A&M-SA Research Guides: U.S. Federal Government Information Research Guide: Congress

Bills and Resolutions

GovTrack.us (current Congress)
This is a great resource for information on current legislation, especially bills in the news. Each bill contains an overview, the full text, and information on actions and votes.
Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. Find legislation, information about members of Congress and news about our Congress on this site.

Congressional Publications (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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Database includes Legislative Histories (1969-Present) & Bills & Laws (1970-present) collection. Search these collection if you are looking for legislation on particular topics or across multiple Congresses. The Bill Tracking feature provides a legislative chronology with links to all related documents, including amendments, committee reports, committee prints, and hearings. Links to the Congressional Record are also provided.
Westlaw Campus Research (Thomson Reuters) This link opens in a new window
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Contains the text of all available congressional bills and resolutions introduced into the current session of Congress as well as historical bills from 1995 (104th Congress) forward. From the home page, select Proposed & Enacted Legislation and then select Congressional Bills. To see the historical bills, click on Historical Proposed Legislation (Bills) on the right hand side of the Congressional Bills page.

Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of Congress

FDsys - Congressional Record Daily (1994-present)
Published daily when Congress is in session. Each issue contains four sections: Daily Digest, House Section, Senate Section, and Extension of Remarks. The Daily Digest summarizes the day's floor and committee activities and serves as the table of contents.
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation - U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates
Full-text access to the Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837), and Congressional Globe (1833-1873).

HeinOnline Academic (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
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Includes U.S. Congressional Documents. This collection features the complete Congressional Record Bound version, as well as the daily version back to 1980. It also includes the three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) Congressional Globe (1833-1873), and Congressional Hearings (early 1900s-present), as well as other important congressional material such as hearings, CRS Reports, and much more. This database also offers a unique Daily to Bound Citation Locator, which enables users to quickly find cites from both versions of the Congressional Record.
Congressional Publications (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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Database includes the following searchable collections: Congressional Record Bound Edition & Predecessors (1789-1997), Congressional Record Daily Edition (1985-Present), House & Senate Documents (1789-Present),
House & Senate Reports (1789-Present)

U.S. Serial Set: House and Senate Documents and Reports

Congressional Publications (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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Includes U.S. Serial Set Digital Collection (1789-2011): Begins in 1789 with the American State Papers and details Congressional business to the present day. Includes reports and documents either produced or ordered by Congress, as well as presidential communications and treaty materials.

Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation - American State Papers (1789-1838)
Thirty-eight volumes that contain the legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838. Volumes are arranged into ten topical classes or series: foreign relations, indian affairs, finances, commerce and navigation, military affairs, naval affairs, post office department, public lands, claims, and miscellaneous.

HeinOnline Academic (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
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Complete indexing of the more than 17,000 volumes of the Serial Set &Complete coverage of the American State Papers.96% of the Serial Set is available in HeinOnline. From the home page, scroll down and select U.S. Congressional Serial Set.

Congressional Hearings

Congressional Publications (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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Database includes Digital Hearings Collection (1824-present) collection:
Full-text access to both published and unpublished hearings. Hearings contain the full transcripts of the proceedings, including all oral statements, committee questions, and discussion. They also contain texts of related reports, statistical analyses, correspondence, exhibits, and articles presented by witnesses or inserted into the record by committee members and staff

Research Reports

FDsys - GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions (1989-present)
Reports ("blue books") on audits, surveys, investigations, and evaluations of Federal programs conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). All published reports, testimonies, correspondence, and special publications.

Law Library of Congress Reports(HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
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HeinOnline’s Law Library of Congress Reports is an exclusive database boasting a collection of more than 3,500 meticulously crafted reports on foreign, comparative, and international law. These reports have been compiled in response to requests from Members of Congress, Congressional staff and committees, the federal courts, executive branch agencies, and other institutions, making this collection an indispensable tool for legal researchers.

Congressional Research Service Reports (CRS)
The Congressional Research Service, a component of the Library of Congress, conducts research and analysis for Congress on a broad range of national policy issues.

Recorded Votes

Congressional Votes Database - GovTrack.us
Each year the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives take thousands of votes, some to pass bills, resolutions, nominations, and treaties, and others on procedural matters such as on cloture and other motions. Not all votes are recorded, such as when there is no one opposed. This page shows the outcome of all recorded votes on the Senate floor and House floor. It does not include votes in committee.

Congressional Publications (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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This database includes the Vote Record (1987-Present) collection for both the House and Senate.

Statutory Law

Statutory law in the United States consists of the laws passed by Congress.

Slip Laws: Enacted legislation is first published in "slip" form. Public and private laws are assigned consecutive numbers within each Congress. Each slip law concludes with a legislative history with references to important documents generated during the legislative process.

Slip Laws (Congress): Browse Slip Laws from the 93rd to present Congress

Slip Laws (FDSYS): Browse Slip Laws from the 104th to present Congress

Statutes at Large: At the end of each legislative session slip laws are republished in the Statutes at Large. Public laws are arranged chronologically. Citations reference volume and page number.

FDsys - U.S. Statutes at Large (2003-present)

United States Code: Compilation of all federal laws of general and permanent value currently in force. Organized into 50 titles that represent broad subject areas. Published every six years with cumulative annual supplements issued during intervening years.

FDsys - United States Code (1994-present)

HeinOnline Academic (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
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Includes complete coverage of the Statutes at Large, featuring every law, public and private, ever enacted by Congress. It also includes early federal codes and compilations of statutes, as well as other related works. Click on Statutes at Large from the home screen.