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Before you start, you need to decide what you're looking for:

1. The text and status of a bill currently before Congress
2. The text of an act as it was passed by Congress OR
3. The law as it is currently in effect, complete with changes that may have been made since the law was enacted

Finding the current status and text of a bill: CQ Weekly Reports Use the Advanced Search. THOMAS: Bill Summary and Status Searchable by keyword, sponsor, bill number, etc. Current Congress.

This is the Advanced Search screen of CQ Weekly Reports.

Finding public laws (PL or Stat):

• Westlaw
  Use the Shortcuts box to search by PL or Stat. citation. Keyword searching doesn't work for PLs.
• THOMAS: Public Laws
  Searchable by public law number. 101st Congress+
• GPO Access Public Laws
  1995+ (104th Congress).

Finding laws in the U.S. Code (USC):

• Westlaw
  Search by subject, and don't forget the quotation marks around phrases (ex. "intellectual property"). Note that Westlaw uses the West commercial version of the Code, U.S. Code Annotated. The text of the law remains the same, but USCA contains case notes and comments concerning the application of the law.
• GPO Access