What Do H.R., S., and H.J.Res. Mean? Reading a Bill's Number

Every measure Congress considers carries a label like H.R. 1, S. 5, or H.J.Res. 140. The prefix identifies which of eight numbering series the measure belongs to, and that in turn tells you whether it can become law at all. This guide is the legend for the labels you see across LegislationPatch.

What does the prefix tell you?

It tells you the form of measure and the chamber it started in. The Congressional Research Service lists the eight legislative designations: "H.R. and S. (bills), H.J.Res. and S.J.Res. (joint resolutions), H.Con.Res. and S.Con.Res. (concurrent resolutions), and H.Res. and S.Res. (simple resolutions)."

The dividing line that matters is presentment. "When Congress seeks to pass a law, it uses a bill or joint resolution, which must be passed by both houses in identical form and then presented to the President for the executive's approval or disapproval", CRS writes. "To regulate its own internal affairs, or for other purposes where authority of law is not necessary, Congress uses a concurrent resolution (requiring adoption by both houses) or a simple resolution (requiring action only in the house of origin)." Concurrent resolutions "are not lawmaking vehicles and are not submitted to the President for approval"; simple resolutions "can only be considered in the chamber in which they originated, and they are never presented to the other chamber (or to the President)."

All eight series run at once. Congress.gov recorded 18,500 measures introduced in the 119th Congress as of September 1, 2026: 10,202 H.R., 5,367 S., 214 H.J.Res., 212 S.J.Res., 114 H.Con.Res., 39 S.Con.Res., 1,503 H.Res. and 849 S.Res. Because each series is numbered on its own, H.R. 200 and S. 200 are unrelated measures that happen to share a number.

Bills: H.R. and S.

Bills are the ordinary lawmaking vehicle and the most common measure Congress handles. "Bills are the most common form of legislative measure considered by Congress", CRS writes. "Bills originating in the House are designated by H.R. followed by the bill number", and Senate-originated bills "begin with an S. designation." To become law, a bill "must be passed in identical form (the same text and bill number) by both houses before presentation to the President for signature."

A common point of confusion: H.R. is the House bill series. A House simple resolution is a different series with a different prefix, H.Res., and it is not a lawmaking vehicle at all.

On this site, H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is a House bill signed into law on 2025-07-04 after the House agreed to the Senate amendment 218-214, and S. 5, the Laken Riley Act, is a Senate bill signed on 2025-01-29 after passing the Senate 64-35 and the House 263-156.

Joint resolutions: H.J.Res. and S.J.Res.

A joint resolution is also a lawmaking vehicle, with one exception. "Like bills, joint resolutions are lawmaking vehicles and must be agreed to by both houses in identical form. Excepting those measures that propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution, they are presented to the President for signature. However, they may differ from bills in their purpose." A joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment is "not presented to the President."

CRS lists the uses, which include "proposed constitutional amendments"; "declaration of war or authorization of military force"; "continuing resolutions"; "adjustments of the debt limit"; and "resolutions of disapproval or approval of specified executive actions" — the category that covers the Congressional Review Act. On continuing appropriations a separate CRS report adds a currency note: "Historically, continuing appropriations acts took the form of joint resolutions. In recent practice, it is more common for them to be included in measures that include other legislative provisions in addition to continuing appropriations."

H.J.Res. 140 on this site is a Congressional Review Act disapproval of "the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN." It was signed on April 27, 2026 and "Became Public Law No: 119-85" — a joint resolution carrying the same legal force as a bill.

Concurrent resolutions: H.Con.Res. and S.Con.Res.

A concurrent resolution needs both chambers and stops there. "Congress uses concurrent resolutions to regulate the joint affairs of the House and Senate. To go into effect, concurrent resolutions must be agreed to by both the House and the Senate. They are not lawmaking vehicles and are not submitted to the President for approval." CRS lists six uses: "congressional budget resolutions"; adjournment sine die; "recess of either or both houses of more than three days"; "providing for a joint session of Congress, creation of a joint committee, correction of conference reports or enrolled bills"; "request for return of measures presented to the President"; and resolutions expressing the "sense of Congress".

