Congress considers hundreds of bills each year for passage into law. During this process many documents are published which can be extremely valuable to research in many subject areas. More recent documents can easily be identified with the use of several electronic databases. Full text is available for many but not all documents. This guide provides links to finding legislative documentation online and in the library.
The organization of this guide is based on the legislative process: the sequence of steps that a bill goes through to become a law. For more information, see the Legislation tab in this guide.
The Congressional Record - Mentioned in Bills and Debate & Amendments.
Committee Reports and Publications - Mentioned in Committees.
Bills and Laws - Mentioned in Legislation, Introduction of Bills, and Enrollment and Signing.
Legislative Histories - Mentioned in Legislation. Also see "A Century of Lawmaking" from the Library of Congress. Includes Continental Congress documents, Journals of Congress & more.
Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office Reports - Mentioned in Official Reports.
WestLaw is a collection of law-related resources. It includes important analytical sources, such as Am Jur 2d and the ALR's, as well as law reviews and journals. Primary Law Sources are also included, such as the United States Code Annotated (USCA or US Code), Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and the Federal Register, as well as state statutes and regulations, and all federal and state cases.
GovInfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch.
GovInfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
The U.S. constitution is the basis for the operation of both houses in the legislative branch, but provides that each, "may determine the Rules of its Proceedings." The following links direct to resources that describe the rules of parlimentary procedure in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Senate Rules
House Rules
The following databases contain information published by Congress:
This guide was created using resources identified by the creators of the following legislative history guides.
