Transcription
Document Naming ConventionsTo accompany the House standards for ElectronicPosting of House and Committee Documents and DataVersion 1.2.1 1Office of the ClerkLegislative Computer SystemsFebruary 15, 2012, updated on April 24, 20121Version 1.2 – updated based on discussions with committees the week of January 23, 2012. Version 1.2.1 – updated tocorrect an omission of the member’s Bioguide IDs on the sample conventions for the Committee on Appropriations on page16; updated to correct typographical errors.
ContentsIntroduction . 4Linking to documents on GPO or THOMAS . 5Identifying Members . 5Updates to the conventions . 5Feedback. 5Naming Conventions6Bills and Resolutions . 6Bills and Resolutions with measure numbers . 6Bills and Resolutions without measure numbers . 6Bills and Resolutions being considered under suspension . 7Bills and Resolutions being considered under unanimous consent . 7Original Bills and Resolutions being reported from the Committee on Rules . 7Original Bills and Resolutions being reported by the Committee onAppropriations . 8Amendments . 11House and Senate Amendments . 11Floor Amendments . 11Committee/Subcommittee Amendments . 11House and Senate Conference Reports . 12Meeting Notices . 13Multiple Meetings in One Week Notice . 13Single Meeting Notice by Meeting Type. 13Meeting Documents (Hearings, Markups, other). 14Witness List . 14Written Witness Testimony or Witness Statement . 14Documents that may accompany a witness statement . 14Truth in Testimony Disclosure Forms . 15Biographies of non-governmental witnesses . 15Committee Recorded Vote . 15Committee/Subcommittee Amendments . 16Member Statements . 17Documents in general support of the meeting . 17Other Committee Documents . 18Committee Rules . 18Committee Reports . 18Activity Reports . 18Committee Prints . 18Hearing Transcripts . 19Document revisions20Appendix21GPO Collection Types . 21Additional Stages for Bills and Resolutions . 22Committee and Subcommittee Codes . 26Member’s Bioguide ID and Formal Name . 30Document Naming Conventions 3
IntroductionThe House Rules for the 112th Congress call for greater transparency and accessibility to legislative documents.Specifically, two provisions were added to the rules by House Resolution 5: Clause 3 of Rule XXIX provides that a measure or matter will have been considered as having beenpublicly ‘‘available’’ within the meaning of the rules if it was publicly available in electronic form at alocation designated by the Committee on House Administration. Clause 4(d)(1)(E) of Rule X directs the Committee on House Administration to establish and maintainstandards for documents made available in electronic form by the House and its committees.The intention of these two provisions is to ensure that Members and the public have easy access to bills, resolutions,and amendments considered in committee and by the House. According to Chairman Dreier’s statements before theHouse, “The standard for electronic documents is intended to evolve over time. While the standard may initiallyinclude more static formats such as a searchable PDF, the intention is to eventually transition to more flexiblestructured data formats, such as XML, as the tools become available to ease the creation and ensure the integrity ofHouse documents. With respect to availability, the provision is intended to place electronic distribution on par withtraditional printing; rather than entirely replace it. Finally, the rule contemplates a singular location that will directMembers and the public to the text of measures to be considered by the House and its committees.” 2The Speaker and House Leadership have directed the Clerk to create a centralized repository to provide access todocuments that will be considered in committee and by the House. For 2011, the Committee on Rules is providingaccess to legislative text being considered by the House at http://rules.house.gov/billsthisweek.aspx?NewsID 337,and each committee is posting documents under consideration by the committee on their own websites. In 2012, theOffice of the Clerk will maintain the site, http://docs.house.gov which will provide access to legislative text beingconsidered by the House, and in 2013, the site will provide access to legislative text being considered by Housecommittees.Additionally, the Committee on House Administration, as directed by House rules 3, has established standards 4 forposting House and committee documents and data electronically. As part of the standards, the Office of the Clerkhas been directed to, “ publish and maintain naming standards for each document [required to be posted online asoutlined in the standards]”. These standards will facilitate automated searching and uploading of such documents.Files will be posted using permanent URL links. These links will facilitate outside and committee usage of thesefiles. In addition, permanent