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https://www.govinfo.gov/help/bills

https://www.congress.gov/most-viewed-bills

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Jump to: Sample Searches │ Sample URLs │ Metadata Fields and Values │ Bills Citations │ Related Resources

About Congressional Bills

What are congressional bills?

Congressional bills are legislative proposals from the House of Representatives and Senate within the United States Congress. There are eight different types of bills.

There are numerous different bill versions that track a bill through the legislative process from introduction through passage by both chambers (enrolled version). All final published bill versions are available from GPO.

What is available?

All published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress forward are available. The system is updated by 6 a.m. (EST) daily when bills are published and approved for release.

Bulk data downloads of bill text and bill summaries in XML format are available on GPO's Bulk Data Repository.

Types of Legislation

Bills

A bill is a legislative proposal before Congress. Bills from each house are assigned a number in the order in which they are introduced, starting at the beginning of each Congress (first and second sessions). Public bills pertain to matters that affect the general public or classes of citizens, while private bills pertain to individual matters that affect individuals and organizations, such as claims against the Government.

Joint Resolutions

H.J. Res. - House Joint Resolution

S.J. Res. - Senate Joint Resolution

A joint resolution is a legislative proposal that requires the approval of both houses and the signature of the President, just as a bill does. Resolutions from each house are assigned a number in the order in which they are introduced, starting at the beginning of each Congress (first and second sessions). There is no real difference between a bill and a joint resolution. Joint resolutions generally are used for limited matters, such as a single appropriation for a specific purpose. They are also used to propose amendments to the Constitution. A joint resolution has the force of law, if approved. Joint resolutions become a part of the Constitution when three-quarters of the states have ratified them; they do not require the President's signature.

Concurrent Resolutions

H. Con. Res. - House Concurrent Resolution

S. Con. Res. - Senate Concurrent Resolution

A concurrent resolution is a legislative proposal that requires the approval of both houses but does not require the signature of the President and does not have the force of law. Concurrent resolutions generally are used to make or amend rules that apply to both houses. They are also used to express the sentiments of both of the houses. For example, a concurrent resolution is used to set the time of Congress' adjournment. It may also be used by Congress to convey congratulations to another country on the anniversary of its independence.

Simple Resolutions

H. Res. - House Simple Resolution

S. Res. - Senate Simple Resolution

A simple resolution is a legislative proposal that addresses matters entirely within the prerogative of one house or the other. It requires neither the approval of the other house nor the signature of the President, and it does not have the force of law. Most simple resolutions concern the rules of one house. They are also used to express the sentiments of a single house. For example, a simple resolution may offer condolences to the family of a deceased member of Congress, or it may give "advice" on foreign policy or other executive business.
Common Versions of Bills

An alternate name for this version is Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate. This version is the final official copy of the bill or joint resolution which both the House and the Senate have passed in identical form. After it is certified by the chief officer of the house in which it originated (the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate), then signed by the House Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tempore, the measure is sent to the President for signature.

Searching Congressional Bills

You can find and search Congressional Bills by:

Using Basic Search for keyword and metadata fielded searches (see Metadata Fields and Values section),

Using Advanced Search; fields specific to bills will display after you select Congressional Bills in the Refine by Collection column,

Using Citation Search to retrieve a single bill in PDF format if you know the Congress number bill type, bill number, and bill version,

Refining search results by clicking on links in the Refine Your Search panel on the left hand side of the page (the sections under Refine Your Search correspond to the metadata available for the documents), and

Browsing on the Congressional Bills browse page.

General govinfo Search Tips

Search Examples

Search for Bills by Congress Number, Bill Type, Bill Number and Bill Version - These examples will search for the Introduced in Senate version of Senate Joint Resolution from the 109th Congress with 12 as the Bill Number.

Using Basic Search, enter: collection:bills congress:109 billtype:sjres docnumber:12 billversion:is

Using Advanced Search,

Select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Congress Number in the first box and select 109 in the second box

Click + Additional Criteria and select Bill Type then select Senate Joint Resolution (S.J. Res.) in the next box

Click + Additional Criteria and select Bill Number then enter 12 in the next box

Click + Additional Criteria and select Bill Version then select Introduced in Senate in the next box

Using Citation Search, select Congressional Bills from the Select Collection box, select 109th Congress (2005-2006) from the Select Congress box, select Senate Joint Resolution (S.J. Res) from the Select Bill Type box, enter 12 in the Bill Number box, and select Introduced in Senate from the Select Version box.

