How to: Compare Bill Texts

• What is Bill Compare Report? 
• When should I use Bill Compare Report? 

Overview

Though there are a fair number of legislative tracking tools available to staffers, one of the best ways to leverage them is through CQ's Bill Compare report. Here, we'll review the step-by-step process for creating one.

What is Bill Compare Report? 

Bill Compare Report is a customized, easy-to-build tool in CQ that takes the bill text from two different versions of a bill (whether they're from the same or different sessions of Congress) and compares them to show text that has been added, changed or removed. You can view the changes side-by-side, as shown above, or inline. 

This is a fantastic way to make use of the access you have as a staffer to bill text, amendment text and more in CQ. 

When should I use Bill Compare Report? 

Whether you need to analyze the text of bills as they move through the legislative process, or compare bills against in the current Congress against different Congresses, Bill Compare report makes that process fast and easy. Here are a few options:

1. If you're looking to identify differences between two bill texts from two different sessions of Congress; 
2. If you're looking to compare different bill texts for a specific appropriations bill; 
3. If you want to compare bill texts before and after markups to see what was added, changed or removed; 
4. And so many more!

See here for an in-depth review of Bill Compare Report.