A bill is a proposal for legislation. Individual bills are written and introduced into the House or Senate by a member of that chamber.
In any session of Congress many bills are introduced, and only a few are passed. Most bills are amended from the original, dropped entirely or combined with language from the other chamber's version of a bill with similar intent.
To understand a bill's progress toward becoming a public law (or not), some databases such as govinfo, congress.gov, and ProQuest Congressional, have "bill history" or "bill tracking" sections where researchers can follow the chronological sequence of actions on a bill, its current status, and locate the associated publications. The final version of the bill, agreed to by both the Senate and the House, is sent to the President for signature or veto. Bills that are signed by the President are called Public Laws (or Private Laws).
Example of a bill (S. 1252, 2016)
"Types of Legislation" and "Common Versions of Bills", Government Publishing Office
| Congress | Years | Format | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-present | 1789-2013 | online | ProQuest Congressional Best Bet for 1789-2013 |
| 6-42 | 1799-1811, 1813-1873 | online | congress.gov, Legislation of the U.S. Congress. Check "1799-1811, 1813-1873". "Search bill texts from the 6th through 10th Congresses (1799-1809) or bill titles and metadata from the 11th Congress and 13th through 42nd Congresses (1809-1811, 1813-1873)." |
| H: 6-42 S: 16-42 |
H: 1799-1873 S: 1819-1873 |
online | Century of Lawmaking Includes only selected bills and resolutions. |
| 74-101, w/gaps | 1936-1990, w/gaps | online | Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions via HathiTrust Summary only; does not provide the full text of bills and resolutions. Provides "in summary form, the essential features of public bills and resolutions and changes thereto made during the legislative process. It also indicates committee and floor action and includes sponsor and cosponsor, identical bill, short title, and subject indexes." |
| 84-101 | 1955-1990 | paper | Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions. Govt Doc LC 14.6: See description above. |
| 103-present | 1993-present | online | congress.gov, Legislation of the U.S. Congress Best Bet for 1993-present |
| 103-present | 1993-present | online | govinfo, search or browse Best Bet for 1993-present |
| 103-present | 1993-present | online | govtrack |
| 104-previous cong. | 1995-previous cong. | online | Westlaw. Choose: Proposed & Enacted Legislation > Historical Proposed Legislation (Bills) (a.k.a. Historical Federal Bills) |
| Current cong. | online | Westlaw. Choose: Proposed & Enacted Legislation > Congressional Bills |
The text of a particular version of a bill may sometimes appear in congressional hearings, committee or conference reports, the Congressional Record, or a legislative history.
To find a bill by subject or keyword, use one of the sources for the full-text of a bill above or the index to the Congressional Record. For a bill that became law, also use one of the sources for the full-text of laws. In either case, sources for the history of bills or laws might also be useful.
If all else fails, place a request for the full-text of a bill through Interlibrary Loan. Always feel free to ask us.
Lists are found in:
Use a database that can be searched by member's name such as:
Alternatively, using the print index to the Congressional Record or searching it electronically, look up the member's name. Look for a subheading beginning with "Bills and resolutions". Each entry includes a summary of the bill, the bill number, the page number in the Congressional Record, and the date.
Use a database that can be searched by member's name such as:
Alternatively, using the print index to the Congressional Record or searching it electronically, look up the member's name. Look for a subheading beginning with "Remarks by". Each entry includes the page number in the Congressional Record and the date.
