Portal:United States Government Publishing Office

“ The names of Members and Members-elect of both Houses of the Congress, including those of the Vice President and Speaker, will be printed in caps and small caps if mention is made of them, except in extract matter.
Deceased Members' names will be set in caps and small caps in eulogies only on the first day the House or Senate is in session following the death of a Member, in a speech carrying date when the Member was eulogized, or on memorial day in the Senate and House. Eulogy day in one House will be treated the same in the other. ”

“ In printing a speaker's language, the words and so forth or et cetera are preferred, but in "FIC & punc." matter etc., is acceptable. If a quoted extract is set in type smaller than that of the preceding text and the speaker has summed up the remainder of the quotation with the words and so forth or et cetera, these words should be placed at the beginning of the next line, flush and lowercase, and an em dash should be used at the end of the extract. ”

“ Committee prints not having a report head indicated on original copy to be set in committee print style; that is, excerpts to be set in 8 point, full measure.
9. If a committee print set as indicated in paragraph 8 is later submitted as a report or included in a report, and the type is available for pickup, such type shall be picked up and used as is in the report.
10. On matter that is cut in on the left only for purposes of breakdown, no space is used above and below, but on all matter that is cut in on both sides, 4 points are used above and below. ”

“ Metric unit letter symbols are set lowercase roman unless the unit name has been derived from a proper name, in which case the first letter of the symbol is capitalized (for example Pa for pascal and W for watt) . The exception is the letter l. for liter. The same form is used for singular and plural. The preferred symbol for cubic centimeter is cm3; use cc only when requested.
A space is used between a figure and a unit symbol except in the case of the symbols for degree, minute, and second of plane angle.
3 m 45 mm 25 oC but 33°15'21"
9.57. ”

“ If both a figure and a letter in parentheses are used before each paragraph, a period and an en space are used after the closing parenthesis. If the figure is not repeated before each letter in parentheses but is used only before the first letter, the period is placed after the figure. However, if the figure is not repeated before each letter in parentheses and no period is used, space is inserted after the number if at least one other lettered subsection appears. ”

“ Information The rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and related matters, as stated in this Manual, will serve well when preparing documents for electronic dissemination. Most of the documents currently available via GPO Access are derived from databases used in the printing of Government publications. However, as electronic dissemination of Government information continues to grow, the rules as stated in this Manual will continue to be the GPO's standard for all document preparation, electronic or otherwise. ”

“ The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman raises the point of no quorum. The Chair will count. [After counting.]
Two hundred and seventeen present, a quorum. The noes have it, and the amendment is rejected.
The question being taken on the motion of Mr. Hoyer to suspend the rules and pass the bill, it was agreed to (two-thirds voting in favor thereof) .
So (the affirmative not being one-fifth of the whole vote) the yeas and nays were not ordered. ”

“ In the 21st century, the Government Printing Office (GPO) is committed to providing printed information products for Congress, Federal agencies, and the courts as efficiently, creatively, and cost-effectively as the most modern technology will allow. ”

“ The importance of revising proofs cannot be overemphasized. Although a reviser is not expected to read proof, it is not enough to follow the marks found on the proof. He or she should be alert to detect errors and inconsistencies and must see that all corrections have been properly made and that words or lines have not been transposed or eliminated in making the corrections. ”

“ When symbols or signs are used for footnote reference marks, their sequence should be (*) asterisk, (†) dagger, (‡) double dagger, and (§) section mark. Should more symbols be needed, these may be doubled or tripled, but for simplicity and greater readability, it is preferable to extend the assortment by adding other single-character symbols.
15.15.
Symbols with established meanings, such as the percent sign (%) and the number mark (#) , are likely to cause confusion and should
not be used for reference marks. ”

“ The rule provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and Labor. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI. The rule provides that the amendment printed in Part A of the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution shall be considered as adopted and that the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against provisions of the bill, as amended. ”

“ United States military titles and abbreviations
Officer rank Officer ranks in the United States military consist of commissioned officers and warrant officers. The commissioned ranks are the highest in the military These officers hold presidential commissions and are confirmed at their ranks by the Senate. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps officers are called company grade officers in the pay grades of O-l to O-3, field grade officers in pay grades O-4 to O-6, and general officers in pay grades O-7 and higher. ”

“ If several sums of money are grouped and added or subtracted to make a total, they are separated from the nonmoney group by a parallel rule, and the symbol is placed on the first figure of the separated group only. ”

“ FDsys will automate content life-cycle processes and make it easier to deliver digital content in formats suited to customers' needs. FDsys will allow Federal content creators to submit content for preservation, authentication, and delivery to users. Content entered into the system will be cataloged according to GPO and library standards, and will be available on the World Wide Web for searching and viewing, downloading and printing, as document masters for conventional and on-demand printing, or by other dissemination methods. ”