Search for Bills by Congress Number, Chamber, and Bill Number - These examples will search for Senate bills from the 109th Congress with 12 as the Bill Number.

Using Basic Search, enter: collection:bills congress:109 chamber:senate docnumber:12

Using Advanced Search,

Select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Congress Number in the first box and select 109 in the second box,

Click + Additional Criteria and select Chamber of Congress then select Senate from the next box

Click + Additional Criteria and select Bill Number then enter 12 in the next box

Search for Bills by Sponsor or Cosponsor - These examples will search for Senate bills sponsored or cosponsored by Senator McConnell.

Using Basic Search, enter: member:McConnell and collection:bills

Using Advanced Search, select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Sponsors and Co-sponsors from the first box and enter McConnell in the second box

Find All Versions of a Bill - These examples will search for all versions of House Joint Resolution (H.J. Res.) 10 from the 109th Congress.

Using Basic Search, enter: collection:bills congress:109 billtype:hjres docnumber:10

Using Advanced Search,

Select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Congress Number in the first box and select 109 in the second box

Click + Additional Criteria and select Bill Type then select House Joint Resolution (H.J. Res.) from the next box

Click + Additional Criteria and select Bill Number then enter 10 in the next box

Browsing the Congressional Bills page, navigate to 109th Congress (2005-2006), then House Joint Resolution (H.J Res.), then 0-99, then scroll down to H.J. Res. 10 to see the available versions

Search for Bills Sponsored by a Congress Member from a State - These examples will search bills sponsored by Congress members from California.

Using the Basic Search, enter: collection:bills then click Search then Refine Your Search by selecting California (CA) under the Sponsors and Co-sponsors State section

Using Advanced Search, select Congressional Bills under Refine Your Search, click the search button, then Refine Your Search by selecting California (CA) under the Sponsors and Co-sponsors State section

Search for Bills by Title - These examples will search for bills with the word innovation in the full title or short title.

Using Basic Search, enter: collection:bills and title:innovation

Using Advanced Search, select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Title in the first box and enter innovation in the second box

Search for Bills by Sponsor and Keyword - These examples will search for bills sponsored by Senator McConnell with the word democracy in the text of the bill.

Using Basic Search, enter democracy and collection:bills and member:McConnell

Using Advanced Search,

Select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Sponsor in the first box and then enter McConnell in the second box

Click + Additional Criteria and in the second box enter: democracy

Using Basic Search, enter: democracy then click search then Refine Your Search by selecting Congressional Bills from the Collection section and selecting McConnell, Mitch from the Sponsor and Cosponsor section

Search for Bills by Member From a State and Keyword - These examples will search for bills sponsored by Congress members from California with the word environment in the text of the bill.

Using Basic Search, enter: environment then click search then Refine Your Search by selecting Congressional Bills from the Collection section and selecting California (CA) from the Sponsor and Cosponsor state section

Using Advanced Search,

select Congressional Bills under Refine by Collection then under Search In enter: environment into the second box and click Search

Refine Your Search by selecting California (CA) from the Sponsors and Co-sponsors State section

Find Related Documents

On select Congressional Bills Details pages, a "Related Documents" tab will display other documents within govinfo that are related to that particular bill. Where available, these include other bill versions of the legislation; Congressional Reports for the legislation; Presidential Signing Statements and Remarks for legislation from the Compilation of Presidential Documents; Public Laws for the legislation; Statutes at Large document for the legislation; U.S. Code documents that reference the legislation.

Learn more about finding related documents on govinfo.

Example:

Search for hr 803, click details, then the related documents tab. You will find these documents related to hr 803: other bill versions, Congressional reports, the Presidential Signing Statement, Public Law, Statutes at Large document, and documents where the legislation is referenced in the U.S. Code.

