This brief outline is provided as an aid to those attempting to make sense of the status that is reported for various bills being considered by the Congress. Listed here are the various bill version status categories and what they each mean:
A bill or resolution introduced by a House/Senate member or members, read twice by the House/Senate clerk, and referred to a House/Senate committee.
A bill or resolution for which the committee is changed.
A House bill or resolution with cosponsor additions (or deletions) since the bill or resolution was introduced. Only the preamble will change from the introduced version. The text of the bill is the same.
A House/Senate bill or resolution reported by the House/Senate committee to which it was referred. There will be specific instructions in the preamble for deleted and/or inserted text. If no changes were made inthe reported version (from the introduced version), the preamble instructions will be "without amendment."
A House or Senate bill or resolution that is referred to a House/Senate committee with specific instructions; for instance, the committee may be given 30 days to report the bill.
A House or Senate bill that was earlier referred to a House/Senate committee, was not reported by that committee, but was instead discharged. (Referred to as discharged House/Senate). This usually means the bill will have action on the House/Senate floor.
A House bill or resolution that hasn't had committee referral or floor action. It could also be a Senate bill or resolution received in the House but not yet referred to a House committee or scheduled for House floor action.
A House/Senate resolution (H.Res., H.J.Res., H.Con.Res./S.Res., S.J.Res., S.Con.Res.) that has been agreed to by the House/Senate.
A House/Senate bill (H.R./S.) that has been considered and passed in the same chamber.
Passed by the House/Senate. For a "simple" resolution (H.Res./S.Res.) action is completed. Simple resolutions are not referred to the other chamber.
A Senate bill or resolution passed by the Senate, received by the House, and referred to a House committee.
A House bill or resolution passed by the House, received by the Senate, and referred to a Senate committee.
A House bill or resolution passed by the House and received in the Senate, that has NOT been referred to a Senate committee or placed on the Senate calendar.
A bill or resolution that has been introduced in the Senate, or passed by the House and referred to the Senate, and then placed on the Senate calendar; it has been scheduled for action on the Senate floor.
A House or Senate bill or resolution that has passed the House/Senate and has been referred to the other chamber. The House/Senate, in passing (engrossing) the measure, has amended (made changes to) the measure. At this point the measure is NOT cleared for the President. Because the House/Senate has made changes, the measure returns to the other chamber. If the other chamber agrees to the amendments, the measure is cleared for the President. (At this point, the leadership of the House and Senate may also agree to hold a joint conference committee to resolve the differences between the two versions of the bill.)
A bill or resolution that has been passed with amendments is often followed by a Public Print. This means that the bill is printed, with the amendments incorporated in the bill text (as opposed to the Engrossed Amendment version, which is just the text of the amendments).
A bill or resolution (with the exception of simple resolutions, H.Res. and S.Res.) that has been passed by both houses, and is cleared for the President. This does not mean that the President has signed the bill, or that the bill will become law. (As provided by the Constitution, the President has 10 days, not including Sundays, in which to sign the bill, after which the bill automatically becomes law unless the President vetoes the bill; also if the Congress adjourns before the expiration of the 10 days, then the bill does not become law.)
Any version of a measure can be followed by a Star Print. The Star Print version will have the same date as the original version. Star prints are requested and printed because of a typographical error and/or other logical error found in the text. The Star Print is the corrected version.
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