URL links will allow archived committee web sites to maintain functionality 5.” Thisdocument describes the naming standards for electronic files for congressional documents covered under theaforementioned standards adopted by the Committee on House Administration on December 16, 2011.The goals in the naming conventions include: Reduce duplicate document names in the committee repository; Enable search and search engine capabilities; Allow the document’s name to be self-identifying.Where possible, the naming standards follow existing naming conventions used by the Government Printing Office’sFederal Digital System (FDSys).2Statements of House Committee on Rules chairman David Dreier, before the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressional Record, Jan. 5,2011, pp. H7–H13.3H. Res 5, Rule X - clause 4 sec (d)(1) states that the Committee on House Administration shall— (E) establish and maintain standards formaking documents publicly available in electronic form by the House and its .cha.house.gov/files/documents/member services docs/electronic posting standards.pdf5Committee on House Administration document entitled “Standards for the Electronic Posting of House and Committee Documents & Data”4 Document Naming Conventions
Linking to documents on GPO or THOMASIf a document has already been published and posted on GPO’s FDSys System or the LOC’s THOMAS system, it isacceptable and encouraged to link to these locations.Identifying MembersWhere it is necessary to have a member identifier in the file name, the Member’s Biographical ID number orBioguide ID should be used. The current Members and their Bioguide IDs are listed in the appendix. For formerMembers, see http://bioguide.congress.gov.The benefits of using the Biographical ID number include having a unique identifier within and across Congresses,the Bioguide ID number is already in use by organizations in and outside of the Legislative Branch, and it avoids anyduplicate document names due to duplicate or similar Member names.Updates to the conventionsThe conventions in this document will be updated when it is deemed necessary to add additional document types,add additional clarification to the naming conventions, or other circumstances.Starting with version 1.2 of this document, changes and addition will be noted in an appropriate footnote.FeedbackIf your committee would like to provide feedback on the naming conventions and their use, contact the Committeeon House Administration.Document Naming Conventions 5
Naming ConventionsBills and ResolutionsBills and Resolutions with measure numbersCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bylegis-num (measure type abbreviation measure number), followed by legislative stage abbreviation.Types of MeasuresAbbreviationTypes of MeasuresAbbreviationHouse BillHRSenate BillHouse Joint ResolutionHJResSenate Joint ResolutionSJResHouse Concurrent ResolutionHConResSenate Concurrent ResolutionSConResHouse Simple ResolutionHResSenate Simple ionSampleIntroducedin HouseihThis version is a bill or resolution as formallypresented by a Member of Congress to a clerkwhen the House is in dfBILLS-111hconres127ih.pdfReported inHouserhThis version is a bill or resolution as reported bythe committee or one of the committees to which itwas referred, including changes, if any, made incommittee. The bill or resolution is usuallyaccompanied by a committee report whichdescribes the measure, the committee’s views onit, its costs, and the changes it proposes to makein existing law. The bill or resolution is thenavailable for floor consideration. This versionoccurs with both House and Senate LLS-112hres409rh.pdfSee appendix for other legislative stages.Bills and Resolutions without measure numbersCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followed by PIH, followed by hyphen, followed by briefdescription.Doc TypePre-introducedmeasure; no billnumberAbbreviationPIH6 Document Naming ConventionsDefinitionThe measure has not been assigneda bill number. (pre-introduced)Sample file lecting-sgt-atarms.xml
Bills and Resolutions being considered under suspensionCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bylegis-num (measure type abbreviation measure number), followed by hyphen, followed by SUS.Doc SDefinitionMeasure is being considered undersuspension of the rulesSample file nameBill number:BILLS-112hr123-SUS.pdfIf no bill number:BILLS-112hr-SUS-descriptionBills and Resolutions being considered under unanimous consentCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bylegis-num (measure type abbreviation measure number), followed by hyphen, followed by abbreviation.Doc TypeMotion tionUConsentDefinitionA unanimous consent request askspermission, explicitly or implicitly, toset aside one or more rules. This isa measure that is considered byunanimous consent.Sample file nameBILLS-112hr2887-UConsent.pdfOriginal