Navigating the Search Results for Bill Text
If there is only one version of the bill number entered, the result will be a display of either the entire text of the bill – if it is small enough – or of a set of links to sections of the bill – if the bill is too long to be quickly downloaded. This set of links looks like a Table of Contents for the bill, but it is not. The links simply represent entry points into the text or the beginnings of approximately equal "chunks" of text (about 10k). At the end of each "chunk," there are various navigation buttons, including "forward," which will take you to the next "chunk." If there are multiple versions of the bill, the result will display a list of those versions as in this example:
There are 7 versions of Bill Number H.R.3590 for the 111th Congress.
- Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 (Introduced in House - IH)[H.R.3590.IH][PDF]
- Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 (Engrossed in House [Passed House] - EH)[H.R.3590.EH][PDF]
- Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 (Placed on Calendar Senate - PCS)[H.R.3590.PCS][PDF]
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Amendment in Senate - AS)[H.R.3590.AS][PDF]
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Print - PP)[H.R.3590.PP][PDF]
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Engrossed Amendment Senate - EAS)[H.R.3590.EAS][PDF]
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Enrolled Bill [Final as Passed Both House and Senate] - ENR)[H.R.3590.ENR][PDF]
The extensions following the bill number represent different versions of the bill and correspond to different stages in the legislative process. They are listed in chronological order, and their meaning is largely explained in the proceding parentheses. A particularly important extension to note is .enr, which indicates an "enrolled" bill. An enrolled bill is one that has been passed by both chambers of Congress and sent to the president for signature. It represents the final version of the bill. View a more detailed definition of an enrolled bill.
Further explanations of bill types may be found on the Senate Web site.
Results from a Word/Phrase Search
By default, the result set of a word/phrase search in Bill Text displays bills in relevancy-ranked order.
The results of this search are displayed in four "tiers." For example, a search in the 107th Congress on nuclear power plants yields this result:
50 Bills from the 107th Congress ranked by relevance on "nuclear power plants."
- 44 bills containing your phrase exactly as entered.
- 3 bills containing all your search words near each other in any order.
- 3 bills containing all your search words but not near each other.
- 0 bills containing one or more of your search words.
Following this display are brief descriptions of the bills and links to them.
A search that yields no results with the exact or near-exact phrase may still yield results of value to you. For instance, a search in the 107th Congress on oil drilling in national parks yields this:
50 Bills from the 107th Congress ranked by relevance on "oil drilling in national parks ".
- 0 bills containing your phrase exactly as entered.
- 0 bills containing all your search words near each other in any order.
- 31 bills containing all your search words but not near each other.
- 19 bills containing one or more of your search words.
The 31 bills that do contain the words entered (except the stopword "in") may in fact be the bills relevant to your query.
Once you have completed a search in the THOMAS Bill Text feature, your search results are returned on a page with a "navigation panel" at the top and bottom. The set of links in the panel allows you to move quickly and efficiently through your search results set or "hit list." The navigation panel in the Bill Text files appears in this format:
| THIS SEARCH | THIS DOCUMENT | GO TO |
|---|---|---|
| Next Hit | Forward | New Search |
| Prev Hit | Back | Home Page |
| Hit List | Best Section | Help |
| Contents Display |
If more than one record is returned as a result of your bill text search, a "hit list" (list of bills, each with a brief display), will be presented. The "brief display" shows the bill title, bill version (e.g., Introduced in the House, Placed in the Senate, Reported in the Senate) and the bill number, which is a link.
At this point in the process, only the three links in the GO TO section of the navigation panel are active:
- New Bills Search: Links to the top-level Bill Text page in the Congress you were searching.
- Home Page: Links to the THOMAS home page.
- Help: Links to the Help home page.
When you select one of the links from the results, the full display is presented. There are two versions of the full display:
- If the selected bill version is short (under 10K), the entire text of the bill is displayed on the screen.
- If the selected bill version is longer than 10K, a Table of Contents for the bill version is shown. Each line in the Table of Contents represents an entry point into the text of the bill at that section.
In the full display, several additional links in the "navigation panel" are active. In the THIS SEARCH section of the panel, you can select from among these links:
- Next Hit: Links to the full display for the next bill in the results list.
- Prev Hit: Links to the full display for the previous bill in the results list.
- Hit List: Links to the brief display results list.
In the THIS DOCUMENT section of the navigation panel, choose from among these links:
- Forward: When you select a title from the Table of Contents listing for longer bills, that part of the bill is displayed in a "chunk" of 10K in length (manageable for most browsers to display). When you come to the end of the "chunk," you can continue reading through the bill by selecting “Forward.”
- Back: In the full text of a bill, selecting “Back” Links to the "chunk" of text preceding the one you are now viewing.
- Best Sections: When the bills in the "hit list"
are returned as the result of a word/phrase search, “Best Sections”
builds, for longer bills, a "mini" Table of Contents of sections
of the bill where the search word/phrase appears.
