Congressional Bill Citation Generator
Cite a U.S. House or Senate bill or resolution that has not become law. Enter its number, the Congress and the date, and get APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18 citations with the abbreviations each style uses — H.R., S. Res., H.R.J. Res. and the rest. Free, no sign-up.
Bill or resolution details
Use the official short title from Congress.gov. Leave it empty for a bill without one.
The number only — 113 for the 113th Congress (2013–2014).
Your citations
Enter the bill number and the Congress to see your citations.
How to Use the Congressional Bill Citation Generator
- 1. Find the bill on Congress.gov. The bill page shows its type and number (H.R. 1100), the Congress (113th), the date introduced and its official short title, if it has one.
- 2. Choose the type and enter the number. Pick the designation exactly as Congress.gov shows it — H.R., S., H.Res., S.J.Res. and so on. The generator converts it to the Bluebook abbreviation for APA and Chicago and spells it out for MLA.
- 3. Add the Congress, session and date. Type the Congress as a number (113). The year in APA and Chicago is the year of the version you cite, usually the year introduced; MLA also uses the session and the date.
- 4. Copy the citations. Add a section if you cite one provision, then copy the reference entry, in-text citation or footnote.
Did the bill become law?
Then cite the statute — the public law or the U.S. Code section — not the bill. APA, Chicago and the Bluebook all cite an enacted bill as a statute.
Reading a Bill Number
Bills and resolutions are numbered within one Congress — a two-year term — so a number alone is not unique: H.R. 1100 of the 113th Congress (2013–2014) is a different measure from H.R. 1100 of a later Congress. That is why every style gives the Congress.
| Congress.gov | Legal citation | MLA spells out | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| H.R. | H.R. | House Bill | A bill introduced in the House |
| S. | S. | Senate Bill | A bill introduced in the Senate |
| H.Res. / S.Res. | H.R. Res. / S. Res. | House / Senate Resolution | A simple resolution of one chamber only |
| H.J.Res. / S.J.Res. | H.R.J. Res. / S.J. Res. | House / Senate Joint Resolution | Passes both chambers and, like a bill, goes to the president — except one proposing a constitutional amendment |
| H.Con.Res. / S.Con.Res. | H.R. Con. Res. / S. Con. Res. | House / Senate Concurrent Resolution | Passes both chambers but does not go to the president |
Legal citations also write the Congress with the Bluebook's ordinals — 102d and 103d, not 102nd and 103rd — and put a section number after it, as in Tarlton Law Library's Bluebook example: Orphan Works Act of 2008, H.R. 5889, 110th Cong. § 2 (2008).
How the Styles Differ
APA 7 (§11.6) uses the legal form — the short title if there is one, the designation and number, the Congress and the year — and cites the title and year in text. Chicago 18 (§14.184) uses the same form in a note and leaves bills out of the bibliography. MLA 9 names the chamber as author (United States, Congress, House), gives the title in roman type and the website you used, and ends with the Congress, session, bill number and status, as the MLA Handbook (§5.118) suggests. The MLA Style Center's own example calls an H.R. bill a House Resolution; an H.R. number is a bill, so the generator writes House Bill.
Bill Citation Examples
The Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, introduced in the House on March 12, 2013 — the bill the APA Publication Manual uses as its example:
APA 7th edition
Reference list:
Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, 113th Cong. (2013). https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1100
In-text (parenthetical):
(Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, 2013)
In-text (narrative):
Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act (2013)
MLA 9th edition
Works Cited:
United States, Congress, House. Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act. Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1100. 113th Congress, 1st session, House Bill 1100, introduced 12 Mar. 2013.
In-text citation:
(United States, Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act)
Chicago 18th edition (notes)
Footnote:
Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, 113th Cong. (2013), https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1100.
Common Mistakes
- Citing an enacted bill as a bill. Once it is signed, cite the public law or the U.S. Code section.
- Leaving out the Congress. H.R. 1100 is reused in every Congress; without 113th Cong. the citation points nowhere.
- Copying Congress.gov's abbreviations into legal form. H.Res. 811 on Congress.gov is H.R. Res. 811 in a Bluebook citation.
- Writing 102nd Cong. Legal citations use 102d and 103d.
- Using the long title as the title. “To amend the Public Health Service Act to …” describes the bill; cite its short title, or none.
- A bibliography entry in Chicago. Chicago cites bills in notes only.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you cite a bill in APA 7?
- Use the legal form: Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, 113th Cong. (2013), followed by the Congress.gov URL. In text, cite the title and year — (Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, 2013). A bill with no short title starts with its number: (H.R. 1100, 2013), or House Bill 1100 (2013) in a sentence.
- How do you cite a bill in MLA?
- Name the chamber as the author, then the title, the website and URL, and the Congress, session, bill number and status: United States, Congress, House. Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act. Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1100. 113th Congress, 1st session, House Bill 1100, introduced 12 Mar. 2013.
- Which year goes in a bill citation?
- The year of the version you cite. For a bill that never left committee, that is the year it was introduced. If you cite a later version, such as the text one chamber passed, use that version's year and say which version it is.
- What is the difference between H.R., H.Res. and H.J.Res.?
- H.R. is a House bill. H.Res. is a simple resolution that only the House acts on, usually about its own rules or a statement of its views. H.J.Res. is a joint resolution: it passes both chambers and, unless it proposes a constitutional amendment, goes to the president like a bill.
- Where do I find a bill's number and Congress?
- Congress.gov lists every bill with its designation, Congress, sponsor, date introduced and every action since. GovInfo has the official text of each printed version.
- Does a bill go in a Chicago bibliography?
- No. Chicago 18 cites bills and resolutions in notes only, in the Bluebook form: Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, 113th Cong. (2013).