Contents
This classic text provides an overview of the legislative process. The full text appears on the House server of which these are the contents:
I. Introduction II.The Congress III.Sources of legislation IV.Forms of Congressional action Bills Joint resolutions Concurrent resolutions Simple resolutions V.Introduction and reference to committee VI.Consideration by committee Committee meetings Public hearings Business meetings Committee action Public inspection of results of rollcall vote in committee Proxy voting Points of order with respect to committee procedure Broadcasting committee hearings and meetings VII.Reported bills Contents of reports Inflationary impact and cost estimates in reports Filing of reports Availability of reports and hearings VIII.Legislative review by standing committees IX.Calendars Union Calendar House Calendar Private Calendar Consent Calendar Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees X.Obtaining consideration of measures Special resolutions Consideration of measures made in order by previous resolution Motion to discharge committee Motion to suspend the rules Calendar Wednesday District of Columbia business Privileged matters XI.Consideration Committee of the Whole House Second reading The Committee "rises" House action Motions to recommit Quorum calls and rollcalls Voting Electronic voting Pairing of Members System of lights and bells Broadcasting live coverage of floor proceedings XII.Congressional budget process XIII.Engrossment and message to Senate XIV.Senate action Committee consideration Chamber procedure XV.Final action on amended bill Request for a conference Authority of conferees Meetings and action of conferees Conference reports Custody of papers XVI.Bill originating in Senate XVII.Enrollment XVIII.Presidential action Veto message XIX.Publication Slip laws Statutes at Large United States Code Motions to recommit Quorum calls and rollcalls Voting Electronic voting Pairing of Members System of lights and bells Broadcasting live coverage of floor proceedings XII.Congressional budget process XIII.Engrossment and message to Senate XIV.Senate action Committee consideration Chamber procedure XV.Final action on amended bill Request for a conference Authority of conferees Meetings and action of conferees Conference reports Custody of papers XVI.Bill originating in Senate XVII.Enrollment XVIII.Presidential action Veto message XIX.Publication Slip laws Statutes at Large United States Code
The full form of this guide is available at the U.S. House of Representatives web server, or you may choose to use the corresponding gopher menu.
The Legislative Process page provides access to a wealth of information about bills and resolutions being considered in the Congress, as well as current information about what's happening on the House floor and about how individual Members voted on specific measures. A summary of the categories of information is listed under "Legislative Process Information"; the legislative process itself is explained under "Tying It All Together." A brief explanation of the House WAIS database set is available from the House gopher.
Recent House Floor Actions. Summary of actions taken by the House during the last three legislative days. This information is updated only when the House is in session.
Bills. Gopher menu containing Bill Text, Bill Status, etc.
Bill Text. The full text of all bills and resolutions introduced in the House during the 104th Congress. Select bills of interest by searching by bill number or for words contained in them. See Help for searching examples.
Bill Status. Information about the current status of all bills and resolutions introduced in the 104th Congress, including a history of actions on each bill and an indication of its current place in the legislative process. Select bills of interest by searching by sponsor, legislative step, or words which describe the purpose of the bill.
Bill Status Today. Summary information about legislation which was introduced today or the last day the House was in session. Select bills of interest by searching by sponsor or words which describe the purpose of the bill. See Help for searching examples.
Amendments. Gopher menu linking to Amendment Status, etc.
Amendment Text UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The full text of all amendments introduced in the House during the 104th Congress. Select amendments of interest by searching by bill number or for words contained in them. See Help for searching
Amendment Status. Summary information about amendments offered during the consideration of legislation on the House Floor during the 104th Congress and a history and indication of their current status in the legislative process. Select amendments of interest by searching by bill number, sponsor, legislative action, or words which describe the purpose of the amendment. See Help for searching examples. In process of being renamed at the moment, this database has reverted to under construction status as of mid April 96.
Amendment Status Today. Summary information about amendments which were introduced on the House Floor today or the last day the House was in session. Select amendments of interest by searching by sponsor or words which describe the purpose of the amendment. See Help for searching examples.
Committee Jurisdiction. The subject areas of legislation each committee is responsible for when considering legislation.
Committee Hearing Transcripts. UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
Transcripts of testimony taken at public committee hearings.
Committee Votes. UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Vote tally and how each Member voted for recorded votes when reporting a bill from Committee.
