Search Tools
You can search Congress.gov using the search bar available on most pages, a collection-specific search form, or advanced search. Advanced search gives you the option of using a form optimized for legislation, a query builder for customized searches, or a command line entry box for using SOLR query syntax. Additional help on searching is listed on the left.
Use fields to control where your search term or phrase is found in a document. Field searching is available from the search bar and the advanced search command line. Expand the accordion below for a complete list of fields, search operators, and examples.
Search by Number (Citation)
To search, enter the prefix and number with or without periods and in upper or lowercase.
Bill, resolution and amendment numbers include an alphabetical prefix and a number. To search, enter the prefix and number with or without periods and in upper or lowercase. To eliminate hits on related bills or bill numbers in summaries, use the field label cite:. For example, cite:"hr933".
Committee reports include an alphabetical prefix, Congress number and report number.
Public laws include an alphabetical prefix, Congress number and law number.
| Document Type | Prefixes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| House Bill | H.R. hr h |
H.R. 1060 114hr1060 |
| House Joint Resolution | H.J.Res. hjres hj hjr |
hjres47 114hj47 |
| House Concurrent Resolution | H.Con.Res. hconres hcres hc hcr |
HCONRES35 114hc35 |
| House Resolution | H.Res. he |
Hres103 114he97 |
| House Amendment | H.Amdt. |
hamdt745 |
| House Report | H.Rept. hrept hrpt house report |
hrept113-252 113hrept252 |
| Senate Bill | S. s |
s823 114s823 |
| Senate Joint Resolution | S.J.Res. sjres sj sjr |
sjres12 114sj12 |
| Senate Concurrent Resolution | S.Con.Res. sconres scres scr sc |
sconres5 114sc11 |
| Senate Resolution | S.Res. sres sr se |
S.Res. 89 114sr89 |
| Senate Amendment | S.Amdt. samdt sa sp |
SA64 |
| Senate Report | S.Rept. srept srpt senate report |
srept111-87 111srept87 |
| Public Law | P.L. pl public law |
PL113-80 113PL80 |
| Private Law | priv private law |
priv112-1 111priv2 |
| Nomination | PN | pn243 114pn243 |
| Treaty Document | TD | 113-5 |
| Executive Communication | EC POM PM |
114ec789 112pm57 114pom32 |
Search Operators
Search operators must be entered in uppercase.
| Operator | Use | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| space between words (no operator) | Defaults to AND operator. Finds results that contain all search terms. |
elementary secondary |
| " " (quotation marks) | Use quotation marks around two or more words to find words or word variants in an exact order. | "polar bear" |
| OR | Use between search terms to find results containing at least one of the terms. | college OR university |
| AND | Use between search terms (words or phrases) to find results containing both. | elementary AND secondary |
| + (plus sign) | Use before a search term to find results containing that term. | +student |
NOT - (minus sign) |
Use before a search term to find results that do not include the term. | sanctuary NOT immigration sanctuary -immigration |
( ) (parenthesis) |
Use around search terms to group terms when using OR, AND and NOT. | (disaster OR emergency) AND (funding OR appropriations) |
| ~ (tilde) | Use with a number after two or more words enclosed in quotation marks to find results containing all words within the specified distance from each other. |
"enhanced body armor"~10 |
| ? (question mark) | Use in the middle or end of a word to indicate a single character 'wildcard'. Finds results that include the search term with a single character variant. NOTE: When using from search forms, be sure to uncheck Word Variants underneath the Words entry box. |
wom?n |
| * (asterisk) | Use in the middle or end of a word to indicate a multiple character 'wildcard'. Finds results that include the search term with zero or more character variants. NOTE: When using from search forms, be sure to uncheck Word Variants underneath the Words entry box. |
approp* |
Fields Across Search Collections
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| All Fields Except Text | metadata: | metadata:"community oriented policing" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:113 |
| Chamber | chamber: | chamber:"House" |
| Title | title: | title:"national defense authorization" |
| Citation (bill, resolution, amendment, report, nomination, treaty or communication number) | cite: | cite:"hr4512" |
| Legislation | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Legislation" |
| Congressional Record | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Congressional Record" |
| Committee Reports | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Committee Reports" |
| Member profiles | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Members" |
