Conference report: Conference reports, much like committee reports, can be extremely useful in determining legislative intent. Conference reports are generated during the conference committee markup session and generally include a detailed, line-by-line analysis of the bill.
- Because Congress creates conference reports late in the publication process, they can be especially useful in determining legislative intent about final language decisions for bills.
- Conference reports are issued as House Reports, with the committee as the Committee of Conference. You will find that often, databases store conference reports in the same location as committee reports.
New bill drafts: If a conference committee decides to create an entirely new bill, that bill draft often retains language the committee cherry-picked from the different bills. Compare the differences between the bill versions for a better understanding of congressional intent.