding any security which it has issued. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• joint return: means a single return made jointly under section 6013 by a husband and wife. See 26 USC 7701
• Joint session: When both chambers of a legislature adopt a concurrent resolution to meet together.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• levy: includes the power of distraint and seizure by any means. See 26 USC 7701
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• lobbying activities: means lobbying contacts and efforts in support of such contacts, including preparation and planning activities, research and other background work that is intended, at the time it is performed, for use in contacts, and coordination with the lobbying activities of others. See 2 USC 1602
• lobbying contact: means any oral or written communication (including an electronic communication) to a covered executive branch official or a covered legislative branch official that is made on behalf of a client with regard to&mdash. See 2 USC 1602
• lobbying firm: means a person or entity that has 1 or more employees who are lobbyists on behalf of a client other than that person or entity. See 2 USC 1602
• lobbyist: means any individual who is employed or retained by a client for financial or other compensation for services that include more than one lobbying contact, other than an individual whose lobbying activities constitute less than 20 percent of the time engaged in the services provided by such individual to that client over a 3-month period. See 2 USC 1602
• Magistrate judges: Judicial officers who assist U.S. district judges in getting cases ready for trial, who may decide some criminal and civil trials when both parties agree to have the case heard by a magistrate judge instead of a judge.
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Majority whip: See Whips.
• Mandatory spending: Spending (budget authority and outlays) controlled by laws other than annual appropriations acts.
• market intermediary: means any person that regularly holds itself out as being willing contemporaneously to engage in, and that is regularly engaged in, the business of entering into transactions on both sides of the market for a financial contract or one or more such financial contracts. See 15 USC 80a-3
• Means or instrumentality of interstate commerce: includes any facility of a national securities exchange. See 15 USC 80a-2
• media organization: means a person or entity engaged in disseminating information to the general public through a newspaper, magazine, other publication, radio, television, cable television, or other medium of mass communication. See 2 USC 1602
• Member of Congress: means a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. See 2 USC 1602
• member of the immediate family: means any parent, spouse of a parent, child, spouse of a child, spouse, brother, or sister, and includes step and adoptive relationships. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Minority whip: See Whips.
• modifications to substantive law: refers to changes to or restrictions on entitlement law or other mandatory spending contained in appropriations Acts, notwithstanding section 250(c)(8) of BBEDCA [2 U. See 2 USC 932
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• National securities exchange: means an exchange registered under section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [15 U. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• nonrecognition transaction: means any disposition of property in a transaction in which gain or loss is not recognized in whole or in part for purposes of subtitle A. See 26 USC 7701
• oath: includes affirmation, and "sworn" includes affirmed. See 1 USC 1
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• obligor: when used with respect to any such indenture security, means every person (including a guarantor) who is liable thereon, and, if such security is a certificate of interest or participation, such term means also every person (including a guarantor) who is liable upon the security or securities in which such certificate evidences an interest or participation. See 15 USC 77ccc
• offer: shall include every attempt or offer to dispose of, or solicitation of an offer to buy, a security or interest in a security, for value. See 15 USC 77b
• offer: shall include all transactions included in such terms as provided in paragraph (3) of section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U. See 15 USC 77ccc
• offer for sale: includes every contract of sale or disposition of, attempt or offer to dispose of, or solicitation of an offer to buy, a security or interest in a security, for value. See 15 USC 80a-2
• officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
• organization: means a person or entity other than an individual. See 2 USC 1602
• Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
• outyear: means a fiscal year one or more years after the budget year. See 2 USC 932
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• paid or accrued: shall be construed according to the method of accounting upon the basis of which the taxable income is computed under subtitle A. See 26 USC 7701
• Parliamentarian: The Parliamentarian is an advisor on the interpretation of legislative rules and procedures.