The annual budget resolution is a concurrent resolution, which is why it never reaches the President. H.Con.Res. 40 on this site is a concurrent resolution "Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran." It did not take effect: the House vote on agreeing to the resolution failed 213-214 on 2026-04-16 (Roll 114), and our record carries it at stage "dead."

Simple resolutions: H.Res. and S.Res.

A simple resolution is adopted by one chamber alone. "Simple resolutions concern the internal affairs of one chamber. They are not used to make law and accordingly do not require the approval of the other house of Congress." CRS lists uses including "adoption or amendment of House or Senate rules"; "special rules (for considering a measure)"; "expulsion of a Member"; "censure or other discipline of a Member"; "citation for contempt of Congress"; and "election of committee members or chamber officers".

That second item is the one readers meet most often: the special rule setting the terms of debate on a bill is itself an H.Res. reported by the Rules Committee. H.Res. 878 on this site is a simple resolution the House agreed to 236-183 on 2025-11-18 (Roll 292) — an action of the House alone. For a fuller treatment of how the four forms differ, see our guide on joint versus concurrent resolutions.

How are the numbers themselves assigned?

By order of introduction, with room to reserve. CRS reports that in the House, "measures are usually numbered sequentially based on the date of introduction, but Representatives may seek to reserve bill numbers in advance by communicating with the Parliamentarian's office prior to introduction." A measure is "assigned a number and referred to committee (a process that normally occurs the same day)", and once numbered and referred "it becomes the property of the House and cannot be modified by the sponsor."

Reserved numbers are sometimes chosen for what they signal. CRS notes that "bill numbers are sometimes seen as a way to provide shorthand meaning to the legislation, enhance its visibility, or confer symbolic importance", and that measures "have sometimes been assigned the same number for several Congresses" — its example is a tax-reform sponsor requesting H.R. 1040, after the 1040 tax form.

Why is H.R. 1 not always the first bill introduced?

Because the first twenty House bill numbers are held back by rule. Clause 7(d) of House Rule XII provides: "The first 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 10) shall be reserved for assignment by the Speaker and the second 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 11 through H.R. 20) shall be reserved for assignment by the Minority Leader." The House Manual records that this "paragraph (d) was added in the 119th Congress, after existing as a separate order for several Congresses".

So H.R. 1 is a number the Speaker assigns, not the earliest measure to reach the hopper — as with H.R. 1 in the 119th Congress.

What about the Public Law number?

An enacted measure picks up a second, permanent citation. A public law number pairs the Congress with a sequence number within that Congress: the enrolled text of H.J.Res. 140 is headed "[119th Congress Public Law 85]" and "Public Law 119-85". Both chambers' enacted measures share one series — the Congress.gov list of laws for the 119th Congress interleaves H.R., S. and H.J.Res. measures in a single run from Public Law 119-1 onward.

The public law is the durable form of the citation. Under 1 U.S.C. 112 the Archivist of the United States must compile and publish the United States Statutes at Large, "which shall contain all the laws and concurrent resolutions enacted during each regular session of Congress", and the Statutes at Large "shall be legal evidence of laws, concurrent resolutions, treaties, international agreements other than treaties, proclamations by the President, and proposed or ratified amendments to the Constitution". Under 1 U.S.C. 106a the original of each measure that becomes law is "received by the Archivist of the United States from the President", who "shall carefully preserve the originals."

Reading the labels on this site

LegislationPatch labels every measure with its official prefix and number. An H.R., S., H.J.Res. or S.J.Res. can become law; an H.Con.Res. or an H.Res. cannot, whatever the vote total — H.Res. 878 passed 236-183 and still bound nobody outside the House. To see how a measure moves from introduction to enactment, read how a bill becomes law, and to read the text once you have found it, see how to read a federal bill.

Drafted from primary source documents by LegislationPatch's automated research pipeline, then reviewed, verified, and edited by James Shearn, Editor. Every figure and citation is checked against the official text before publication. See our editorial standards and AI disclosure.