Tracing Legislation

Congress is disorganized, overworked, and very little of what it does becomes law.
                                                 —  Andy Rooney

Lawmaking is the chief function of the United States Congress, although 95% of the bills and resolutions introduced are never enacted into law. Revenue measures must originate in the House of Representatives, but most other legislation can be introduced in either chamber. Although less glamorous than floor debates, committees do most of the work of Congress. There are numerous standing committees in the House and Senate that issue important reports on pending legislation, hold hearings, or commission background reports (Committee Prints) for their own use.

For an overview of the legislative process, see:

• How Our Laws are Made. THOMAS, Library of Congress.
  
  
• Legislative Process in the House. Congressional Research Service Reports.
  
  
• Enactment of a Law [Senate Procedures]. Senate Parliamentarian.
  
  

Bills can be "public bills," affecting the general public, or classes of citizens, or "private bills," pertaining to specific individuals or organizations. Public bills become public laws; private bills, private laws. Both are printed in the United States Statutes at Large (REF KF50 .U5x). Approved concurrent resolutions are also published in the Statutes.

Passage of a typical public bill through Congress

1. A member of Congress must introduce the bill in the House or Senate. Similar or identical bills may be introduced in each chamber. Bills are numbered consecutively throughout a Congress, which has two one-year sessions.
   
   
   
2. The bill is referred to the appropriate committee in the originating chamber, either House or Senate. The committee may:
   
   a. Never take action on the bill, letting it "die"
   b. Combine several bills on one subject
   c. Hold hearings, i.e. public testimony, on the bill or several related bills
   d. Arrange for a special background report (Committee Print) for Committee use
   e. Produce Committee Reports, issued as House Reports or Senate Reports.
   
   
   
3. The bill is favorably "reported out" of Committee. an unfavorable report would be very unusual, since such bills would simply be allowed to die in committee. The report is followed by floor action:
   
   a. Debate, which will appear in the Congressional Record. There may not be debate.
   
   b. Voting by the whole, or plenary session, of the originating chamber, recorded as a voice vote, tally, or roll call. The bill must pass before it can be sent to the other chamber.
   
   
   
4. In the other chamber, the bill, now called an "Act," is referred to an appropriate Committee. The procedure described in 2, above, is again followed. However, hearings will probably not be held again on the same bill.
   
   
   
5. The bill is reported out of Committee for a vote by the whole or "plenary" session of the second chamber. Debates can be held again, appearing in the Congressional Record.
   
   
   
6. If the bill passed by the second House differs from that passed by the originating House, a Conference Committee is convened to iron out differences and agree on a uniform text. The Conference Committee may issue its own report, which will be issued in either the House Report or Senate Report series.
   
   
   
7. The final version of the bill must be passed by plenary sessions of the House and Senate. There may be further debate.
   
   
   
8. The Act, passed by both Houses, goes to the President. If he signs it, the Act becomes a public law. If he does nothing, the bill becomes public law within ten days. If Congress adjourns within ten days, the bill "dies" on the President's desk ("pocket veto"). The president may also veto the bill, but a two-thirds vote in both house and Senate can override it.
   
   
   

The first six months it's "How did I get here?" the next six months it's "How did they get here?"
                                                                       —  Bob Dole

Charting the Path from Bill to Law

The paths of two typical bills, House Bill No. 1 and Senate Bill No. 2, are shown below. Both houses of Congress must pass the identical form of a bill before it can become law. Often, similar legislation is introduced in both houses at the same time, a practice that speeds up the legislative process.

Resources for Tracing Legislation

TO FIND:	CONSULT:
	GPO Access	THOMAS (Library of Congress)	Print & Other Resources
Bills and Related Congressional Publications
H. or S. Bills Full-Text/Summary	1993+ Text/PDF To read PDF:	1989+	Write or e-mail Congressperson for single free copy. Regional Depository at UNC-CH
Hot Bills		Listed on home page	For main provisions of important legislation see: CQ Weekly and CQ Almanac Congressional Digest
Bill Tracking Legislative History	1983+	1973+	CQ Weekly and CQ Almanac Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives UNCA FED DOC Statutes at Large REF KF50 .U5x
Roll-call Votes Voting Records			CQ Weekly and CQ Almanac Congressional Record (Tallies)
CIS Index (to Cong. pubs.)
Reports	1995+	1995+	Search library catalog UNCA FED MIC, 96th Cong.+
Committee Prints	1995+ Selected reports		Search library catalog
H. & S. Documents	1995+		Search library catalog UNCA FED MIC, 96th Cong.+
Hearings (Testimony)	1997-		Search library catalog UNCA FED DOC or FED MIC
Congressional Record	1994- Index 1983-	1989-	Paper daily ed. in FED DOC X: Index to dailies issued fortnightly. Microfiche "bound" ed. replaces dailies; Print index to "bound" ed.

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The URL of this page is http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/rr/tracinglegis.html. For best print output, use page setting of .5 inch margins on all sides and no header. This page created by Araby Greene. Updated 11 February 2009.