Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 2 > Chapter 61 > Subchapter I - General

• 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.
• 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.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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.
• 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}
• Board: means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See 7 USC 1a
• board of trade: means any organized exchange or other trading facility. See 7 USC 1a
• commerce: means commerce between any State or the District of Columbia and any place outside thereof, or between points within the same State or the District of Columbia but through any place outside thereof, or within the District of Columbia. See 7 USC 62
• Commission: means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission established under section 2(a)(2) of this title. See 7 USC 1a
• commodity: means wheat, cotton, rice, corn, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed, grain sorghums, mill feeds, butter, eggs, Solanum tuberosum (Irish potatoes), wool, wool tops, fats and oils (including lard, tallow, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, and all other fats and oils), cottonseed meal, cottonseed, peanuts, soybeans, soybean meal, livestock, livestock products, and frozen concentrated orange juice, and all other goods and articles, except onions (as provided by section 13-1 of this title) and motion picture box office receipts (or any index, measure, value, or data related to such receipts), and all services, rights, and interests (except motion picture box office receipts, or any index, measure, value or data related to such receipts) in which contracts for future delivery are presently or in the future dealt in. See 7 USC 1a
• commodity pool: means any investment trust, syndicate, or similar form of enterprise operated for the purpose of trading in commodity interests, including any&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contract of sale: includes sales, agreements of sale, and agreements to sell. See 7 USC 1a
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• cotton: means cotton of any variety produced within the continental United States, including linters. See 7 USC 62
• county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department of Agriculture: means the United States Department of Agriculture. See 7 USC 75
• 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.
• derivatives clearing organization: means a clearinghouse, clearing association, clearing corporation, or similar entity, facility, system, or organization that, with respect to an agreement, contract, or transaction&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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}
• export elevator: means any grain elevator, warehouse, or other storage or handling facility in the United States as determined by the Secretary, from which grain is shipped from the United States to an area outside thereof. See 7 USC 75
• export grain: means grain for shipment from the United States to any place outside thereof. See 7 USC 75
• export port location: means a commonly recognized port of export in the United States or Canada, as determined by the Secretary, from which grain produced in the United States is shipped to any place outside the United States. See 7 USC 75
• 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 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.
• floor broker: means any person&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• foreign futures authority: means any foreign government, or any department, agency, governmental body, or regulatory organization empowered by a foreign government to administer or enforce a law, rule, or regulation as it relates to a futures or options matter, or any department or agency of a political subdivision of a foreign government empowered to administer or enforce a law, rule, or regulation as it relates to a futures or options matter. See 7 USC 1a
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• futures commission merchant: means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, or trust&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• 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
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• grain: means corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, flaxseed, sorghum, soybeans, mixed grain, and any other food grains, feed grains, and oilseeds for which standards are established under section 76 of this title. See 7 USC 75
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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.
• hybrid instrument: means a security having one or more payments indexed to the value, level, or rate of, or providing for the delivery of, one or more commodities. See 7 USC 1a
• 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}
• interested person: means any person having a contract or other financial interest in grain as the owner, seller, purchaser, warehouseman, or carrier, or otherwise. See 7 USC 75
• interstate commerce: means commerce&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• interstate or foreign commerce: means commerce from any State to or through any other State, or to or through any foreign country. See 7 USC 75
• intracompany shipment: means the shipment, within the United States, of grain lots between facilities owned or controlled by the person owning the grain. See 7 USC 75
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• lot: means a specific quantity of grain identified as such. See 7 USC 75
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Majority whip: See Whips.
• member: means , with respect to a registered entity or derivatives transaction execution facility, an individual, association, partnership, corporation, or trust&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Minority whip: See Whips.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation, and "sworn" includes affirmed. See 1 USC 1
• 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.
• officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
• official agency: means any State or local governmental agency, or any person, designated by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (f) of section 79 of this title for the conduct of official inspection (other than appeal inspection), or subsection (c) of section 79a of this title for the conduct of official weighing or supervision of weighing (other than appeal weighing). See 7 USC 75
• official grade designation: means a numerical or sample grade designation, specified in the standards relating to kind, class, quality, and condition of grain, provided for in this chapter. See 7 USC 75
• official inspection: means the determination (by original inspection, and when requested, reinspection and appeal inspection) and the certification, by official inspection personnel of the kind, class, quality, or condition of grain, under standards provided for in this chapter, or the condition of vessels and other carriers or receptacles for the transportation of grain insofar as it may affect the quality or condition of such grain. See 7 USC 75
• official inspection personnel: means persons licensed or otherwise authorized by the Secretary pursuant to section 84 of this title to perform all or specified functions involved in official inspection, official weighing, or supervision of weighing, or in the supervision of official inspection, official weighing or supervision of weighing. See 7 USC 75
• official mark: means any symbol prescribed by regulations of the Secretary to show the official determination of official inspection or official weighing. See 7 USC 75
• official sample: means a sample obtained from a lot of grain by, and submitted for official inspection by, official inspection personnel (the term "official sampling" shall be construed accordingly). See 7 USC 75
• official sampling: shall be construed accordingly). See 7 USC 75
• official weighing: means the determination and certification by official inspection personnel of the quantity of a lot of grain under standards provided for in this chapter, based on the actual performance of weighing or the physical supervision thereof, including the physical inspection and testing for accuracy of the weights and scales and the physical inspection of the premises at which the weighing is performed and the monitoring of the discharge of grain into the elevator or conveyance (the terms "officially weigh" and "officially weighed" shall be construed accordingly). See 7 USC 75
• officially inspected: shall be construed accordingly). See 7 USC 75
• officially weighed: shall be construed accordingly). See 7 USC 75
• option: means an agreement, contract, or transaction that is of the character of, or is commonly known to the trade as, an "option" "privilege" "indemnity" "bid" "offer" "put" "call" "advance guaranty" or "decline guaranty". See 7 USC 1a
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• person: import s the plural or singular, and includes individuals, associations, partnerships, corporations, and trusts. See 7 USC 1a
• person: import s the plural or the singular, as the case demands, and includes an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or two or more persons having a joint or common interest. See 7 USC 62
• person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other business entity. See 7 USC 75
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• prudential regulator: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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}
• registered entity: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Treasury. See 7 USC 1a
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States or delegates of the Secretary. See 7 USC 75
• security: means a security as defined in section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• security-based swap: has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• Sentencing guidelines: A set of rules and principles established by the United States Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence for a convicted defendant. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• State: means any one of the States (including Puerto Rico) or territories or possessions of the United States (including the District of Columbia). See 7 USC 75
• 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
• 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
• submitted sample: means a sample submitted by or for an interested person for official inspection, other than an official sample. See 7 USC 75
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• supervision of weighing: means such supervision by official inspection personnel of the grain-weighing process as is determined by the Secretary to be adequate to reasonably assure the integrity and accuracy of the weighing and of certificates which set forth the weight of the grain and such physical inspection by such personnel of the premises at which the grain weighing is performed as will reasonably assure that all the grain intended to be weighed has been weighed and discharged into the elevator or conveyance. See 7 USC 75
• swap: includes a master agreement that provides for an agreement, contract, or transaction that is a swap under subparagraph (A), together with each supplement to any master agreement, without regard to whether the master agreement contains an agreement, contract, or transaction that is not a swap pursuant to subparagraph (A). See 7 USC 1a
• swap data repository: means any person that collects and maintains information or records with respect to transactions or positions in, or the terms and conditions of, swaps entered into by third parties for the purpose of providing a centralized recordkeeping facility for swaps. See 7 USC 1a
• swap dealer: means any person who&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: means the States (including Puerto Rico) and the territories and possessions of the United States (including the District of Columbia). See 7 USC 75
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• 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
• 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.
• writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1