Identifying Significant Legislation

"In a hundred pound of law there's not a halfpenny weight of love." Cotgrave French-English Dictionary (1611)

Choice of Tools

To identify relevant legislation in the 104th Congress often requires a combination of different tools; the choice of which to use first usually depends on one's precise objective and the material already in hand. If, for example, you wish to identify a specific piece of legislation and already know...

1. Its sponsor
   • Try the Legi-Slate gopher index of bills by sponsor.
      Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
      Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
      Or see a sample search
   • Try the Thomas index of bills by sponsor.
      Or read hints for the Thomas sponsor search.
   • Use the Thomas full text search of bills and limit by sponsor. Note however that only bills and amendments can be searched by sponsor, not resolutions.
   • Use the CQ Congress Member evaluator which lists all bills sponsored in this session by each member.
      Or read a description of the CQ service.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the House "bill text" search to search the title of the bill for its sponsor. The sponsor is included in the title of all but engrossed and enrolled bills.
      Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
      Or read a Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and search by sponsor.
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the House Member Directory in which each representative's entry is dynamically linked to summaries and histories of the bills sponsored by that representative. This has the same effect as searching for current bill status.
      Or read a brief description.
      Or see a sample search.
   • Search GPO Access in the "Bills" or "History of Bills" databases.
      Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
      Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
      Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
2. Its committee of referral
   • Use the Thomas full-text bill search by committee.
     Or read hints about searching Thomas by committee.
3. Its number
   • Try the Legi-Slate gopher index of bills by number.
      Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
      Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
   • Try the Thomas index (summary search) of bills by number, or do a full text search and specify the bill number.
      Or read a guide to searching Thomas by bill number.
      Or read a brief description of Thomas.
      Or read a fuller description of it.
   • If it is a House bill, try the House's gopher full-text search "bill-text" search of legislation and search by bill number.
     Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
     Or read a general guide to searching the House legislative database.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and search by bill number.
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
   • Search GPO Access in the "Bills" or "History of Bills" databases.
      Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
      Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
      Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
4. Its date of introduction
   • Try the Legi-Slate gopher list of bills by date.
      Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
      Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
   • Search the Congressional Record.
   • Search the Thomas legislative histories by keyword.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and search by date.
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
   • Search GPO Access in the "History of Bills" database.
      Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
      Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
      Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
5. Its subject matter. This is among the most frustrating ways to search, since so many bills are entered, so few have a chance of passage, and there is much chaff to wade through to get the good grain.
   • Try searching the hints for searching Thomas by index term, as well as the Introduction and Text of the Library of Congress Indexing Vocabulary (LIV).
   • Try the Thomas full text search by keyword. The same warning applies even more to full-text searching as to summary searching, of course.
      Or read the hints on searching Thomas by keyword.
   • If it is a House bill, try the House's gopher House's full-text search of legislation.
     Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
     Or read a general guide to searching the House legislative database.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and search by key phrase.
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
   • Search GPO Access in the "Bills" or "History of Bills" databases.
      Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
      Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
      Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
6. Some words in its official title
   • Try the Legi-Slate gopher list of bills by official title.
      Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
      Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
      Or see a sample search
   • Try searching the Thomas legislative histories by keyword.
      Or read the hints on searching Thomas by keyword.
      Or read a brief description of Thomas.
      Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
   • Try the Thomas full text search by keyword.
      Or read the hints on searching Thomas by keyword.
   • If it is a House bill, try the House's gopher full-text search of legislation.
     Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
     Or read a general guide to searching the House legislative database.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and search by title.
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
   • Search GPO Access in the "Bills" or "History of Bills" databases.
      Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
      Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
      Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
7. Some distinctive words in its text
   • Try the Legi-Slate gopher full text search.
      Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
      Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
      Or see a sample search
   • Try Thomas full text or summary text searches.
      Or read the hints on searching Thomas by keyword.
      Or read a brief description of Thomas.
      Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
      Or see a sample search.
   • If it is a House bill, try the House's gopher full-text search of legislation.
     Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
     Or read a general guide to searching the House legislative database.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and search by key phrase.
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
   • Search GPO Access in the "Bills" database.
      Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
      Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
      Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
8. That it has seen floor action
   • Try the Thomas full text search by keyword, and limit the search to bills that have seen floor action, by checking the appropriate box.
   • Use any of the methods described below for bills in the news or hot bills-- since these categories are often equivalent to "accorded floor action."
9. That it was enrolled and sent to the President or enjoys some other status.
   • Try the Thomas full text search by keyword and limit the search to enrolled bills by checking the appropriate box.
   • If it is a House bill, try the House's gopher full-text search of legislation and search for "enrolled" in the version field.
     Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
     Or read a general guide to searching the House legislative database.
   • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and limit your search by version (any, engrossed, enrolled, reported, introduced) or type (HR, HRes, HConRes, Hjnt Res, S, Sres SConRex, SJntRes, any).
     Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
10. That it was vetoed
    • Try the Thomas browsable list of vetoed bills.
       Or read a brief description of Thomas.
       Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
11. That it became law
    • Try the Thomas browsable list of public laws.
    • Search the GPO Access database for Public Laws by number or subject.
    • Search GPO Access in the "Public Laws" database.
       Or read a brief description of GPO Access.
       Or read a brief description of the legislative databases at GPO Access.
       Or read an extended description of GPO Access.
12. Its house and type
    • Try the Legi-Slate gopher
       Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
       Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
    • Try the Thomas browsable list of bills by type.
       Or read a brief description of Thomas.
       Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
    • Try the Thomas full text search by keyword and limit the search to bills of one house or the other by checking the appropriate box.
    • If it is a House bill, try the House's full-text search of legislation.
      Or read a guide to searching bill-text.
      Or read a general guide to searching the House legislative database.
    • If it is a House bill or resolution, use the great Will.T.Bill interface to the House WAIS server and the House legislative database, and limit your search by version (any, engrossed, enrolled, reported, introduced) or type (HR, HRes, HConRes, Hjnt Res, S, Sres SConRex, SJntRes, any).
      Or read a brief description of Will.T.Bill.
13. That it is an amendment to another bill
    • If it is an amendment to a House bill, use the House's full-text amendment search by bill number or any words contained in the amendment.
      (The House guide to amendment searching is "under construction.")
      
    • Use any of the various searches at Thomas to find the relevant amended bill and follow the links received as results to lists of amendments, then on to their text and history.
      Or see an example
14. That it is in the news or on the floor and
    • Has a popular name
      • Try Thomas
         Or read a brief description of Thomas.
         Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
         Or look at a sample search
    • Deals with a particular subject
      • Try the LegiSlate gopher's hierarchical subject index or the Legi-Slate gopher's alphabetical subject index. These now seem to be restricted to subscribers, as is their "hot bills" category.
         Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
         Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
         Or see a sample search
      • Try Thomas
         Or read a brief description of Thomas.
         Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
         Or look at a sample search
    • Has a particular number
      • Try the Thomas index to hot bills by number and type.
         Or read a brief description of Thomas.
         Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
    • Was debated or introduced this week
      • Try Thomas
         Or read a brief description of Thomas.
         Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
      • Try the Legislate gopher's list of bills introduced this week by date or by chamber.
         Or read a brief description of LegiSlate.
         Or read a fuller description of LegiSlate.
    • Is of a particular type
      • Try the Thomas index of hot bills by number and type.
         Or read a brief description of Thomas.
         Or read a fuller description of Thomas.
    • Was enacted into law
      • Try the Thomas index of hot bills enacted into law.