Sample Congressional Bills URLs

Govinfo uses the Package ID to construct predictable URLs to documents and Details pages for individual bills.

Tip: You can also use the link service and API to construct predictable links.

Congressional Bills Metadata Fields and Values

Metadata fields and values can be used to increase the relevancy of your searches. The metadata fields available for Congressional Bills are listed in the table below. Metadata fields and values are used throughout govinfo for:

Refining Your Search,

Browsing Government Publications,

Field Operators,

Advanced Search, and

Display on Details pages.

Metadata fields and values can be entered into the Basic Search box using field operators. The field operators available for the Congressional Bills are listed in the table below, along with examples for each metadata field. Using Field Operators

Some of these metadata fields are made available for use in Advanced Search. The metadata values can be entered in the same format for the fields available on the Advanced Search Page. Using Advanced Search

Metadata Field Display Name

Metadata Field Definition

Field Operator

Field Operator Example

Electronic Location (URL)

The URL where the document or the document in context (the content detail page) is located.

url:" http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-108s1314is/pdf/BILLS-108s1314is.pdf"

Type of bill. Bill type is either House bill (H. R.), Senate bill, (S. ), House Resolution (H. Res.), Senate resolution (S. Res.), House Joint Resolution (H. J. Res.), Senate Joint Resolution (S. J. Res,), House Concurrent Resolution (H. Con. Res), Senate Concurrent Resolution (S. Con. Res.), House Simple Resolutions (H. Res.) or Senate Simple Resolutions (S. Res).

billtype:hjres

Possible Values: hr, s, hjres, sjres, hconres, sconres, hres, sres
See Bill Types section

Bill Version

Version of the bill. Corresponds to a step in the legislative process. Multiple bill versions can be associated with a bill number.

billversion:

billversion:ih

Possible Values: See Bill Versions section.

Congressional Bills Citation Patterns

These patterns are available when creating searches using Congressional Bills citations.

In the Basic Search box, simply use one of the citation patterns listed in the Search Examples column below. If the bill number value that you use is available on the website, the document will be returned.
*all terms in italics are newly accepted search patterns
Congressional Bills Related Resources

Congressional Bills Frequently Asked Questions

How is added or deleted text indicated in Congressional Bills?

Text that was added to or deleted from a particular version of a bill is indicated in different ways in text and PDF files.

Text files include tags to mark changes in the text. See Example

Added text is enclosed in quotation marks. These quotes should not be confused with the quotation marks that are part of the text of the bill.

Deleted text is preceded by a <DELETED> tag and followed by a </DELETED> tag. (In the files for the 103 rd Congress, deleted text is distinguished by the insertion of a hyphen before each deleted character.

Note : When multiple paragraphs have been deleted, the tags appear at the beginning and end of each affected paragraph. However, when multiple paragraphs have been added, the quotation marks appear at the beginning of each affected paragraph and at the end of the last paragraph in the series.

PDF files mark changes in the text in exactly the same way that those changes appear in the printed version. See Example

Added text is presented in italics.

Deleted text is stricken through with a line.

What are starprint bills?

Starprint bills are corrected editions of bills identifiable by stars printed at the lower left-hand corner of their title pages See an example of a starprint bill (PDF).

Designation of a bill as a starprint is indicated in search results and presented in MODS metadata files. Did you know: All fields in MODS are searchable. For example, search: mods:starprintnumber:1.

Is S. 309 IS from the 115th or 116th Congress?

S. 309 IS was printed with the incorrect Congress designation and the Senate decided not to star print S. 309 IS. The text, XML, and PDF say "115th Congress" but the bill is from the 116th Congress.

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Jump to: Sample Searches │ Sample URLs │ Metadata Fields and Values │ Bills Citations │ Related Resources What are congressional bills? Congressional bills are legislative proposals from the House of Representatives and Senate within the United States Congress. There are eight different types of bills.

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Mr. Edge proposes bill 201-a to abolish all job roles.

This way, President Sara can appoint job roles for her presidential candidate.

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Mr. Edge proposes bill 201-b to amend section 11 of our classroom bill of rights.

It is an outdated law that requires a rewrite, but must be approved by Congress and the Supreme Court.