How can this site be used to find out about
legislation currently under consideration or recently enacted into
law?
THOMAS can be searched in three
ways - by Bill
Summary and Status, by
Bill Text, and by
Public Laws. A short description of each method follows. Note:
Before beginning a legislative search, it is important to remember
that the default on each of these pages is set to the CURRENT Congress
year. For example, the 108th Congress covers the years 2003-2004.
Searching legislation prior to this period requires choosing the
specific Congress for that year.
When
should I search using the Bill Summary and Status option?
The Bill
Summary and Status page allows you to search THOMAS for
information about specific legislation in seven different ways:
1) by bill/amendment
or public law number, 2) by word/phrase, 3) by sponsor or co-sponsor,
4) by committee, 5) by its stage in the legislative process,
6)
by date of introduction or 7) by a standard subject term. Use
this search option when you want your results to appear in
summary form.
These options all have drop-down menus to allow you to refine
your search in many ways. Before searching, remember to select
the Congress
of your choice. By making a choice at the top of this page,
each Congress can also be viewed by legislative type, public
laws, private
laws, vetoed bills and sponsor. If you need help defining your
subject, make sure to check out the Legislative
Indexing Vocabulary link at the bottom of the page. Use
the
help
file for more detailed information about this type of search.
This search option is available for the 93rd through 108th
Congresses.
When should I search Using the Bill
Text option?
The Bill
Text page provides access to the entire text of all versions
of all bills and resolutions introduced in Congress since 1989.
Use this option to locate complete legislative text. Before searching,
remember to select the Congress of your choice at the top of the
page. Legislation can be searched by bill number, word/phrase or
date/session. Use the Words in the Index option at the bottom of
the page to find additional terms related to your search term. Use
the help
file for more detailed information about this type of search.
This search option is available for the 101st through 108th Congresses.
When should I search using the Public Laws
option?
Use the
Public Laws option if you want to locate items that have already
been enacted into law. Before searching, remember to select the
Congress of your choice. Bills can be retrieved either by public
law number or by type (House, Senate or Joint Resolutions). This
search option is available for the 93rd through the 108th Congresses.
What kind of details can I find out about
a piece of legislation?
Once you have
located a document, THOMAS can help you track
its route through Congress. Bill title, sponsor, related
bills and latest major action
are listed on the top of the summary and status page
for each bill. In addition, links to popular or shortened
titles, bill status,
related amendments, committee actions, related bill details,
subjects, co-sponsors, Congressional Record Summary and
text versions
are available for each item.
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