(:source
   :version  3
   :ip-address "143.231.86.194"
   :ip-name "wais.house.gov"
   :tcp-port 210 
   :database-name "USHOUSE_bill_status_104th"
   :cost 0.00
   :cost-unit :free
   :maintainer "wadm@hr.house.gov"
   :description 
"WAIS Database created with WAIS Inc. 1-0-11
Hours of availability: 1 AM EST to 6 AM EST

CONTENTS
The Bill Status contains information on the status of federal
legislation introduced in either the House or the Senate.
It is a valuable source for tracking the progress and
substance of legislation.  This database is updated nightly
by staff from the Office of the Clerk of the House and
House Information Systems.

The information comes primarily from the Clerk's office,
who consults daily with committees and sub-committees on
the introduction and progress of legislation.  The Library
of Congress provides the bill digest or summary of all
legislation and the Government Printing Office provides
the Congressional Record page references that cite each
time a bill has had legislation action recorded in the
Congressional Record.  Senate information is forwarded
daily to House Information Systems via computer tape.

Although contacts are made with all Legis sources on a
daily basis, there may be instances where Congressional
or executive action has occurred too late to be included
in that night's system updates done by the Clerk's office.

This database does not contain the full text of the bill
but does contain a digest or summary. The full text of
the bill can be found in the USHOUSE_house_bill_text_104th
database but there can be a lag time of several weeks
between the introduction of a bill and the appearance
of the bill in this database.

SEARCHING
Information in Bill Status can be retrieved by a variety
of methods including bill number, sponsor, subject, date
of introduction, and legislative action.  Each document
will include the following information when it becomes
available:
Congress
Bill No (also contains Public Law Number if bill becomes Law)
Official Title
Sponsor
Date Introduced
Brief Title
Cosponsors
Committee/Subcommittee Referral
Vote Total Out of House Committee
Legislative Action
Amendments (summaries only)
Committee/Conference Report Numbers
Related Legislation
Congressional Record Page Reference

The search may also be limited to the following fields:

Search Label:     Field to be Searched:

BILL              Bill No
INTRODUCED        Date Introduced
SPONSOR           Sponsor
COSPONSOR         Cosponsors
COMMITTEE         Committee/Subcommittee Referral
ACTION            Legislative Action
AMENDMENTS        Amendments

Examples:

Search Terms:                     To Find:

family ADJ leave                  to find the bill
                                  status of all introduced
                                  bills containing the
                                  terms "family leave"
                                  next to each other

bill = (h.r. ADJ 5110)            to find the bill
                                  status information
                                  on "h.r. 5110"

sponsor = armey                   to find the bill
                                  status of all bill
                                  introduced by 
                                  Congressman Armey

action = (public ADJ law)         to find the bills
                                  that have become
                                  public law

"
)