| Nominations | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Nominations" |
| Treaty Documents | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Communications to the House | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"House Communications" |
| Communications to the Senate | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Senate Communications" |
Legislation
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Legislation | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Legislation" |
| All Fields Except Text | metadata: | metadata:"child welfare" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:113 congressId:[99 TO 112] |
| Chamber of origin | chamber: | chamber:"Senate" chamber:"House" |
| Citation | cite: | cite:"hres90" cite:"S1635" |
| --Titles | ||
| All Bill Titles | allBillTitles: | allBillTitles:"SNAP" |
| Official Title | officialTitle: | officialTitle:"reauthorize agricultural programs" |
| Popular Title | popularTitle: | popularTitle:"farm bill" |
| Short Title | shortTitle: | shortTitle:"agriculture reform" |
| --Text and Summaries | ||
| Summaries - All | billSummary: | billSummary:"amends the Internal Revenue Code" |
| Summary - Latest | billSummaryLatest: | billSummaryLatest:"defined benefit pension plan" |
| Text - All Bill Versions | billText: | billText:"water conservation" billText:(lytton AND California AND rancheria) |
| Text - Latest | billTextLatest: | billTextLatest:"surface transportation" |
| Text - All Bill Versions, no word variants | billText_nostem: | billText_nostem:"park" billText_nostem:"90%" billText_nostem:"more than $4" |
| Text Update Date | billTextUpdateDate: | billTextUpdateDate:"2015-04-15" |
| Text - Law | lawText: | lawText:"forest" |
| Notes | note: | note:"for further action see" |
| Bill Type | billType: | billType:"HR" billType:"S" billType:"hconres" billType:"SAmdt" |
| Bill Text Version Type | billTextVersionType: | billTextVersionType:"EAS" billTextVersionType:"ATH" |
| -- Actions | ||
| Status of Legislation | billStatus: | billStatus:"Introduced" billStatus:"Committee Consideration" billStatus:"Floor Consideration" billStatus:"Failed One Chamber" billStatus:"Passed One Chamber" billStatus:"Passed Both Chambers" billStatus:"Resolving Differences" billStatus:"To President" billStatus:"Veto Actions" billStatus:"Became Law" |
| Words and Phrases (in Actions) | billAction: | billAction:"waives all points of order" |
| Latest Action - Words and Phrases | latestAction: | latestAction:"by unanimous consent" |
| Action Code | actionCode: | actionCode:"5000" actionCode:(8000 OR 17000) Action Code list |
| --Action Dates | ||
| Introduced Date | introducedDateStr: | introducedDateStr:"2014-08-04" |
| Latest Action Date | latestActionDateStr: | latestActionDateStr:"2014-07-22" |
| Action Date | actionDateStr: | actionDateStr:"2015-08-13" |
| Date of Major Action | actionByDate: | actionByDate:"2015-01-26|1000" |
| Amendment Submitted Date | amendmentSubmittedDate: | amendmentSubmittedDate:"01/04/2017" |
| --Sponsors and Cosponsors | ||
| Sponsor | billSponsor: | billSponsor:"Udall" billSponsor:"bishop rob" billSponsor:"rob bishop" billSponsor:"bishop sandford" billSponsor:"U000001" Bioguide Id list |
| Sponsor/Cosponsor | billSponsorOrCosponsor: | billSponsorOrCosponsor:"King" billSponsorOrCosponsor:"bishop rob" billSponsorOrCosponsor:"rob bishop" billSponsorOrCosponsor:"K000383" |
| Cosponsor | billCosponsor: | billCosponsor:"Burr" billCosponsor:"bishop rob" billCosponsor:"rob bishop" billCosponsor:"B001135" |
| Cosponsor - Original | billOriginalCosponsor: | billOriginalCosponsor:"Davis" billOriginalCosponsor:"bishop sandford" billOriginalCosponsor:"sandford bishop" billOriginalCosponsor:"D000619" |
| Cosponsor - Withdrawn | billWithdrawnCosponsor: | billWithdrawnCosponsor:"Wilson" billWithdrawnCosponsor:"Wilson Joe" billWithdrawnCosponsor:"Joe Wilson" billWithdrawnCosponsor:"W000795" |
| Sponsor - Party | sponsorParty: | sponsorParty:"Democratic" |
| Cosponsor - Party | cosponsorParty: | cosponsorParty:"Republican" |
| Sponsor - State | billSponsorState: | billSponsorState:"MT" |
| Cosponsor - State | billCosponsorState: | billCosponsorState:"ND" |
| Sponsor or Cosponsor - State | billSponsorOrCosponsorState: | billSponsorOrCosponsorState:"NE" |
| Original Cosponsor - State | billOriginalCosponsorState: | billOriginalCosponsorState:"VT" |
| Withdrawn Cosponsor - State | billWithdrawnCosponsorState: | billWithdrawnCosponsorState:"WA" |
| Cosponsorship Date | cosponsorDateStr: | cosponsorDateStr:"2016-01-20" cosponsorDateStr:2016-01* cosponsorDateStr:2016* cosponsorDateStr:["2015-01-03" TO "2015-06-30"] Note: This field does not search amendments. |
| Cosponsor Count | billCosponsorCount: | billCosponsorCount:50 billCosponsorCount:[50 TO *] billCosponsorCount:[1 TO 49] |
