Penn State University Libraries - Markup

As legislation is reviewed at the committee and subcommittee level the language often changes. Committees hold sessions during which legislation is reviewed line-by-line and changes are made. These sessions are referred to as markup. Thus a bill submitted to a committee is often very different from the bill reported out of committee. While transcripts of the deliberations from these sessions are not available, the changes made to the language of the bill are recorded. Examining the different versions of a bill and how it was "marked up" can be useful when studying the evolution of legislation.

All versions of bills from the late 1970s on are available in the Social Sciences Library microfiche collection. More recently, databases provide online access:

• ProQuest Congressional [Penn State Libraries] (available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account)

• THOMAS (Library of Congress)

• U.S. Government Printing Office