"There is an old saying that the course of civilization is a race between catastrophe and education. In a democracy such as ours, we must make sure that education wins the race." — John F. Kennedy (1958)

Beginning in the earliest grades and continuing throughout the educational process, civics education exists to prepare tomorrow's citizens with the knowledge, skills, compassion and virtue necessary to preserve and improve America's constitutional democracy.

An understanding and working knowledge of the legislative process is part of civic competency. Let us introduce you and your students to THOMAS, Legislative Information on the Internet.

Click on the numbers at left to learn about THOMAS. Then, dig deep to find the answers to the THOMAS Scavenger Hunt!

What other information is available on the THOMAS Web site?
A variety of other types of legislative data is available through THOMAS.

Learn about The Homeland Security Act of 2002.

Check on the Status of FY2003 Appropriations Bills.

View Appropriations Legislation FY1999-FY2002 for the previous years.

See a list of Presidential Nominations since 1987.

View Treaty information since 1968.

What is happening in Congress NOW?
This section of THOMAS provides links to Congressional schedules.

House Floor This Week lists the House of Representatives schedule for the remainder of the current week.

House Floor Now lists the House Floor proceedings for the past seven legislative days as well as the topic or legislation being currently considered at any given time of the day that the House is in session

Senate Schedule lists a calendar of Senate legislative events for the current month and also links to past months and the previous calendar year.

More comprehensive searches of current and previous Congresses (Bill Summary and Status, Bill Text and Public Laws) are available from the Legislation Column (Number 6) on the THOMAS home page.

Note: When searching for a bill, remember to indicate "h" for House or "s" for Senate in front of the bill number.

How can I locate information about the House or Senate and their members?
Use the THOMAS "Quick Links" section for easy access to the House of Representatives Web site, the Office of the House Clerk, the House member directory, the Senate and the Senate member directory.

What is the Government Printing Office (GPO), what does it do and how can I access it?
THOMAS offers a quick link to the Government Printing Office (GPO). The GPO is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. Through the Superintendent of Documents' programs, the GPO disseminates the largest volume of U.S. government publications and information in the world.

Don't miss the Congressional District Maps and the Congressional Pictorial Directory for items related to your particular hometown. Detailed information and photographs of the Capitol complex are available in the Art and Architecture section of this category.

If you are interested in the lawmaking process, take a look at the House and Senate sections of How Congress Makes Laws. For statistical information related to Congress, select Resumes of Congressional Activity. Here you will find detailed data summarizing all legislative activities of the House and Senate from the 91st through the current Congress. The Days-in-Session link leads to a calendar showing the days on which the House and Senate convened for each session of Congress. Calendars are available from the 94th Congress (in the case of the House) and the 95th Congress, 2nd Session (in the case of the Senate) through the current Congress.

Clicking on the Executive Branch link brings up a comprehensive list of official executive branch Web sites as well as independent agencies, boards, commissions and committees.

The Judicial Branch link leads to the Guide to the Law Online, a portal of Internet sources of interest to legal researchers prepared by the Law Library of Congress.

Click on State/Local to find governmental links for your own state.

The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and many other documents are accessible by clicking on the Historical Documents link.

The last link in this section - Legislation Related to the Attack of September 11, 2001 - was created as an attempt to keep the public apprised of legislation related to the attack. Although not updated after the conclusion of 107th Congress, it provides an excellent starting point for research on this topic.

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.

What is the Congressional Record?
The Congressional Record reports the debates, proceedings and activities of Congress on a daily basis. At the end of a day, the Government Printing Office processes that day's proceedings, which are usually available online early the next day.

How can I access the Congressional Record from the THOMAS Web site?
The Congressional Record can be searched in four different ways. This Congress by Date offers a chronological list of the dates that the current Congress has been in session. House and Senate agendas are listed, as well as a Daily Digest and Extension of Remarks. The Text Search option provides a variety of search strategies including word/phrase, member of Congress, Congressional Record section, date received or index term. An online help section is available for searching tips. If you are unsure of search terms, check the Index for a lengthy listing of terms used for the current Congress. A help file is also available for tips on using this search method. Some bills are voted on using the roll call vote method. These records, dating back to 1990 in the House and 1989 in the Senate, are available in the Roll Call Votes section. Each link lists the roll call votes by sequential roll call number and tallies votes by yeas, nays and non-voting members.

What kind of data can I find in the Committee Information section?
After a bill is introduced on the House or Senate floor, it is referred to the committee of jurisdiction (i.e., the committee charged with reviewing measures in the area of law or policy with which the bill is concerned). The committee of referral most often sends the measure to its specialized subcommittee(s) for study, hearings, revisions and approval.

Reports on bills that make it favorably through this process are available in the Committee Reports section of THOMAS. This section can be searched by report number, bill number, committee name, word or phrase, date or index term.

Help files are available for searching by committee name, by word/phrase or by date. Home pages of all House committees and Senate committees are also available in this section. Daily committee schedules are also available at the top of each of these sections. Learn more about Committee Reports in the help section.