For example, perhaps you are interested only in the section of defense appropriations bills that mention the purchase of tracked combat vehicles. Do a search on the phrase "tracked combat vehicles." Select the bill link for a version of the defense appropriations bill from the brief display results list. When the full display (Table of Contents version) of the bill appears, go to the navigation panel at the top of the page and click on "Best Sections." You will then see a brief listing of sections of the bill that contain your search phrase: "tracked combat vehicles." You can view the text of these sections only, without having to read through the entire bill to find the instance of your search word/phrase. - Contents Display: Links to the Table of Contents
display for longer bills.
Navigating the Search Results for the Congressional Record
Once you have completed a Congressional Record search, your search results are returned on a page with a "navigation panel" at the top and bottom. The set of links in the panel allows you to move quickly and efficiently through your results set or "hit list."
The navigation panel in the Congressional Record results appears in this format:
| THIS SEARCH | THIS DOCUMENT | THIS CR ISSUE | GO TO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next Hit | Forward | Next Document | New Search |
| Prev Hit | Back | Previous Document | Home Page |
| Hit List | Best Section | Daily Digest | Help |
| Contents Display |
If more than one document is returned as a result of your search, a "hit list" -- list of documents in a brief display -- will be presented. This list of documents in the brief format shows the document title, the section of the record in which the document appears (House, Senate, Extensions of Remarks, Daily Digest) and the date of the issue of the record in which the document appears. The section and date are a linked to the full display for that document.
At this brief display only certain links in the GO TO section of the navigation panel are active:
GO TO
- New Search: Links to the Congressional Record search page.
- Home Page: Links to the THOMAS home page.
- Help: Links to the Help home page.
The document links from the brief results list to the full display of the record document. If the document is short (under 10K), the full display is the entire text of the document. If the document is lengthy, a Table of Contents for that document is shown. Each of the links in the Table of Contents links to a section of the text of that Congressional Record document. Table of content lines may be topics, member names (to mark comment on the floor or text inserted by the member) or even page numbers corresponding to the page number in the printed edition of the record for that document.
In this full display of the document, additional links from the THIS SEARCH, THIS DOCUMENT and THIS CR ISSUE sections of the navigation panel are active.
THIS SEARCH
- Next Hit: Links to the full display of the next document on the results list ("hit list").
- Prev Hit: Links to the full display of the previous document on the results list ("hit list").
- Hit List: Links to the search results brief display list showing the document title, part of the record in which the document appeared, and date of the issue of the record in which the document was published.
THIS DOCUMENT
- Forward: When you select a title from the Table of Contents listing for longer record documents, that text of that document is displayed in a "chunk" of 10K in length (manageable for most browsers to display). When you come to the end of the "chunk", you can continue reading through the document by selecting “Forward.”
- Back: Links to the "chunk" of text preceding the one you are now viewing.
- Best Sections: Links to the section(s) of the document most relevant to your search query.
- Contents Display: Links to the Table of Contents for the current document (generated only for longer documents).
THIS CR ISSUE
- Next Document: Links to the next document in this day's issue of the record.
- Previous Document: Links to the previous document in this day's issue of the Record.
- Daily Digest: Links to the full text of the Daily Digest in this day's issue of the Record.
Navigating the Search Results in Committee Reports
Once you have completed a search of Committee Reports, your results are returned on a page with a "navigation panel" at the top and bottom. The set of links in the panel allows you to move quickly and efficiently through your search results set or "hit list." The navigation panel in the Committee Reports feature appears in this format:
THIS SEARCH |
THIS DOCUMENT |
GO TO |
|---|---|---|
| Next Hit | Forward | New Search |
| Prev Hit | Back | Home Page |
| Hit List | Full Display | Help |
| Contents Display |
Jump to the First Word (only linked from the Full Display of a report).
If more than one committee report is returned as a result of your search,
a "hit list" -- list of reports in a brief display -- will be
presented. The "brief display" shows the report title and report
number, which is a link to the full display.
In this brief display only the links in the GO TO section of the navigation panel are active:
- New Search: Links to the Committee Reports search page for the Congress you were searching.
- Home Page: Links to the THOMAS home page.
- Help: Links to the Help home page.
When you select one of the committee report links from the brief display, the full display is presented. There are two versions of the full display.
- If the selected report is very short (under 10K), the entire text of the report is displayed on the screen.
- If the selected report is longer than 10K, a clickable Table of Contents for the report is displayed. Each line in the Table of Contents represents an entry point into the text of the report at that section.
In the full display, several additional links in the "navigation panel" are active.
In the THIS SEARCH section of the panel, you can select from among these links:
- Next Hit: Links to the full display for the next report in the hit list.
- Prev Hit: Links to the full display for the previous report in the hit list.
- Hit List: Links to the brief display results list.
In the THIS DOCUMENT section of the navigation panel, choose from among these links:
- Forward: When you select a title from the Table of Contents listing for longer reports, that part of the text is displayed in a "chunk" of 10K in length (manageable for most browsers to display). When you come to the end of the chunk, you can continue reading by selecting “Forward.”
- Back: In the full text of a report, links to the "chunk" of text preceding the one you are now viewing.
- Full Display: Links to the Table of Contents for the report or the entire text of the report.
- Contents Display: Links to the Table of Contents display for longer reports.
- Jump to the First Word: When the reports in the "hit list" are returned as the result of a word/phrase search, “Jump to the First Word” Links to the first appearance of the word/phrase entered.