| Original Cosponsor Count | billOriginalCosponsorCount: | billOriginalCosponsorCount:3 billOriginalCosponsorCount:[1 TO 3] billOriginalCosponsorCount:[3 TO *] |
| Withdrawn Cosponsor Count | billWithdrawnCosponsorCount: | billWithdrawnCosponsorCount:1 billWithdrawnCosponsorCount:[1 TO 15] billWithdrawnCosponsorCount:[10 TO *] |
| --Committee | ||
| Committee | committee: | committee:"judiciary" |
| Committee - House | houseCommittee: | houseCommittee:"rules" |
| Committee - Senate | senateCommittee: | senateCommittee:"finance" |
| Committee - Joint | jointCommittee: | jointCommittee:"economic" |
| Number of House Committees of Referral | billHouseReferralCommitteeCount: | billHouseReferralCommitteeCount:3 billHouseReferralCommitteeCount:[1 TO 3] billHouseReferralCommitteeCount:[3 TO *] |
| Number of Senate Committees of Referral | billSenateReferralCommitteeCount: | billSenateReferralCommitteeCount:3 billSenateReferralCommitteeCount:[1 TO 3] billSenateReferralCommitteeCount:[3 TO *] |
| --Subjects and Related Bills | ||
| Subject - All | allBillSubjects: | allBillSubjects:"manufacturing" |
| Subject - Policy Area | billPolicyArea: | billPolicyArea:"energy" Policy Area list |
| Subject - Legislative Subject Term | billSubjectTerm: | billSubjectTerm:"Nutrition and diet" Legislative Subject Term list |
| Related Bills | relatedBill: | relatedBill:"SRes347" |
| Bills with related bills | hasRelatedBill: | hasRelatedBill:"Y" |
| Related Bill Type | relatedBillType: | relatedBillType:"Identical bill" |
| Private Bills | isPrivateBill: | isPrivateBill:"Y" |
| Bill is by request | isBillByRequest: | isBillByRequest:"Y" |
| --Calendars | ||
| House - legislative calendar number | houseCalendar: | houseCalendar:"U00095" |
| Senate - legislative calendar number | senateCalendarOrderNumber: | senateCalendarOrderNumber:"0170" |
| --Other | ||
| Reserved Bills | billIsReserved: | billIsReserved:"Y" |
Members
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Members | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Members" |
| Current Members | isSittingMember: | isSittingMember:"Y" |
| Name | memberName: | memberName:"Murphy" memberName:"Murphy Christopher" memberName:"Christopher Murphy" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:113 |
| Chamber | chamber: | chamber:"Senate" |
| Bioguide Id | memberBioguideId: | memberBioguideId:"C001080" Bioguide Id list |
| Party | politicalParty: | politicalParty:"Democratic" |
| State | memberState: | memberState:"Kansas" |
Congressional Record
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Congressional Record | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Congressional Record" |
| Section | crArticleSectionName: | crArticleSectionName:"Extensions of Remarks" |
| Title | crArticleTitle: | crArticleTitle:"text of amendments" |
| Text | crArticleContent: | crArticleContent:"emergency unemployment" |
| Member Speaking | crMemberRemarks: | crMemberRemarks:"Smith" crMemberRemarks:"Adrian Smith" crMemberRemarks:"Smith Adrian" |
| Volume Number (Year) | crArticleVolume: | crArticleVolume:"150" |
| Issue Date | crArticleDateStr: | crArticleDateStr:"2014-05-22" crArticleDateStr:["2014-01-01" TO "2014-03-31"] |
| Issue Number | crIssueNumber: | crIssueNumber:"125" |
| Page Number | crArticleStartPage: | crArticleStartPage:"H6609" |
Committee Reports
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Committee Reports | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Committee Reports" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:113 |
| Title | congReportTitle: | congReportTitle:"chemical safety" |
| Committee | congReportCommittee: | congReportCommittee:"appropriations" |
| Committee - House | houseCommittee: | houseCommittee:"foreign affairs" |
| Committee - Senate | senateCommittee: | senateCommittee:"energy and natural resources" |
| Committee - Joint | jointCommittee: | jointCommittee:"economic" | Conference Reports | congReportIsConferenceReport: | congReportIsConferenceReport:"Y" |
| Report Type | congReportType: | congReportType:"House Report" |
| Citation | cite: | cite:"srept113-5" |
| Bill Number | congReportBillNum: | congReportBillNum:"HR4310" |
| Text | congReportContent: | congReportContent:"early childhood education" |
Nominations
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nominations | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Nominations" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:113 |
| Nominee Name | nomineeName: | nomineeName:"Junor" |
| Position | nomineePosition: | nomineePosition:"secretary" |
| Organization | nomineeOrganization: | nomineeOrganization:"department of state" |
| State or Territory (of nominee) | nomineeState: | nomineeState:"Montana" |
| Committee | senateCommittee: | senateCommittee:"foreign relations" |
