Congress.gov has statutory information from the 93rd Congress (1973-1974) to present.
GovInfo contains all published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress forward.
Eugene Nabors' Legislative Reference Checklist is intended to provide a systematic reference to the numbers of the U.S. Congressional bills and joint resolutions which became law from the 1st Congress (1789) through the 57th Congress (1903).
Beginning with the 58th Congress (March 4, 1903-present), bill numbers for enacted statutes can be obtained by consulting the applicable Statutes at Large volume where the text of the statute appears. The bill number is found in the margin at the beginning of the statute. Note that very long (oversized) statutes may be bound separately in pamphlet form.
To find Congressional Bills in ProQuest Congressional, go to the top navigation bar and click Legislative & Executive Publications. Select Search by Number from the dropdown menu, then Legislation > Congressional Bills.
The U.S. Code Congressional Service (1941-1950), U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative Service (1951), and U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN, 1952-present) also include the bill number in brackets and in the "Tables" section.
Congress.gov has statutory information from the 93rd Congress (1973-1974) to present.
GovInfo contains all published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress forward.
To find Congressional Bills in ProQuest Congressional, go to the top navigation bar and click Legislative & Executive Publications. Select Search by Number from the dropdown menu, then Legislation > Congressional Bills.
Two more sources of bills that were never enacted are Congressional Index and the CQ Almanac.
The format of a bill number is [Chamber][Type][Number]. For the U.S. Congress, there are two chambers
There are several types of bills:
Here are some example bill numbers: HB5592, S.Res.536, H.Con.Res.280, SJR375.
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The number assigned to a bill when introduced in the Congress provides the most direct historical reference for tracing legislative history. Where you should look for these numbers depends on whether or not the bill was enacted.