• partner: includes a member in such a syndicate, group, pool, joint venture, or organization. See 26 USC 7701
• partnership: includes a syndicate, group, pool, joint venture, or other unincorporated organization, through or by means of which any business, financial operation, or venture is carried on, and which is not, within the meaning of this title, a trust or estate or a corporation. See 26 USC 7701
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• PAYGO Act: refers to a bill or joint resolution that affects direct spending or revenue relative to the baseline. See 2 USC 932
• paying agent: when used with respect to any such indenture security, means any person authorized by an obligor thereon (A) to pay the principal of or interest on such security on behalf of such obligor, or (B) if such security is a certificate of interest or participation, equipment trust certificate, or like security, to make such payment on behalf of the trustee. See 15 USC 77ccc
• performance: may be construed to mean "exercise". See 3 USC 303
• Periodic payment plan certificate: means (A) any certificate, investment contract, or other security providing for a series of periodic payments by the holder, and representing an undivided interest in certain specified securities or in a unit or fund of securities purchased wholly or partly with the proceeds of such payments, and (B) any security the issuer of which is also issuing securities of the character described in clause (A) of this paragraph and the holder of which has substantially the same rights and privileges as those which holders of securities of the character described in said clause (A) have upon completing the periodic payments for which such securities provide. See 15 USC 80a-2
• person: means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a trust, any unincorporated organization, or a government or political subdivision thereof. See 15 USC 77b
• person: shall be construed to mean and include an individual, a trust, estate, partnership, association, company or corporation. See 26 USC 7701
• Person: means a natural person or a company. See 15 USC 80a-2
• person or entity: means any individual, corporation, company, foundation, association, labor organization, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, group of organizations, or State or local government. See 2 USC 1602
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Point of order: A claim made by a legislator from the floor that a rule of the legislature is being violated. If the Chair sustains the point of order, the action in violation of the rule is not permitted.
• possession: includes , among other possessions, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. See 42 USC 201
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• prospectus: means any prospectus, notice, circular, advertisement, letter, or communication, written or by radio or television, which offers any security for sale or confirms the sale of any security. See 15 USC 77b
• prospectus: means a prospectus as defined in the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• public official: means any elected official, appointed official, or employee of&mdash. See 2 USC 1602
• Qualified purchaser: means &mdash. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Ranking minority member: The highest ranking (and usually longest serving) minority member of a committee or subcommittee.
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act: Federal law that, among other things, requires lenders to provide "good faith" estimates of settlement costs and make other disclosures regarding the mortgage loan. RESPA also limits the amount of funds held in escrow for real estate taxes and insurance. ^{Source: OCC}
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Redeemable security: means any security, other than short-term paper, under the terms of which the holder, upon its presentation to the issuer or to a person designated by the issuer, is entitled (whether absolutely or only out of surplus) to receive approximately his proportionate share of the issuer's current net assets, or the cash equivalent thereof. See 15 USC 80a-2
• registration statement: means the statement provided for in section 77f of this title, and includes any amendment thereto and any report, document, or memorandum filed as part of such statement or incorporated therein by reference. See 15 USC 77b
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Reorganization: means (A) a reorganization under the supervision of a court of competent jurisdiction. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• Revolving credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or open-end credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• sales load: includes the sales load on any investment company securities in which the payments made on such certificate are invested, as well as the sales load on the certificate itself. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Savings and loan association: means a savings and loan association, building and loan association, cooperative bank, homestead association, or similar institution, which is supervised and examined by State or Federal authority having supervision over any such institution, and a receiver, conservator, or other liquidating agent of any such institution. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate. See 26 USC 7701
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See 42 USC 201
• Secretary of the Treasury: means the Secretary of the Treasury, personally, and shall not include any delegate of his. See 26 USC 7701
• security: means any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement, collateral-trust certificate, preorganization certificate or subscription, transferable share, investment contract, voting-trust certificate, certificate of deposit for a security, fractional undivided interest in oil, gas, or other mineral rights, any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security, certificate of deposit, or group or index of securities (including any interest therein or based on the value thereof), or any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege entered into on a national securities exchange relating to foreign currency, or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a "security" or any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the foregoing. See 15 USC 77b
• Security: means any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement, collateral-trust certificate, preorganization certificate or subscription, transferable share, investment contract, voting-trust certificate, certificate of deposit for a security, fractional undivided interest in oil, gas, or other mineral rights, any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security (including a certificate of deposit) or on any group or index of securities (including any interest therein or based on the value thereof), or any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege entered into on a national securities exchange relating to foreign currency, or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a "security" or any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the foregoing. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Separate account: means an account established and maintained by an insurance company pursuant to the laws of any State or territory of the United States, or of Canada or any province thereof, under which income, gains and losses, whether or not realized, from assets allocated to such account, are, in accordance with the applicable contract, credited to or charged against such account without regard to other income, gains, or losses of the insurance company. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Sequester: To separate. Sometimes juries are sequestered from outside influences during their deliberations.
• Service: means the Public Health Service. See 42 USC 201
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• shareholder: includes a member in an association, joint-stock company, or insurance company. See 26 USC 7701
• Short-term paper: means any note, draft, bill of exchange, or banker's acceptance payable on demand or having a maturity at the time of issuance of not exceeding nine months, exclusive of days of grace, or any renewal thereof payable on demand or having a maturity likewise limited. See 15 USC 80a-2
• State: shall be construed to include the District of Columbia, where such construction is necessary to carry out provisions of this title. See 26 USC 7701
• State: means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. See 2 USC 1602
• State: includes the District of Columbia. See 3 USC 21
• State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
• State: means any State of the United States. See 15 USC 77ccc
• State: means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or any other possession of the United States. See 15 USC 80a-2
• State: includes , in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. See 42 USC 201
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• stock: includes shares in an association, joint-stock company, or insurance company. See 26 USC 7701
• storage facility: means a facility which uses energy storage technology within the meaning of section 48(c)(6). See 26 USC 7701
• student: means any individual&mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• subscription: includes a mark when the person making the same intended it as such. See 1 USC 1
• substituted basis property: means property which is&mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplemental appropriation: Budget authority provided in an appropriations act in addition to regular or continuing appropriations already provided. Supplemental appropriations generally are made to cover emergencies, such as disaster relief, or other needs deemed too urgent to be postponed until the enactment of next year's regular appropriations act.
• Tax Court: means the United States Tax Court. See 26 USC 7701
• taxable year: means the calendar year, or the fiscal year ending during such calendar year, upon the basis of which the taxable income is computed under subtitle A. See 26 USC 7701
• taxpayer: means any person subject to any internal revenue tax. See 26 USC 7701
• Territory: means Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the insular possessions of the United States. See 15 USC 77b
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• TIN: means the identifying number assigned to a person under section 6109. See 26 USC 7701
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• trade or business: includes the performance of the functions of a public office. See 26 USC 7701
• transaction: includes a series of transactions. See 26 USC 7701
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• transferred basis property: means property having a basis determined under any provision of subtitle A (or under any corresponding provision of prior income tax law) providing that the basis shall be determined in whole or in part by reference to the basis in the hands of the donor, grantor, or other transferor. See 26 USC 7701
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• trust: shall include only a trust where the interest or interests of the beneficiary or beneficiaries are evidenced by a security. See 15 USC 77b
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on ^{Source: OCC}
• underwriter: means any person who has purchased from an issuer with a view to, or offers or sells for an issuer in connection with, the distribution of any security, or participates or has a direct or indirect participation in any such undertaking, or participates or has a participation in the direct or indirect underwriting of any such undertaking. See 15 USC 77b
• underwriter: means any person who has purchased from an issuer with a view to, or offers or sells for an issuer in connection with, the distribution of any security, or participates or has a direct or indirect participation in any such undertaking, or participates or has a participation in the direct or indirect underwriting of any such undertaking. See 15 USC 77ccc
• Underwriter: means any person who has purchased from an issuer with a view to, or sells for an issuer in connection with, the distribution of any security, or participates or has a direct or indirect participation in any such undertaking, or participates or has a participation in the direct or indirect underwriting of any such undertaking. See 15 USC 80a-2
• United States: when used in a geographical sense includes only the States and the District of Columbia. See 26 USC 7701
• United States person: means &mdash. See 26 USC 7701
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
• vehicle: includes every description of carriage or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on land. See 1 USC 4
• venture capital fund: has the meaning given the term in section 275. See 15 USC 80a-3
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. See 1 USC 3
• Voting security: means any security presently entitling the owner or holder thereof to vote for the election of directors of a company. See 15 USC 80a-2
• Whips: Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences. The Majority and Minority Whips (and their assistants) are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues. In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader.
• whoever: include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals. See 1 USC 1
• withholding agent: means any person required to deduct and withhold any tax under the provisions of section 1441, 1442, 1443, or 1461. See 26 USC 7701
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
• writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1
• written: shall include printed, lithographed, or any means of graphic communication. See 15 USC 77b