Bill Tracker
Staying Informed on Legislation
Dateline: 01/22/99
You read or hear about some bill being debated in Congress and think "That bill's going to affect me. I wish I could read the thing." How can you? And, since it can take months for a bill to traverse the legislative process, how do you keep up with its progress along the way?
Rather than just tell you to use the massive Thomas Legislative Information System, I'm creating this page to show you some specific links you can use to track or research legislation.
I've selected some bills just introduced in the House of Representatives to track. During this session of Congress, just come back here to see how the bills are doing. I'll also be adding important or interesting new bills to the page in the future.
I've tried to select bills that represent a cross section of legislation including major bills, spending bills, tax related bills, special interest bills, and just plain interesting bills. Let's start with these:
Index of Legislation
H.R. 15 -- Otay Mountain Wilderness Act of 1999.
H.R. 16 -- To provide a program of national health insurance,
and for other purposes.
H.R. 19 -- Caddie Relief Act of 1999.
H.R. 23 -- Education Bill of Rights Act.
H.R. 35 -- To prohibit the possession or transfer of junk
guns, also known as Saturday Night Specials.
H.R. 40 -- Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for
African-Americans Act.
H.R. 42 -- To repeal the Federal estate and gift taxes.
H.R. 15 -- "A bill to designate
a portion of the Otay Mountain region of California as
wilderness."
Title: Otay Mountain Wilderness Act of 1999
Sponsor: Rep.
Brian Bilbray
(Other bills by Rep. Bilbray)
Cosponsors: None
Introduced:
01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Involved
Resources:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
H.R. 16 -- "A bill to provide
a program of national health insurance, and for other
purposes."
Title: To provide a program of national health insurance, and for
other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep.
John Dingell
(Other bills by Rep. Dingell)
Cosponsors: None
Introduced:
01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Referred to:
Commerce:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Ways and Means:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
H.R. 19 -- "A bill to amend
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 regarding the treatment of golf caddies
for employment tax purposes."
Title: Caddie Relief Act of 1999
Sponsor: Rep.
Dan Burton
(Other bills by Rep. Burton)
Cosponsors: None
Introduced:
01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Involved
Ways &
Means:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
H.R. 23 -- "A bill to provide
grants to local educational agencies to allow such agencies to promote certain
education initiatives."
Title: Education Bill of Rights Act
Sponsor:
Rep. David Dreier
(Other bills sponsored)
Cosponsors: None
Introduced:
01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Involved
Education &
Workforce:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
H.R. 35 -- "A bill to prohibit
the possession or transfer of junk guns, also known as Saturday Night
Specials."
Title: To prohibit the possession or transfer of junk guns, also known
as Saturday Night Specials.
Sponsor: : Rep. Luis Gutierrez
(Other bills by Rep. Gutierrez)
Cosponsors: None
Introduced: 01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Involved
Judiciary:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
H.R. 40 -- "A bill to acknowledge
the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery
in the United States and the13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and
to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently
de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against
African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans,
to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for
other purposes."
Title: Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans
Act
Sponsor: Rep.
John Conyers, Jr.
(Other bills by Rep. Conyers)
Cosponsors:
(9)
Introduced:
01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Involved
Judiciary:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
H.R. 42 -- "A bill to repeal
the Federal estate and gift taxes."
Title: To repeal the Federal estate and gift taxes.
Sponsor: Rep. Bob Stump
(Other bills by Rep. Stump)
Cosponsors: None
Introduced:
01/06/1999
Summary, Status, and Floor Actions
House Committees Involved
Ways &
Means:
(Bills in Committee)
(Schedule)
Full
Text of Bill
The links used above are the "bread-and-butter" of tracking and researching legislation. But if you really want to get fancy and do deep research or search legislation from past sessions of Congress, here are some "power" links:
More Useful Links from the
Thomas Legislative Information
System:
Search
All Legislation - 106th Congress
How to
Use Thomas Legislative Search
Thomas
Legislative Q & A
Hey, this stinking link won't work!
All the web links in this feature worked the day I uploaded this page. Promise.
But, since I do not usually go back and verify links in feature articles,
some links, like even good bologna, will go bad with time. So, if you find
a link in this feature that won't work, and you really, really want to find
it, just email me, and
I'll try to find the new link for you. Thanks for your understanding.
