You can get some information on bills via telnet to locis.loc.gov, the Library of Congress Information Service.
Still a few bugs in this system - amusing transcript appended. --- Jef Script started on Fri Nov 19 17:42:01 1993 % telnet locis.loc.gov Trying 140.147.254.3... Connected to locis.loc.gov. Escape character is '^]'. L O C I S : LIBRARY OF CONGRESS INFORMATION SYSTEM To make a choice: type a number, then press ENTER 1 Library of Congress Catalog 4 Braille and Audio 2 Federal Legislation 5 Organizations 3 Copyright Information 6 Foreign Law * * * * * * * * * * * * 7 Searching Hours and Basics 8 Documentation and Classes 9 Library of Congress General Information 12 Comments and Logoff Choice: 2 FEDERAL LEGISLATION These files track and describe legislation (bills and resolutions) introduced in the US Congress, from 1973 (93rd Congress) to the current Congress (the current Congress is the 103rd). Each file covers a separate Congress. CHOICE FILE 1 Congress, 1981-82 (97th) CG97 2 Congress, 1983-84 (98th) CG98 3 Congress, 1985-86 (99th) CG99 4 Congress, 1987-88 (100th) C100 5 Congress, 1989-90 (101st) C101 6 Congress, 1991-92 (102nd) C102 7 Current Congress, 1993- (103rd) C103 8 Search all Congresses from 1981-->current 9 Search all Congresses on LOCIS 1973-->current Earlier Congresses: press ENTER 12 Return to LOCIS MENU screen. Choice: 7 FRIDAY, 11/19/93 08:43 P.M. ***C103- THE LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION FILE FOR THE 103RD CONGRESS, which was updated on 11/19/93 and contains 7,958 records, is now available for your search. CURRENCY: All information is NOT current through the above date, which is machine generated when ANY information is added to the file. Bill numbers, official titles, sponsors, and status (STEP) added within 48 hours. Indexing terms and digests added later, in some cases several weeks after the bill is added to the file. TO START RETRIEVE to find: EXAMPLES: SEARCH: member name --------------> retrieve rep gingrich retrieve sen kennedy bill number --------------> retrieve h.r. 1 subject keywords ---------> retrieve day care FOR HELP: Type the word HELP and press the ENTER key. READY FOR NEW COMMAND: retrieve assault guns DFH2206I TRANSACTION BGNS ABEND AZI4 . BACKOUT SUCCESSFUL 20:44:36 help DFH2001I INVALID TRANSACTION IDENTIFICATION HELP - PLEASE RESUBMIT 20:45:34 ? DFH2001I INVALID TRANSACTION IDENTIFICATION ? - PLEASE RESUBMIT 20:45:39 oh boy DFH2001I INVALID TRANSACTION IDENTIFICATION OH - PLEASE RESUBMIT 20:45:48 select * from all DFH2206I TRANSACTION SELE ABEND SECV . BACKOUT SUCCESSFUL 20:46:05 quit DFH2001I INVALID TRANSACTION IDENTIFICATION QUIT - PLEASE RESUBMIT 20:46:23 logout DFH2312 - WELCOME TO CICS/MVS - FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19, 1993. 08:46 PM UX01 ACFAE138: ENTER YOUR PASSWORD: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII foo ACF01004 LOGONID UT NOT FOUND DFH2312 - WELCOME TO CICS/MVS - FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19, 1993. 08:46 PM UX01 ACFAE133: ENTER LOGON ID: quit ACFAE138: ENTER YOUR PASSWORD: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII foo ACF01004 LOGONID QUIT NOT FOUND DFH2312 - WELCOME TO CICS/MVS - FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19, 1993. 08:46 PM UX01 ACFAE133: ENTER LOGON ID: ^] telnet> close Connection closed. % exit script done on Fri Nov 19 17:46:43 1993