How to cite a bill or resolution
Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B13 / R13.2 · Statutes & legislation
Example
S. 1983, 93d Cong. § 10 (1973).
More examples
Each of these is checked against the rules on every change to the tool.
- Freedom of Information Act, S. 1160, 88th Cong. § 1 (1965).
- S. Res. 141, 106th Cong. (1999) (enacted).
- H.R. 189, 145th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ga. 1999).
- H.B. 636, 1999 Gen. Assemb., 413th Sess. (Md. 1999).
- Medical Device Right to Repair Act, S.B. 1172, 32d Leg., Reg. Sess. (Haw. 2023).
What the citation needs
Required
- Chamber / designation — R13.2: “H.R.”, “S.”, “H.R.J. Res.”, “S. Con. Res.”
- Bill number — The number that identifies the document in its series.
- Congress — The number of the Congress (“104th”).
When they apply
- Title — The title as it appears on the source. R8(a): capitalize every word except articles, conjunctions and prepositions of four or fewer letters, unless they begin the title or follow a colon.
- Session — The legislative session.
- Session parenthetical — R13.2: required for a bill before the 60th Congress.
- State (state bills) — For a state bill, the state, abbreviated per T10 (R13.2).
- State legislative body — The body that issued the document.
- Section — The section cited (R3.3).
- Year — The year that goes in the date parenthetical at the end of the citation.
- Stage parenthetical — The bill’s stage and date, to tell versions apart: “as passed by Senate, May 31, 1989” (R13.2).
- Parallel citation — Another reporter or source printing the same material, cited after the first (R10.3.1).
- Database citation — A commercial-database citation, where the source is cited to one — “2010 WL 12345”.
- URL — The web address, where you cite the source online (R18.2).
- On file with — Where a reader can get an unpublished or hard-to-find source: what follows “on file with” — “author”, or the library or journal holding it (R17.1).
In a brief and in a law review
The Bluebook sets citations two ways: the Bluepages for court documents and legal memoranda, the Whitepages for law review footnotes. Here is the first example above as each one prints it, in its typeface.
Court documents (Bluepages)
S. 1983, 93d Cong. § 10 (1973).
Law review footnotes (Whitepages)
S. 1983, 93d Cong. § 10 (1973).
For this source the two are set the same way.
Common mistakes
Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.
Wrong
S. 1983, 93rd Cong. § 10 (1973).
Why
Write the number of the Congress as “93d”, not “93rd” (R6.2(b)(ii)).
Right
S. 1983, 93d Cong. § 10 (1973).
Wrong
Freedom of Information Act, S. 1160, 88th Congress § 1 (1965).
Why
Abbreviate “Congress” to “Cong.” (T9).
Could not read the number of the Congress from “88th Congress” (R13.2(a); T9).
Right
Freedom of Information Act, S. 1160, 88th Cong. § 1 (1965).
Wrong
S. Res. 141, 106 Cong. (1999) (enacted).
Why
Write the number of the Congress as “106th”, not “106” (R6.2(b)(ii)).
Right
S. Res. 141, 106th Cong. (1999) (enacted).
Wrong
H.R. 189, 145th General Assembly, Regular Session (Ga. 1999).
Why
Abbreviate “General” to “Gen.” (T6).
Abbreviate “Assembly” to “Assemb.” (T9).
Right
H.R. 189, 145th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ga. 1999).
Governing rules
B13 / R13.2
- 13 — legislative materials.
- 13.2 — bills and resolutions.
- 13.2(a) — unenacted federal bills and resolutions.
- T9 — legislative-document abbreviations.
Build this citation with the generator, check one you have already written, or paste a whole list of footnotes to check them in order.
Related source types
Statutes & legislation: