Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 42 > Chapter 6A > Subchapter II - General Powers and Duties

• accredited laboratory: means a fastener testing facility used to perform end-of-line testing required by a consensus standard or standards to verify that a lot of fasteners conforms to the grade identification marking called for in the consensus standard or standards to which the lot of fasteners has been manufactured, and which&mdash. See 15 USC 5402
• adjusted age of housing: means the arithmetic product of the age of housing in the metropolitan city or urban county multiplied times the adjustment factor. See 42 USC 5302
• adjustment factor: means the ratio between the age of housing in the metropolitan city or urban county and the predicted age of housing in such city or county. See 42 USC 5302
• Administrator: means the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. See 42 USC 4121
• 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.
• age of housing: means the number of existing housing units constructed in 1939 or earlier based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time. See 42 USC 5302
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• applicant: means :

  (A) an educational institution. See 15 USC 5302

• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Balanced budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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).
• building: means any building or facility (other than (A) a privately owned residential structure not leased by the Government for subsidized housing programs and (B) any building or facility on a military installation designed and constructed primarily for use by able bodied military personnel) the intended use for which either will require that such building or facility be accessible to the public, or may result in the employment or residence therein of physically handicapped persons, which building or facility is&mdash. See 42 USC 4151
• Bureau: means the Bureau of the Census. See 13 USC 1
• Chairman: means the Chairman of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies. See 22 USC 262r
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• city: means (A) any unit of general local government which is classified as a municipality by the United States Bureau of the Census or (B) any other unit of general local government which is a town or township and which, in the determination of the Secretary, (i) possesses powers and performs functions comparable to these associated with municipalities, (ii) is closely settled, and (iii) contains within its boundaries no incorporated places as defined by the United States Bureau of the Census which have not entered into cooperation agreements with such town or township to undertake or to assist in the undertaking of essential community development and housing assistance activities. See 42 USC 5302
• Commission: means the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission. See 22 USC 290n-6
• 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.
• 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.
• consensus standard: means the provisions of a document that describes fastener characteristics published by a consensus standards organization or a Federal agency, and does not include a proprietary standard. See 15 USC 5402
• consensus standards organization: means the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American National Standards Institute, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the International Organization for Standardization, any other organization identified as a United States consensus standards organization or a foreign and international consensus standards organization in the Federal Register at 61 Fed. See 15 USC 5402
• Department: means the Department of State. See 22 USC 1433
• Department: means the Department of Energy. See 15 USC 5302
• Director: means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. See 15 USC 5402
• 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:
• distributor: means a person who purchases fasteners for the purpose of reselling them at wholesale to unaffiliated persons within the United States (an original equipment manufacturer and its dealers shall be considered affiliated persons for purposes of this chapter). See 15 USC 5402
• domestic company: means a company which is substantially involved in the United States domestic production, processing, or use of steel, aluminum, copper, or other metals and has a substantial percentage of its operations located within the United States. See 15 USC 5102
• educational institution: means a degree granting institution of at least a baccalaureate level. See 15 USC 5302
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program. ^{Source: OCC}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• executive department: means any executive department, agency, or independent establishment of the United States or any corporation wholly owned by the United States. See 42 USC 201
• extent of growth lag: means the number of persons who would have been residents in a metropolitan city or urban county, in excess of the current population of such metropolitan city or urban county, if such metropolitan city or urban county had had a population growth rate between 1960 and the date of the most recent population count referable to the same point or period in time equal to the population growth rate for such period of all metropolitan cities. See 42 USC 5302
• extent of housing overcrowding: means the number of housing units with 1. See 42 USC 5302
• extent of poverty: means the number of persons whose incomes are below the poverty level. See 42 USC 5302
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of United States statutes added as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Its purpose is to ensure ethical practices in the collection of consumer debts and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy. It is often used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. ^{Source: OCC}
• fastener: means a metallic screw, nut, bolt, or stud having internal or external threads, with a nominal diameter of 6 millimeters or greater, in the case of such items described in metric terms, or ¼. See 15 USC 5402
• fastener quality assurance system: means &mdash. See 15 USC 5402
• Federal agency lender: means a Federal agency that makes direct loans secured by improved real estate or a mobile home, to the extent such agency acts in such capacity. See 42 USC 4121
• 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 entity for lending regulation: means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Farm Credit Administration, and with respect to a particular regulated lending institution means the entity primarily responsible for the supervision of the institution. See 42 USC 4121
• Federal grant-in-aid program: means a program of Federal financial assistance other than loans and other than the assistance provided by this chapter. See 42 USC 5302
• 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}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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}
• 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
• Government agency: means any executive department, board, bureau, commission, or other agency of the Federal Government, or independent establishment, or any corporation wholly owned (either directly or through one or more corporations) by the United States. See 22 USC 1433
• grade identification marking: means any grade-mark or property class symbol appearing on a fastener purporting to indicate that the lot of fasteners conforms to a specific consensus standard, but such term does not include a manufacturer's insignia or part number. See 15 USC 5402
• 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.
• housing stock: means the number of existing housing units based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time. See 42 USC 5302
• importer: means a distributor located within the United States who contracts for the initial purchase of fasteners manufactured outside the United States. See 15 USC 5402
• improved real estate: means real estate upon which a building is located. See 42 USC 4121
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Indian tribe: means any Indian tribe, band, group, and nation, including Alaska Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos, and any Alaskan Native Village, of the United States, which is considered an eligible recipient under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Law 93-638) [25 U. See 42 USC 5302
• industry: means the industries identified by codes numbered 3321, 3322, 3324, 3325, 3363, 3364, 3365, 3366, and 3369, in the Standard Industrial Classification manual ¹ published by the Office of Management and Budget in 1987. See 15 USC 5302
• insular area: means each of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. See 42 USC 5302
• 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}
• Internet: means the international computer network of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable data networks. See 15 USC 5503
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• lot: means a quantity of fasteners of one part number fabricated by the same production process from the same coil or heat number of metal as provided by the metal manufacturer. See 15 USC 5402
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• manufacturer: means a person who fabricates fasteners for sale in commerce. See 15 USC 5402
• metropolitan area: means a standard metropolitan statistical area as established by the Office of Management and Budget. See 42 USC 5302
• metropolitan city: means (A) a city within a metropolitan area which is the central city of such area, as defined and used by the Office of Management and Budget, or (B) any other city, within a metropolitan area, which has a population of fifty thousand or more. See 42 USC 5302
• microenterprise: means a commercial enterprise that has 5 or fewer employees, 1 or more of whom owns the enterprise. See 42 USC 5302
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• multilateral development institutions: means the international financial institutions other than the International Monetary Fund. See 22 USC 262r
• narcotic: means opium and coca leaves and the several alkaloids derived therefrom, the best known of these alkaloids being morphia, heroin, and codeine, obtained from opium, and cocaine derived from the coca plant. See 42 USC 201
• 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}
• networking and information technology: means high-end computing, communications, and information technologies, high-capacity and high-speed networks, special purpose and experimental systems, high-end computing systems software and applications software, and the management of large data sets. See 15 USC 5503
• nonentitlement area: means an area which is not a metropolitan city or part of an urban county and does not include Indian tribes. See 42 USC 5302
• 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.
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Original bill: A bill which is drafted by a committee. It is introduced by the committee or subcommittee chairman after the committee votes to report it.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• person: includes any individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organized group of persons, including State and local governments and agencies thereof. See 42 USC 4121
• persons of moderate income: means families and individuals whose incomes exceed 50 percent, but do not exceed 80 percent, of the median income of the area involved, as determined by the Secretary with adjustments for smaller and larger families. See 42 USC 5302
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• population: means total resident population based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time. See 42 USC 5302
• 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.
• predicted age of housing: means the arithmetic product of the housing stock in the metropolitan city or urban county multiplied times the ratio between the age of housing in all metropolitan areas and the housing stock in all metropolitan areas. See 42 USC 5302
• 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.
• Program: means the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program described in section 5511 of this title. See 15 USC 5503
• proprietary standard: means the provisions of a document that describes characteristics of a screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load-indicating washer and is issued by a person who&mdash. See 15 USC 5402
• 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.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• record of conformance: means a record or records for each lot of fasteners sold or offered for sale that contains&mdash. See 15 USC 5402
• 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}
• regulated lending institution: means any bank, savings and loan association, credit union, farm credit bank, Federal land bank association, production credit association, or similar institution subject to the supervision of a Federal entity for lending regulation. See 42 USC 4121
• 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.
• represent: means to describe one or more of a fastener's purported characteristics in a document or statement that is transmitted to a purchaser through any medium. See 15 USC 5402
• 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.
• research plan: means the Steel Initiative Research Plan issued in April 1988 by the Department of Energy, and updates to that plan. See 15 USC 5102
• respondent: includes a corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, proprietorship, society, joint stock company, individual, or other organization or entity which reported information, or on behalf of which information was reported, in response to a questionnaire, inquiry, or other request of the Bureau. See 13 USC 1
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See 22 USC 290n-6
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. See 42 USC 5302
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Commerce. See 13 USC 1
• Secretary: means the Secretary of State. See 22 USC 1433
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Energy. See 15 USC 5102
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Energy. See 15 USC 5302
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Commerce. See 15 USC 5402
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See 42 USC 201
• Service: means the Public Health Service. See 42 USC 201
• 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.
• small business: means a business that meets the criteria set forth in section 632(a) of title 15. See 42 USC 5302
• specifications: means the required characteristics identified in the contractual agreement with the manufacturer or to which a fastener is otherwise produced, except that the term does not include proprietary standards. See 15 USC 5402
• State: means any State of the United States, or any instrumentality thereof approved by the Governor. See 42 USC 5302
• State: includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the territories and possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. See 42 USC 4121
• 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.
• 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
• Surgeon General: means the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. See 42 USC 201
• temporary: shall be construed to mean not in excess of one year, or not in excess of the specific period during which appropriations are available for the conduct of a particular census, whichever is longer. See 13 USC 24
• 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.
• 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.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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}
• unit of general local government: means any city, county, town, township, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State. See 42 USC 5302
• United States-Mexico Border Area: means the area located in the United States and Mexico within 100 kilometers of the border between the United States and Mexico. See 22 USC 290n-6
• urban county: means any county within a metropolitan area which&mdash. See 42 USC 5302
• vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water, exclusive of aircraft and amphibious contrivances. See 42 USC 201
• whoever: include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals. See 1 USC 1
• 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.