Research Guides: U.S. Federal Government: Legislative

Rare and Distinctive Collections

rad@colorado.edu

Website

Classroom: Norlin N345

Reading Room: Norlin M350B

Tips & Tools for Searching Gov Info

Information is arranged by government entity or agency. The agency is the best place to start.

Identify the agency by conducting a site search in Google or using one of the tools below
Scan the results to identify relevant agencies.
Go to the agency homepage to browse or search

Tools

Site Search - to site search in Google type site:.gov and your search term. For example, site:.gov environmental statistics
USA.gov
Govinfo.gov
Custom Google Search for IGO's or NGO's

How a Bill Becomes a Law

How Our Laws Are Made
A basic outline of our federal law-making process, from the source of a legislative proposal through its publication.
Enactment of a Law
A in-depth description of the legislative process in the Senate.

Image Credits

Capitol Visitor's Center Event (photo by Debbie McCallum)

Introduction

Congress is the legislative branch of the United States federal government, separated into two bodies: the House of Representatives (which has 435 voting members), and the Senate (which has 100 voting members). Congress has authority over the federal budget, and holds the power to investigate and oversee the executive branch.

Materials produced by Congress include bills and laws, transcripts of hearings and expert testimony, and committee reports.

We Recommend

ProQuest Congressional Legislative & Executive Publications
Detailed information about Congress and domestic and foreign policy issues. Hearings are good primary sources for almost any issue. Includes
CQ Press Library
Non-partisan. Includes CQ Press Almanac, Congress Collection, Researcher Plus Archive, CQ Press Magazine, Politics in America, Supreme Court Yearbook, Voting and Elections Collection, and interactive tools to retrieve data.

GovTrack.US
Free research, tracking, and analytics on the daily activities of the United States Congress.
FDsys: Federal Digital System
Recent congressional publications, bills, committee hearings, presidential materials, statutes, regulations, budgets

Legislative Insight (ProQuest)
Provides a legislative history for significant laws from 1789 to the present. A legislative history tracks all of the publications produced from when a bill is introduced into Congress until it becomes law.

Additional Resources

Congress.gov
A free resource containing the text of congressional bills (1989-present), committee reports (1995-present), international treaties (1967-present) and more...
CQ Almanac
Authoritative analysis on the major legislation and actions of congress from 1945-present. Includes data on members’ voting patterns, and the history of policy issues.

Hein Online
Comprehensive law library, with coverage of most sources from their date of first publication.

History of Bills (1983-present)
Find out what happened to any bill introduced from the 98th Congress to the present.

Legislative Insight (ProQuest)
Provides a legislative history for significant laws from 1789 to the present. A legislative history tracks all of the publications produced from when a bill is introduced into Congress until it becomes law.
ProQuest Congressional Legislative & Executive Publications
Detailed information about Congress and domestic and foreign policy issues. Hearings are good primary sources for almost any issue. Includes

US Congressional Serial Set 1817-1980

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports and Testimony
Often called the "congressional watchdog," GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.

ProQuest Congressional Legislative & Executive Publications
Detailed information about Congress and domestic and foreign policy issues. Hearings are good primary sources for almost any issue. Includes
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (NewsBank)
Publications of the U.S. Congress from 1817 to 1980, covering a wide range of topics.

CQ Magazine
Weekly news magazine featuring in-depth reporting on public policy, politics, congressional legislation, and elections extending from 1983-present.
CQ Roll Call
From Capitol Hill hearing rooms to campaign war rooms, from the White House to the House and Senate floors, CQ Roll Call covers Congress, inside and out.
The Hill
The Hill reports national stories, profiles lawmakers and aides, and publishes features on the politics, networking, and society of the federal capitol.

Nexis Uni
Comprehensive source for local, regional and national newspapers in the United States, plus some international sources. Strong source for legal, company (including private), and country research.
ProQuest Congressional Legislative & Executive Publications
Detailed information about Congress and domestic and foreign policy issues. Hearings are good primary sources for almost any issue. Includes

Ben's Guide
Provided by the Government Publishing Office (GPO), Ben's Guide is a great resource for all ages who wish to learn more about the government's structure.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present
Biographies of all members of the national legislature from 1774-present, including representatives, senators, presidents, vice presidents, and delegates to the Continental Congress.
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
This American Memory collection includes browsable, searchable versions of official documents from early congresses and the Continental Congress.
Congressional Directory
Official directory of Congress, from 1997-present. Contains committee memberships, and room and telephone numbers of members, among others.
Congressional Timeline
Arrays more than 900 of the nation's laws on a timeline beginning with the first Congress in 1789 and continuing to 2013. A second timeline "band" depicts major political events as context for Congress's law-making.
Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. (LLSDC) Legislative Sourcebook
A guide to Internet and subscription-based sources of regulatory information, legislative histories, and committee hearings.
Politics in America Online
Guide to politics with authoritative information on each member of Congress and their district.

ProQuest Congressional Legislative & Executive Publications
Detailed information about Congress and domestic and foreign policy issues. Hearings are good primary sources for almost any issue. Includes

U.S. Census Data
Tool to retrieve recent data on the people and economy of the U.S.
CQ Congress Collection
A data-rich research and reference tool that provides historical analysis of members of Congress, their voting behavior, and interactions in crafting public policy since 1945.
CQ Voting and Elections Collection
U.S. election results and analysis from 1789 to the present.
Social Explorer
Statistics about people, social characteristics, and the economy of the U.S., with Census data from 1790 to the present.

Related Guides

Subjects

Laws and Regulations
by Government Information Last Updated Jul 17, 2024 2438 views this year

Make a copy

Government Information

Government Information is a regional library of the Federal Depository Library Program as well as a depository of Colorado state, United Nations, and European Union information. It consists of over five million items from the United States government, Colorado and other state governments, foreign governments, and international governmental organizations like the UN. As a federal depository, the Library also offers assistance and its collections to members of the public. This includes providing public computers for unrestricted access to government information on the Internet.

We offer a wide array of services to support students, staff, and faculty, including online guides for research, one-on-one consultations, class instruction, phone, email, and walk-in reference.