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Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for December 2017

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We are excited to bring you the latest Congress.gov updates for December!

New Enhancements for December 2017

Enhancements – Committee Authority Project Phase 2

The Committee Authority Project is a multi-phase project to improve access to committee information.

  • Full official names of Joint Committees display on committee profile pages and on the Committees of the U.S. Congress landing page.
  • Committee Name History includes information about terminated committees and commissions authorized to interact with the Congress.gov data sets.

Legislation Advanced Search Form – Improved Date of Action Search Interface

  • Actions/Status section is reorganized to clarify that the date picker relates to terms entered in the Search in Actions/Status Text box.

Preparation continues for the early 2018 release of the redesigned Congress.gov homepage incorporating Quick Search forms. Backend work performed as part of this release includes updates to the site’s responsive design, navigation, and styling.

Search Tip

Adrienne recently featured this search tip on how to stay up to date with committee action on legislation using Congress.gov email alerts:

Did you know that by using Congress.gov, you can receive notifications of committee action on legislation? Use the Legislation Advanced Search form to create a saved search and set up email alerts to stay informed.

In the Legislation Advanced Search form:

  1. Select the current Congress.
  2. Then scroll down, or use the Actions/Status jump link found on the right side of the form, to access the Full List of legislative actions that are searchable on Congress.gov. Click the All Actions button to open the list and select one – or many – actions for which you would like to receive notifications, such as Referral to Committee, Committee Mark-up, or Reported/Committee Discharged. Note that at the top of the list, you can choose to combine multiple selections with either the OR search operator or the AND search operator, allowing you to adjust the level of specificity of your search.
  3. Next, in the Committees section of the form, click either the Choose House Committees button or Choose Senate Committees button and select the committee for which you want to receive notifications. (Note that it is also possible to select multiple committees from these lists.) For a broader search, say if you want to be alerted anytime a House Committee marks up a bill, you can skip this step. Click the Search button.
  4. In your search results list, click the Save this Search button found above the filters on the left side of the page. Assign your search a title and enter descriptive text if needed. Choose to Get Alerts when prompted. You will receive an alert email whenever the number of items in your saved search results changes (i.e., whenever a new item meeting your search criteria becomes available on Congress.gov). Note that you may also access your saved search from your Congress.gov account and run the search on demand at any time.

 

Top 10

Take a look at this week’s Most-Viewed Bills, which you can subscribe to and receive each week via RSS or email.  Here is the list for the week of December 10, 2017.

1. H.R.38 [115th] Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017
2. H.R.1  [115th] Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
3. H.R.4477  [115th] Fix NICS Act of 2017
4. H.R.2810  [115th] National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018
5. H.J.Res.123  [115th] Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes.
6. S.2155  [115th] Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act
7. S.446  [115th] Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017
8. S.1241  [115th] Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017
9. S.Res.176  [115th] A resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
10. H.R.367  [115th] Hearing Protection Act of 2017

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