CONVENTIONS USED TO DESCRIBE CONGRESSSIONAL BILLS, REPORTS, AND TESTIMONY

1. House of Representatives Bill

      bill #        session #
hr_______________-_______________.txt    for example: hr656-102.txt


2. Senate Bill

      bill #        session #
s_______________-_______________.txt     for example: s272-102.txt


3.  House of Representatives Report

      report #       session #
hr_______________-_______________.txt


4.  Senate Report

      report #       session #
sr_______________-_______________.txt    for example: sr387-101.txt


5.  Hearing Testimony

  abbreviation        bill #
 _______________-________________.txt    for example: gao-s272.txt


6.  Public Law

     session #        law  #
pl-_____________-________________.txt   for example: pl-102-194.txt

Definitions:

Bill:

A proposed law, usually drafted in a congressional committee (House or
Senate).  May be subjected to changes before it becomes law.

Hearings:

Official testimony relating to a specific bill, before a congressional
committee or subcommittee, by individuals, organizations, or businesses.

Report:

A congressional "Report" (House or Senate) summarizes and analyzes
a bill, (or "act") includes its legislative history, and explains and
details changes to the initial proposal.  The report will include the
date of issue (legislative day) and the date of its actual publication.

Session:

The biennial term or meeting of Congress, given numerically, 101st, 102nd,
etc.

Some of the files in this directory may be scanned in from a paper document.
Other files have been made available via the Merit Network/NSFNET Information
Services Machine.  We remind the user that there is no guarantee of absolute
accuracy or that changes in the content made after the file was uploaded have
been incorporated.
