In the sentence 'Congress meets in Washington,' the word 'Congress' refers to:

CONGRESS is a key CIVICS term on the USCIS reading vocabulary list. In a sentence such as 'Congress meets in Washington,' it refers to the legislative branch of the federal government — made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives — which writes the nation's laws. The reading test pairs civics vocabulary with question words and verbs to form simple sentences the applicant reads aloud. Understanding that 'Congress' names the lawmaking body, not an individual official, is part of recognizing civics vocabulary in context.