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Related Resources at the Library
When viewing the Bill Summary & Status table display for a bill, you may notice a line in the header which reads Related Bills followed by one or more bill numbers. The House, the Senate, or the Library of Congress Congressional Research Service (CRS) identifies related bills. For example, the table display for H.R.800 in the 106th Congress cites and links to the following related bills:
Related Bills: H.RES.100, H.RES.143, S.271, S.280
A bill could be designated as "related" for the following reasons:
- Word-for-word identical bills
- Procedurally related bills (for example, a rule for the consideration of a measure)
- Companion bills (identical or similar bills introduced in both houses)
- Measures identified from status (for example, when one bill is ordered to be reported in lieu of another measure).
"Related Bill Details" will describe the specific relationships between the bills. The resulting display will list one or more related measures, with a brief description of the nature of the relationship and who identified it. For example, "Related Bill Details" for H.R. 800 cites and links to the following related bills:
| Bill: | Relationship: |
|---|---|
| H.RES.100 | Rule related to H.R.800 in House |
| H.RES.143 | Rule related to H.R.800 in House |
| S.271 | Related bill as identified by the House Clerk's office |
| S.280 | H.R.800 passed in Senate in lieu of this bill |
| S.280 | Text from this bill was inserted in H.R.800 |
Often the list of related bills will contain multiple entries for the same bill. This is because the Senate, House, and CRS all capture related bill information whenever possible. For example, H.R.118 was identified as related to S.559 by CRS, by the House Clerk's Office, and by the House committee. Each related bill is linked to the table display for every other related bill.
| Bill: | Relationship: |
|---|---|
| S.559 | Identical bill identified by CRS |
| S.559 | Related bill as identified by the House Clerk's office |
| S.559 | Related bill as identified by House committee |
A word of caution in relying on related measure information: although every attempt is made to identify related measures, it is not always possible that all related measures will be captured because of the complexity of such relationships.