Bills and Resolutions being reported from the Committee onRulesCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followed by ORH, followed by hyphen, followed by legis-num(measure type abbreviation measure number), or description.Doc TypeFrom RulesCommitteeoriginalreported rulesresolution; ere measure# equalsthe measure number that iscovered by the rule.DefinitionA privileged simpleresolution proposed by theRules Committee thatprovides methods andconditions for floorconsideration of ameasure or, rarely,several measures. Theresolution is also called aspecial rule, special order,or order of businessresolution. It is originallyreported and has nomeasure number.Sample file nameBILLS-112HRes-ORH-Rule-legis-num# cument Naming Conventions 7
Original Bills and Resolutions being reported by the Committee onAppropriations6AppropriationMeasuresOriginal reportedmeasure; no bill number.DefinitionConventionAn appropriations bill proposed by theAppropriations Committee that providesfunds for most federal agencies andprograms. The bill is an originalreported measure and has no billnumber.CONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS,followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number,followed by measure type abbreviation, followed byhyphen, followed by ORH (original measurereported in House), followed by hyphen, followedby description.This is the bill as it is reported to theHouse.Bill as it is beingconsidered by the fullcommittee, followingsubcommitteeconsiderationAn appropriations bill proposed by theAppropriations Committee that providesfunds for most federal agencies andprograms.This is the bill as it is being consideredby the full committee, followingsubcommittee consideration.Bill as it is beingconsidered by thesubcommitteeAn appropriations bill proposed by theAppropriations Committee that providesfunds for most federal agencies andprograms.This is the bill as it is being consideredby the subcommitteeSAMPLESBill as it is beingconsidered by thesubcommitteeCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS,followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number,followed by measure type abbreviation, followed byhyphen, followed by FC (full committeeconsideration), followed by hyphen, followed bydescription.CONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS,followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number,followed by measure type abbreviation, followed byhyphen, followed by SC (subcommitteeconsideration), followed by hyphen, followed bydescription.Bill as it is beingconsidered by the fullcommittee, followingsubcommitteeconsiderationBill as it is beingreported to the HouseAgriculture, RuralDevelopment, Food andDrug Administration, andRelated 12HR-ORH-APFY13-Defense.pdfState, Foreign Operations,and Related 13-StateForOp.pdfInterior, Environment, andRelated nterior.pdfLabor, Health and HumanServices, Education, andRelated aborHHS.pdfEnergy and WaterDevelopment, and -ORH-APFY13-EnergyWater.pdfHomeland -HSecurity.pdf6This convention was expanded to add naming conventions for the measure as it moves through the committeeprocess. Conventions were added for supplement appropriation measures and for continuing resolutions.8 Document Naming Conventions
SAMPLESBill as it is beingconsidered by thesubcommitteeBill as it is beingconsidered by the fullcommittee, followingsubcommitteeconsiderationBill as it is beingreported to the HouseMilitary Construction,Veterans Affairs, andRelated n.pdfCommerce, Justice,Science, and pdfTransportation, Housingand Urban Development,and Related AgenciesBILLS-112HR-SC-APFY13- TransHUD.pdfBILLS-112HR-FC-APFY13- l Services andGeneral 13-FServices.pdfLegislative inal reportedmeasure; no billnumber.Bill as it is beingconsidered by the fullcommittee.DefinitionConventionA supplemental appropriations billproposed by the AppropriationsCommittee that provides funds formost federal agencies andprograms. The bill is an originalreported measure and has no billnumber.CONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followedby hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followedby ORH (original measure reported in House), followedby hyphen, followed by the description “suppl”, followed bya number, where one would indicate the first supplementalfor a particular fiscal year’s supplemental bill.This is the bill as it is reported to dfBILLS-112HR-ORH-AP-FY13-suppl-02.pdfA supplemental appropriations billproposed by the AppropriationsCommittee that provides funds formost federal agencies andprograms.CONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followedby hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followedby FC (full committee consideration), followed by hyphen,followed by the description “suppl”, followed by a number,where one would indicate the first supplemental for aparticular fiscal year’s supplemental bill.This is the bill as it is beingconsidered by full fBILLS-112HR-FC-AP-FY13-suppl-02.pdfBill as it is beingconsidered by thesubcommitteeA supplemental appropriations billproposed by the AppropriationsCommittee that provides funds formost federal agencies andprograms.This is the bill as it is beingconsidered by the subcommittee.CONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followedby hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followedby SC (subcommittee consideration), followed by hyphen,followed by the description “suppl”, followed a by number,where one would indicate the first supplemental for aparticular fiscal year’s supplemental LS-112HR-SC-AP-FY13-suppl-02.pdfDocument Naming Conventions 9
