Bills in the House and Senate for 1989-current year, and information regarding voting can be found by using Congress.gov
Finding Aids and Indexes to Bills
Index - 1979-2000 - Final cumulative finding aid, House and Senate bills - GP 3.28:[Cong] - Located in low shelves near the atlases. Look up in the appropriate Congress volume for the bill number you need. You will be given a fiche number and a set of coordinates. A gride at the front of the volume will tell you where your bill is located on the fiche. 1989 - present –
Online Sources
1989 - present -- Thomas
1989 - present -- Proquest congressional (was LexisNexis)
1993 - present -- FDsys
For bills between 1818 and 1964 the Congressional Record might contain the text of the bill. Sometimes conference reports, if there is one, will contain the text of a bill. You may also need to consult the National Archives for bills from this period.
Another possible source for the text of a difficult to find bill is a comprehensive Legislative History of the act. For example, Legislative history of the Securities act of 1933 and Securities exchange act of 1934 ... Compiled by J. S. Ellenberger and Ellen P. Mahar. 11 v.
Center for Research Libraries owns microfiche of many bills. Search their catalog for "congress and united states and bills and resolutions." Several libraries own microfilm of bills from various time periods.
The University of Washington owns:
1789 – 1921 (incomplete), 1st – 66th Congress: Microfilm in GovPubs:
House bills: Microfilm A1829 | Senate bills: Microfilm A1830
The University of Arizona owns: Micro- fiche 1905-E
How Laws Are Made
Laws may be initiated in either chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives or the Senate. For this example, we will track a bill introduced in the House of Representatives. For more information, try How Our Laws Are Made (Senate Document 105-14) Text (166k) PDF (327k).
| 1. When a Representative has an idea for a new law, s/he becomes the sponsor of that bill and introduces it by giving it to the clerk of the House or by placing it in a box, called the hopper. The clerk assigns a legislative number to the bill, with H.R. for bills introduced in the House of Representatives and S. for bills introduced in the Senate. The Government Printing Office (GPO) then prints the bill and distributes copies to each representative. |
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Let's track the bill history of the International Dolphin Conservation Act. |
| 2. Next, the bill is assigned to a committee (the House has 22 standing committees, each with jurisdiction over bills in certain areas) by the Speaker of the House so that it can be studied.
The standing committee (or often a subcommittee) studies the bill and hears testimony from experts and people interested in the bill. The committee then may release the bill with a recommendation to pass it, or revise the bill and release it, or lay it aside so that the House cannot vote on it. Releasing the bill is called reporting it out, while laying it aside is called tabling. |
| 3. If the bill is released, it then goes on a calendar (a list of bills awaiting action). Here the House Rules Committee may call for the bill to be voted on quickly, limit the debate, or limit or prohibit amendments. Undisputed bills may be passed by unanimous consent, or by a two-thirds vote if members agree to suspend the rules. |
| 4. The bill now goes to the floor of the House for consideration and begins with a complete reading of the bill (sometimes this is the only complete reading). A third reading (title only) occurs after any amendments have been added. If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. |
| 5. In order to be introduced in the Senate, a senator must be recognized as the presiding officer and announce the introduction of the bill. Sometimes, when a bill has passed in one house, it becomes known as an act; however, this term usually means a bill that has been passed by both houses and becomes law. |
| 6. Just as in the House, the bill then is assigned to a committee. It is assigned to one of the Senate's 16 standing committees by the presiding officer. The Senate committee studies and either releases or tables the bill just like the House standing committee. |
| 7. Once released, the bill goes to the Senate floor for consideration. Bills are voted on in the Senate based on the order they come from the committee; however, an urgent bill may be pushed ahead by leaders of the majority party. When the Senate considers the bill, they can vote on it indefinitely. When there is no more debate, the bill is voted on. A simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. |
| 8. The bill now moves onto a conference committee, which is made up of members from each House. The committee works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The revised bill is sent back to both houses for their final approval. Once approved, the bill is printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office in a process called enrolling. The clerk from the introducing house certifies the final version. |
| 9. The enrolled bill is now signed by the Speaker of the House and then the vice president. Finally, it is sent for presidential consideration. The president has ten days to sign or veto the enrolled bill. If the president vetoes the bill, it can still become a law if two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House then vote in favor of the bill. |
To learn more, choose from the following:
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A service of the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.
Last updated: January 30, 2007
Page Name: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/lawmaking/index.html
Each state has its own version of the Register. In Montana it is the Administrative Rules of Montana.
What is the Federal Register?
The Federal Register started in 1935 and is intended as an information service to communicate the development of regulations.
The types of documents in the Federal Register are:
The public can comment on rules and provide information or feedback to agencies.
The daily Federal Register on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) is the official daily publication of these documents.
There are two places where you can search the Federal Register:
When a rule is finalized it will appear in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
The CFR is published online and in paper. The online version can be found through FDsys.gov
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