Recent Committee Actions and Joint Committee Actions. Summary of actions taken by committees during the last three legislative days. A typical entry might look like this:
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered
favorably reported the following bills:
H.R. 255, to designate the Federal Justice Building in Miami,
Florida, as the `James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building`;
H.R. 869, to designate the Federal building and U.S.
Courthouse located at 125 Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio, as
the `Thomas D. Lambros Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse`;
H.R. 1804, to designate the United States Post
Office-Courthouse located at South 6th and Rogers Avenue, Fort
Smith, Arkansas, as the `Judge Isaac C. Parker Federal
Building.
Committee Reports UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Report documenting a committee's consideration of a bill and reasons for recommending its approval.
Rules Committee Resolutions and Reports. UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Rules Committee resolutions defining the rules of debate for consideration of a bill on the floor and the associated committee report.
Current House Floor Proceedings . A summary of the current proceedings and debate of the House, if it is currently in session.
House Votes. UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Vote tally and how each Member voted on measures for recorded votes in the House of Representatives. Select the vote of interest by searching by bill number, roll call vote number, or by words which describe the purpose of the measure. See Help for searching examples.
Congressional Record, 104th Congress, 1st Session . Account of the House and Senate floor proceedings for the first session of the 104th Congresss.
Congressional Record, 104th Congress, 2nd Session. Account of the House and Senate floor proceedings for the second session of the 104th Congress.
Congressional Record for last legislative day Account of the House and Senate floor proceedings for the last legislative day.
Bill Text for the 103rd Congress . The full text of bills and resolutions introduced during the 103rd Congress. This information is provided for historical purposes only; these bills are no longer being actively considered, although some may have been re-introduced in the 104th Congress. Select and read bills of interest by searching by bill number or for words contained in them. See Help for searching examples.
Congressional Record for the103rd Congress 2nd Session. Account of the House and Senate floor proceedings.
Congressional Record for the103rd Congress 1st Session. Account of the House and Senate floor proceedings.
Next Week's Floor ScheduleOften the most important schedule: on weekends, usually the only schedule available (on Monday it turns into the current week's schedule).
This Week's Floor ScheduleUpdated on a daily basis. As the week proceeds, more detailed information about the legislative business to be considered on the House Floor becomes available and is added to this file.
Committee Schedules. The Committee Schedule file is updated every half hour and contains the latest information regarding today's Committee hearings, both open and closed. Most, but not all, House Committees provide notice of their hearings for posting in this area. Entries look like this:
APR 15, 1996 (MONDAY)
10:00 AM COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES,
LOCATION: 2128 RHOB
Full Committee,
OPEN. HEARING. On Personal Banking Fraud.
Senate Actions. The House reports on the Senate's last three days. E.g.:
Reports were made as follows:
S. 1596, to direct a property conveyance in the State of
California. (S. Rept. No. 104-247)
H.R. 255, to designate the Federal Justice Building in Miami,
Florida, as the `James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building`.
H.R. 869, to designate the Federal building and U.S.
Courthouse located at 125 Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio, as
the `Thomas D. Lambros Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse`.
H.R. 1804, to designate the United States Post
Office-Courthouse located at South 6th and Rogers Avenue, Fort
Smith, Arkansas, as the `Judge Isaac C. Parker Federal
Building`.
H.R. 2415, to designate the United States Customs
Administrative Building at the Ysleta/Zaragosa Port of Entry
located at 797 South Ysleta in El Paso, Texas, as the `Timothy
C. McCaghren Customs Administrative Building`.
Senate Committee Actions. The House reports on Senate committees' last three days. E.g.:
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered
favorably reported the following bills:
H.R. 255, to designate the Federal Justice Building in Miami,
Florida, as the `James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building`;
H.R. 869, to designate the Federal building and U.S.
Courthouse located at 125 Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio, as
the `Thomas D. Lambros Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse`;
H.R. 1804, to designate the United States Post
Office-Courthouse located at South 6th and Rogers Avenue, Fort
Smith, Arkansas, as the `Judge Isaac C. Parker Federal
Building.
The full form of this guide is available at the U.S. House of Representatives web server.