ContinuingresolutionsOriginal reportedresolution; noresolution number.Resolution as it isbeing considered bythe full committee.DefinitionA joint resolution that provides fundsto continue the operation of federalagencies and programs at thebeginning of a new fiscal year if theirannual appropriation bills have notyet been enacted; also calledcontinuing appropriationsCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followedby hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followedby ORH (original measure reported in House), followedby hyphen, followed by the description “cr”, followed by anumber, where one would indicate the resolution for aparticular fiscal year’s continuing resolution.This is the resolution as it isreported to the ILLS-112HJRes-ORH-AP-FY13-CR-02.pdfA joint resolution that provides fundsto continue the operation of federalagencies and programs at thebeginning of a new fiscal year if theirannual appropriation bills have notyet been enacted; also calledcontinuing appropriationsCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followedby hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followedby FC (full committee consideration), followed by hyphen,followed by the description “cr”, followed by a number.This is the resolution as it is beingconsidered by full committeeResolution as it isbeing considered bythe subcommitteeConventionA joint resolution that provides fundsto continue the operation of federalagencies and programs at thebeginning of a new fiscal year if theirannual appropriation bills have notyet been enacted; also calledcontinuing appropriationsThis is the resolution as it is beingconsidered by the subcommittee.10 Document Naming BILLS-112HR-FC-AP-FY13-CR-02.pdfCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followedby hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bymeasure type abbreviation, followed by hyphen, followedby SC (subcommittee consideration), followed by hyphen,followed by the description “cr”, followed a by S-112HR-FC-AP-FY13-CR-02.pdf
AmendmentsHouse and Senate AmendmentsCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bylegis-num (measure type abbreviation number), followed by hyphen, followed by abbreviation.LegislativeStageHouseAmendments toa Senatemeasure (orSenateamendments)before beingconsidered bythe HouseAbbreviationHAmdt (first degree)HAmdt2 (second degree)HAmdt3 (third degree)SAmdt (first degree)SAmdt2 (second degree)SAmdt3 (third degree)DefinitionSample file nameThe basic method forreconciling House andSenate differences on ameasure, by passing itback and forth betweenthe two chambers untilboth have agreed toidentical language bymeans of mdt2.pdf(second degree)BILLS-112s365-HAmdt3.pdf(third degree)Floor AmendmentsCONVENTION: GPO Collection Type of BILLS, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed bylegis-num (measure type abbreviation number), followed by the Sponsor’s Bioguide ID, followed by amendmentnumber.Other Types ideIDAmdt-##where the numberused is theCongressional Recordamdt number whenamendments are preprinted in the Recordor Rules Committeeamdt numberDefinitionAmendmentsconsidered on theHouse Floor.Sample file nameAmendments made in order under the 112hr-HR2401-D000604-Amdt-010.pdfNote: The House does not maintain a consistent numbering system for amendments.Committee/Subcommittee AmendmentsSee the section on Markup documents.Document Naming Conventions 11
House and Senate Conference ReportsCONVENTION: GPO Collection type of CRPT, followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed byHRPT, followed hyphen, followed by report number or legis-num (measure type abbreviation number).Conference Reports with Report NumbersConferenceReportsConference ReportsDefinitionSample file nameA document submitted to both houses thatcontains a conference committee’s proposalsfor resolving their differences on a 12hrpt332.pdfConference Reports without Report NumbersConferenceReportsConference ReportsConferenceReportsConference ReportsMultiple files – text oflegislationDefinitionA document submitted to both houses thatcontains a conference committee’s proposalsfor resolving their differences on a measure.DefinitionA document submitted to bothhouses that contains aconference committee’sproposals for resolving theirdifferences on a measure.If the conference report needs tobe divided into smallerdocuments in order to be posted,it is acceptable to add anextension to the filenames.Conference ReportsMultiple files – jointstatement ofmanagersSample file nameA document that contains thejoint statement of managers thatis part of a conference report.12 Document Naming 12hrpt-HR2055.pdfSample file nameCRPT-112HRPT-measurenumber, followed by adescription.pdfSample – measure was posted by legislative divisions: CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-frontmatter.