“ Where omission of terminal punctuation causes confusion; e.g., the symbol in (inch) mistaken for the preposition in, the symbol should be spelled out.
9.4.
Standard and easily understood forms are preferable, and they should be uniform throughout a job. Abbreviations not generally known should be followed in the text by the spelled-out forms in parentheses the first time they occur; in tables and leaderwork such explanatory matter should be supplied in a footnote. As the printer cannot rewrite the copy, the author should supply these explanatory forms. ”

“ The GPO Style Board made significant revisions to update this edition of the GPO Style Manual. The changes include redesigning the format to make it more modern and easier to read; replacing "What is GPO Access?." with "GPO's Online Initiatives"; removing the atomic weights column from the Chemical Symbols table; expanding and updating time zone abbreviations; listing additional entries to the Post Office abbreviations; extensively reviewing the capitalization chapter to remove outdated entries and include new ones ”

“ Centerheads are set apart from the text by the use of spacing. The amount of space varies with each publication. However, more space is always inserted above a heading than below. In 10-point type, the spacing would be 10 points over and 8 points under a heading; in 8- and 6-point type, the spacing would be 8 points above and 6 points below.
2.52.
Solid matter (text) is defined as those lines set without horizontal space between them. Leaded text is defined as lines separated by 1 or 2 points of space. ”

“ Datelines should be followed on Extensions of Remarks. If any question arises as to the proper date to be used, a supervisor must be consulted.
Indented matter in leaderwork will be 1 em only.
Queries must not be made on proofs.
Capitalization (See also Chapter 3 "Capitalization Rules")
If the name of the Congressional Record is mentioned, it must be set in caps and small caps and never abbreviated, even when appearing in citations, except in extract matter, then cap/lowercase. ”

“ The style of leadering is guided by two rules: (1) Tables with a single reading column leader from the bottom line, and (2) tables with any combination of more than one reading or symbol column leader from the top line.
13.99.
If leadering from the top line, overruns end with a period.
13.100.
A column of dates is regarded as a reading column only if leaders are added; in all other cases it is treated as a figure column.
13.101.
In tables with tracing figures on left and right of page, leader from top line.
Numerals in tables
13.102. ”

“ In indexes set with leaders, if the page numbers will not fit in the leader line, the first number only is set in that line and the other numbers are overrun. If the entry makes three or more lines and the last line of figures is not full, do not use a period at the end.
(For examples of item indentions in a reading column of indexes set with leaders, see index in this Manual.)
15.24.
Overrun page numbers are indented 31⁄2 ems in measures not over 20 picas and 7 ems in wider measures, more than one line being used if necessary. ”

“ Union (if part of proper name; capitalized standing alone if synonym for United States or if referring to international unit) : Columbia Typographical European Pan American (former name; see Organization of American States) Station; font union passenger station; union freight station Teamsters Union; the Teamsters; the union; also the Auto Workers, etc. Universal Postal; the Postal Union Western (see alliances) Woman's Christian Temperance but a painters union ”

“ Distinction should also be made in the compounding of two words to form an adjective modifier and the use of the same words as a predicate adjective; e.g., "crystal-clear water," but "the water is crystal clear"; "fire-tested material," but "the material is fire tested."
7.8.
Caution should be exercised when distinguishing whether a succession of words is being used as a compound or whether they simply appear together. Consider, for example, "We know someone should do it and who that some one ought to be." ”

“ If the decisions or the rules of the BGN permit the use of either the local official form or the conventional English form, it is the prerogative of the originating office to select the form which is most suitable for the matter in hand; therefore, in marking copy or reading proof, it is required only to verify the spelling of the particular form used. GPO's preference is for the conventional English form. Copy will be followed as to accents, but these should be consistent throughout the entire job. ”

“ The general principles governing the use of punctuation are: If it does not clarify the text it should be omitted; and, in the choice and placing of punctuation marks, the sole aim should be to bring out more clearly the author's thought. Punctuation should aid reading and prevent misreading.
Apostrophes and possessives
8.3.
The possessive case of a singular or plural noun not ending in s is formed by adding an apostrophe and s. ”

“ Parentheses Parentheses are used—
8.91.
To set off matter not intended to be part of the main statement or not a grammatical element of the sentence, yet important enough to be included. In colloquy, brackets must be substituted.
This case (124 U.S. 329) is not relevant. The result (see fig. 2) is most surprising. The United States is the principal purchaser (by value) of these exports (23 percent in 1995 and 19 percent in 1996) .
8.92.
To enclose a parenthetic clause where the interruption is too great to be indicated by commas. ”

“ Outlines vary in appearance because there is no one set style to follow in designing them. The width of the measure, the number of levels required for the indentions, and the labeling concept selected to identify each new level all contribute to its individuality. ”