To Find: Bill H.R. 3450 Type: bill = (h ADJ r ADJ 3450) To Find: Bills on health Type: health To Find: The Enrolled version of H.R. 1 Type: version = enrolled AND bill = (h ADJ r ADJ 1)
Bill Text contains the full text of all versions of legislation (bills and resolutions) of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 104th Congress. This database is produced by House Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives, from data provided by the nformation Systems, U.S. House of Representatives, from data provided by the Government Printing Office. (note: The text of all House bills originate in the U.S. House of Representatives.)
This database is updated whenever bills and/or resolutions are released and received from GPO. Public Law numbers are not displayed in the text of the documents.
Information in Bill Text can be retrieved by a variety of methods including subject, bill number, and report number. There are four parts to each document:
VERSION. Displays the status of the legislation at the time the document was printed. Examples: Introduced in the House; Reported in the House; Engrossed in the House (i.e. passed the house); Enrolled (i.e. passed both Houses of Congress).
BILL. Displays the bill number. The bill codes are: H.R. for House Bill; H.RES. for House Resolution; H.J.RES. for House Joint Resolution; and H.CON.RES.for House Concurrent Resolution.
TITLE. Displays the bill title, date introduced, and sponsor (except for the engrossed or enrolled versions).
TEXT. displays the text of the bill or resolution.
Version, Bill, Title, and Text are defined as fields. Single words can be entered as search terms (e.g., health). When building search phrases (e.g., health care reform), you must use 'connectors' to link the words together. The available connectors are ADJ, AND (default connector), OR, and NOT. They must be entered in upper case.
The full form of this guide can be found on the U.S. House of Representatives web server.
To Find: Bill H.R. 3450 Type: bill = (h ADJ r ADJ 3450) To Find: Bills on military readiness Type: military readiness
Bill Status Today contains information on the status of federal legislation introduced on the Floor of the House today. It is a valuable source for tracking the progress and substance of legislation. This database is updated every 60 minutes when the House is in session by staff from the Office of the Clerk of the House and House Information Systems.
This database does not contain the full text of the bill but does contain a digest or summary. The full text of the bill is not available online at this time but eventually the full text of the bill will be available in Bill Text.
Information in Bill Status Today can be retrieved by a variety of methods including sponsor, subject, and legislative action. Each document will include the following information when it becomes available:
The U.S. House of Representatives provides a full list of Committee jurisdictions for the following committees:
Committee on Agriculture
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Banking and Financial Services
Committee on the Budget
Committee on Commerce
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
Committee on House Oversight
Committee on International Relations
Committee on the Judiciary
Committee on National Security
Committee on Resources
Committee on Rules
Committee on Science
Committee on Small Business
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Committee on Ways and Means
Each committee name links to a full listing of responsibilities.
The House Committee Actions database can best be described by example:
DEBT CEILING LIMIT
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: On February 8, the Committee held a hearing to provide an update on the debt ceiling limit issue. Testimony was heard from Representatives Saxton, Mica, Kanjorski, and Kennedy of Massachusetts; Robert E. Rubin, Secretary of the Treasury; and public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight: On February 8, the Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations held an oversight hearing on the use of automated screens by Medicare contractors to prevent payment of medically unnecessary claims. Testimony was heard from Gary Kavanagh, Deputy Director, Bureau of Program Operations, Health Care Financing Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; Sally Jaggar, Director, Health Financing and Policy Issues, GAO; and public witnesses.
NII COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
Committee on the Judiciary: On February 8, the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property concluded hearings on H.R. 2441, NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995. Testimony was heard from Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chairperson, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; Tuck Tinsley III, President, American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.; and public
The Current Floor Proceedings database can again be best described by example:
11:07 A.M. - The House adjourned. The next meeting is scheduled for
11:00 a.m. on February 16, 1996.
On motion to adjourn
Agreed to by voice vote.
11:06 A.M. - ONE MINUTE SPEECHES - The House proceeded with one minute
speeches.
11:05 A.M. - The Speaker laid before the House a message from the
President transmitting a report concerning the national
emergency with respect to Iraq - referred to the Committee
on International Relations and ordered to be printed.
The House received a message from the Clerk. Transmitting a
sealed envelope received from the White House at 11:45 a.m.
on Friday, February 9, 1996.
11:04 A.M. - The Speaker laid before the House a message from the
President transmitting a report to the Congress indicating
that Japan has conducted research whaling activities that
diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling
Commission's conservation program - referred to the
Committees on International Relations and Resources and
ordered to be printed.