| Status of Nomination | nominationStatus: | nominationStatus:"Returned to President" |
| Action - Words and Phrases | action: | action:"hearings held" |
| Date - Received in Senate | nominationReceivedDateStr: | nominationReceivedDateStr:"2015-01-08" nominationReceivedDateStr:["2014-01-01" TO "2014-12-31"] |
| Date - Confirmed in Senate | nominationConfirmedDateStr: | nominationConfirmedDateStr:"2014-06-03" nominationConfirmedDateStr:2015* |
| Date - Latest Action | latestActionDateStr: | latestActionDateStr:"2015-04-15" latestActionDateStr:2015-04* |
| Nomination Type | nominationType: | nominationType:"army" |
| Executive Calendar Number | senateCalendarOrderNumberString: | senateCalendarOrderNumberString:"0278" |
| Privileged Nominations | isPrivileged: | isPrivileged:"Y" |
| Number of nominees (on one nomination) | nomineeCount: | nomineeCount:3 |
| Citation (PN number) | cite: | cite:"pn1730" |
Treaty Documents
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Treaty Documents | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| All Fields Except Text | metadata: | metadata:"sea" AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:114 AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Citation | cite: | cite:"110-22" AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Actions - Words and Phrases | action: | action:"reported" AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Action Code | actionCode: | actionCode:"S05215" AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Latest Action | latestAction: | latestAction:"returned" AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| Date Received in Senate | treatyReceivedDateStr: | treatyReceivedDateStr:"2014-05-20" |
| Latest Action Date | latestActionDateStr: | latestActionDateStr:"2014-12-17" AND legislativeSource:"Treaty Documents" |
| All Treaty Titles | allTreatyTitles: | allTreatyTitles:"extradition" |
| Formal Title | treatyFormalTitle: | treatyFormalTitle:"tax convention" |
| Short Title | treatyShortTitle: | treatyShortTitle:"oil pollution" |
| Text - Resolution of Ratification | treatyResolutionText: | treatyResolutionText:"reservation" |
| Text - Treaty Document | treatyDocText: | treatyDocText:"fisheries" |
| Topic | treatyTopic: | treatyTopic:"Human Rights" |
| Organization | treatyOrganization: | treatyOrganization:"United Nations" |
| Country | treatyCountry: | treatyCountry:"Bulgaria" |
| Related Documents | treatyRelatedDoc: | treatyRelatedDoc:"Ex. Rept. 111-2" |
House Communications
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| House Communications | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"House Communications" |
| Communication Number | cite: | cite:"ec111" |
| Communication Type | execCommunicationTypeCode: | execCommunicationTypeCode:"PM" execCommunicationTypeCode:"EC" execCommunicationTypeCode:"PT" execCommunicationTypeCode:"ML" |
| Record Type | communicationRecordType: | communicationRecordType:"C" communicationRecordType:"R" |
| Abstract | abstract: | abstract:"final rule" |
| Report Nature | reportNature: | reportNature:"congressional review" |
| Related Document | communicationRelatedDoc: | communicationRelatedDoc:"61" |
| Legal Authority | legalAuthority: | legalAuthority:"5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A)" |
| Submitted By | submittedBy: | submittedBy:"Interior" |
| State or Territory | communicationStateFacet: | communicationStateFacet:"PA" |
| Date - Congressional Record | crDateStr: | crDateStr:"2017-10-31" crDateStr:[2017-10-31 TO 2017-11-02] crDateStr:[* TO 2017-11-02] crDateStr:[2017-10-31 TO *] |
| Date - Referred to Committee | committeeReferralDateStr: | committeeReferralDateStr:"2017-10-02" committeeReferralDateStr:[2017-10-02 TO 2017-11-02] committeeReferralDateStr:[* TO 2017-10-02 ] committeeReferralDateStr:[2017-10-02 TO *] |
| Committee | committee: | committee:"Agriculture" |
Senate Communications
| To restrict your search to... | Use this field label... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Senate Communications | legislativeSource: | legislativeSource:"Senate Communications" |
| Congress | congressId: | congressId:114 |
| Communication Type | execCommunicationType: | execCommunicationType:"POM" execCommunicationType:"PM" execCommunicationType:"EC" |
| Committee | senateCommittee: | senateCommittee:"foreign relations" |
| Abstract | abstract: | abstract:"pursuant to law" abstract:"boy scouts" |
| Date - Congressional Record | crDateStr: | crDateStr:"2015-01-08" crDateStr:["2014-01-01" TO "2014-12-31"] |
| Date - Referred to Committee | committeeReferralDateStr: | committeeReferralDateStr:"2014-06-03" committeeReferralDateStr:2015* |
| Related Documents | communicationRelatedDoc: | communicationRelatedDoc:"H. Doc. 107-73" |
| Communication Number | cite: | cite:"ec901" |