|
History of Bills: Search TipsSample Searches | Catalog of Congressional Bills | Identification Codes The following sample searches are provided as guides to general types of searches in the History of Bills. They are performed in the 1998 History of Bills database. For the sake of space, only the top three hits in each results list are included with each example below.
Subject | Sponsor or Co-Sponsor | Bill Number | Report Number | Public Law Number Sample Searches (5)This type of search returns listings for bills that are related to a specific subject. The word(s) that you enter as your search term(s) may appear anywhere within the document. Keep in mind, however, that History of Bills documents are brief, so the subject keyword(s) would have to appear in the title or short summary of a bill for your search to be successful.
2. Search by Sponsor or Cosponsor This type of search returns listings based on the name of a sponsor or cosponsor of a bill. Because a Member of Congress is identified as Mr., Mrs., or Ms. in the Congressional Record, your query should include only his/her last name.
This type of search returns listings based on a given bill number. The bill number may be typed with or without punctuation. If no punctuation is used, you must leave a space between the h and the r for bills in the House.
This type of search returns listings based on a given report number. The word "report" should be abbreviated as "rept." in your query when you are searching in the History of Bills databases. The report number may be typed with or without punctuation. If no punctuation is used, you must leave a space between the h or s and "rept." for reports in the House or Senate, respectively.
5. Search by Public Law Number This type of search returns listings based on a given public law number. The phrase "public law" should not be abbreviated in your query when you are searching in the History of Bills databases.
Catalog of Available BillsTo view a catalog of History of Bills documents that are available via GPO Access, click on the "submit" button on the search page without having entered any query terms and then select the appropriate document from the results list. A catalog will be retrieved for any year of the History of Bills that is highlighted in the scroll box on the search page. Identification CodesIn the list that displays your query results, the bill number and title of each History of Bills document are preceded by an identification code. The identification code contains two elements: a database abbreviation and the year of the index. For example, in the identification code "hob97," "hob" stands for History of Bills, and 97 is the year of that index (1997). |