[See EFFector 7.13 for criticism of this system.] NEWS RELEASE - U.S. Government Printing Office - no. 94-9 For release: immediate Contact: John Berger September 27, 1994 202-512-1525 Internet e-mail John@eids06.eids.gpo.gov GPO PUTS CONGRESSIONAL BILLS ONLINE The U.S Government Printing Office (GPO) now has all Congressional Bills available online. The Congressional Bills database contains all published versions of House and Senate bills introduced since the start of the 103d Congress. The Congressional Bills database joins the official Government versions of the Congressional Record and the Federal Register that have been offered in electronic format over the Internet through the GPO Access service since June 1994. The Bills database is updated by 6 a.m. each day bills are published. Bills are available as ASCII text files and in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) file format. Users with Acrobat viewers will be able to display and print typeset page facsimiles. The Federal Register and the Congressional Record are available online by 6 a.m. and by 11 a.m. e.s.t. daily, respectively. Documents in the Register and Record databases are available as ASCII text files with all graphics in TIFF file format. Organizations or individuals may subscribe directly from GPO for each of the three databases for $35 per month, $200 for 6 months, or $375 for 1 year for a single workstation. Special 2rates are available for multiple workstations. Information about how to subscribe to the Congressional Bills, Record, or Register databases is available by calling GPO at 202-512-1530 or by fax at 202-512-1262. Internet E-mail should be sent to help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov. Users with full Internet access and local WAIS client software will be able to receive both ASCII text and all graphics as individual TIFF files or PDF files in the Congressional Record, Congressional Bills, and Federal Register databases. This is the first time that both text and graphics have been made available electronically via an online service. GPO's customized WAIS client software, a user-interface program specifically designed for GPO's application, is available from GPO for $15. Those who do not have full Internet connections can access ASCII text files, but not the PDF files or graphics, by using a phone modem to dial directly into GPO without additional software. These subscriptions provide for unlimited use for a stand alone workstation or an individual SWAIS user ID. The Congressional Bills and the Record and Register databases are also available for free electronic searches to walk-in patrons of many of the Nation's 1,400 depository libraries under a "GPO Access" program authorized by law and launched in June 1994. The Depository Library System includes academic, public, law, and Federal libraries. There is at least one Federal depository library in every Congressional district. The Superintendent of Documents is the official source for the sale of information published by more than 100 Federal agencies. Approximately 12,000 books or documents, 600 periodicals, and a growing number of CD-ROMS, diskettes, and online services are available.