What term describes committee action to amend a proposed bill?

• A. Open rule
• B. Mark up
• C. Reapportionment
• D. Pocket veto

Answer: (B)

Markup is the process in which a legislative committee or subcommittee reviews a proposed bill, debates its language, and makes changes—adding, deleting, or revising provisions—so the bill becomes a more precise version to be sent to the full chamber. This is where the bill is literally drafted in committee form, and the edits reflect the committee’s policy decisions and technical fixes before any floor debate.

Open rule, by contrast, concerns whether amendments can be offered on the floor after the bill reaches the House, not the committee edits. Reapportionment is redrawing district lines after a census, and a pocket veto is a presidential action when the president takes no action and Congress adjourns.