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-DivisonA.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-DivisonB.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-DivisonB.pdf T-measurenumber-SOM.pdf for full documentcontaining joint statement.Sample – measure was posted by legislative divisions: CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-frontmatter-som.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-DivisonA-som.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-DivisonB-som.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-DivisonB-som.pdf CRPT-112hrpt-HR2055-signaturesheets-som.pdf
Meeting Notices 7Multiple Meetings in One Week NoticeCONVENTION: Collection Type of HMTG , followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed byhyphen, followed by either committee code or subcommittee code, followed by hyphen, followed by week ofYYYYMMDD.Meeting NoticeMultiple Meetings inOne Week NoticeDefinitionSample file nameA document that contains a committee’smeetings notice for a particular calendarweek. (Monday is the start date even if theweek’s Monday is a holiday.)HMTG-112-AG-Weekof20111205Single Meeting Notice by Meeting TypeCONVENTION: Collection Type of HMTG , followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed byhyphen, followed by either committee code or subcommittee code, followed by meeting type abbreviation, followedby hyphen, followed by YYYYMMDD.Meeting TypeAbbreviationSample file nameMeeting for purposeof consideringlegislation (Markup)HMKPHMTG-112-HMKP-BU-20110215.pdf (Budget)HearingsHHRGFull committee:HMTG-112-HHRG-AG-20111205.pdf (Agriculture)Subcommittee:HMTG-112--HHRG- AG03-20110705.pdf (Agriculture, Nutritionand Horticulture)other businessmeetingHMTGHMTG-112-HMTG-RU-20110215.pdf (Rules)Second meeting:HMTG-112-HMKP-BU-20110215-2.pdf*Second meetings in the same calendar day, add hyphen followed by a number at the end of thedocument name.7The meeting notice naming convention should be used for a Hearing Advisory document.Document Naming Conventions 13
Meeting Documents (Hearings, Markups, other)Witness ListCONVENTION: Collection Type of HHRG , followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed byhyphen, followed by committee code, followed by hyphen, followed by WList, followed by date of hearingof YYYYMMDD.Witness ListWitness ListDefinitionSample file nameA document that contains a committee’switnesses that will appear before thecommittee.HHRG-112-ED-WList-20110922.pdfWritten Witness Testimony or Witness StatementCONVENTION: Collection Type of HHRG , followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed byhyphen, followed by committee code or subcommittee code, followed by hyphen, followed by WState, followed bylast name and first initial of the witness 8, followed by date of hearing YYYYMMDD.Witness ListWitness Testimony orWitness StatementDefinitionSample file nameA document that contains the writtentestimony that will be given or has beengiven to the G-112-ED-WState-MartinA-20110922.pdfMembersAdam Smith of Adrian Smith of cuments that may accompany a witness statementThis convention should be used if there are documents (graphs, presentation slides, etc) that may accompany thewitness’s statement that are not part of the witness statement document.CONVENTION: Collection Type of HHRG , followed by hyphen, followed by Congress number, followed byhyphen, followed by committee code, followed by hyphen, followed by WState, followed by first initial and lastname of witness, followed by date of hearing YYYYMMDD, followed by SD, followed by document number asassigned by the committee.Supportingdocument forwitness statementSupporting documentfor witness statementDefinitionAdditional documents thatsupport or accompanying awitness statement. This mayinclude presentation slides,graphics, etc.8Sample file nameHHRG-112-ED-WState-Ivey
Document Naming Conventions. To accompany the House standards for Electronic Posting of House and Committee Documents and Data Version 1.2.1. 1. Office of the Clerk . Legislative Computer Systems . February 15, 2012, updated on April 24, 2012 . 1 Version 1.2 - updated based on discussions with committees the week of January 23, 2012. Version .
