The United States Legislative Branch
Advanced Research Guide: Congressional resources at the University of Washington Libraries
Laws
The United States Congress
Congressional Agencies
The Legislative Process
Congressional Floor and Committee Schedules
The Congressional Record and Other Congressional
Publications
Congressional Voting Records
Legislative Oriented Databases
Other Sources of Congressional Information
The United States Congress
THOMASA service of the Library of Congress. Includes extensive information on legislation and congressional committees, as well as links to congressional websites. This is a good place to access the differrent versions of a bill as it makes its way through Congress.
The U.S. House of Representatives
The U.S. Senate
Information about members of Congress - click on the "Members" link. (From CIS Congressional Universe - UW Only)
Congressional E-Mail Addresses and Web Sites (From the University of Michigan Library Documents Center)
Congressional
District Maps (From the Congressional Directory)
Maps can be accessed about 3/4 down the page; each state is one page.
Congressional Agencies
The General Accounting Office (GAO)
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
The Architect of the Capitol (AOC)
The Office of Technology Assessment
(OTA) was abolished in 1995 but a Legacy
page provides a complete collection of all OTA publications.
The Congressional Research Service
"The mission of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is to provide to the
Congress, throughout the legislative process, comprehensive and reliable legislative
research, analysis, and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan,
and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature."
The Legislative Process
How Our Laws are Made - From THOMASThe Enactment of a Law
The Legal Process (From the North Harris College Library)
"This page traces the process by which a bill becomes a law in the United States. The process begins with the bill's introduction in Congress and ends with its interpretation by the federal court system. Print sources and links to Internet sources for documents produced in each step of the process are provided." Site also includes other useful links about the legisaltive process and doing legislative research.
Congressional Floor and Committee Schedules
House Floor Schedule for this WeekCurrent House Floor Proceedings
Today's Senate Calender
Note the "Congress Now" links toward the top of the page.
House Committee Hearing
Schedules, Documents, and Oversight Plans
Listed by committee.
Senate Committee Meetings/Hearings Scheduled
Listed by date
Find Congressional Committee
Schedules (From Congressional Universe - UW Only) - Click on
"Committees."
Searchable House and Senate committee schedules; includes hearings and markup
meetings.
The Congressional Record and Other Congressional Publications
The Congressional Record, via THOMAS
Includes the text of the Congressional Record back to the 101st Congress
(1989-90). Includes the CR Index back through the second session of the 103rd
Congress (1994).
The Congressional
Record Online via GPO Access
Includes a searchable version of the Congressional Record from 1995 to current.
A searchable version of the CR Index going back to 1983 can be found here.
A Century of Lawmaking
for a New Nation: U.S.Congressional Documents and Debates,1774-1873
(includes: House Journal, Senate Journal, Senate Executive Journal, Annals
of Congress, and Maclay's Journal -- NOTE: Currently only searchable for
1774-1873).
The Center
for Legislative Archives
"The Center for Legislative Archives is the repository, reference center,
and outreach facility for the historically valuable records of the U.S.
Congress at the National Archives and Records Administration. The Center
holds more than 149,000 cubic feet of records dating from the First Congress
to modern Congresses."
Bill, Laws and Regulations
(UW Only - CIS Universe)
Includes searchable databases of bills, laws, legislative histories and
regulations.
Congressional Voting Records
Voting Records
(From Project Vote Smart)
Voting records by individual or by party. Includes most, but not all, votes
and has extensive descriptions.
Senate
Roll Call Votes (From the U.S. Senate)
1989-current; includes all votes, but with limited descriptions.
House Roll Call Votes
First page covers current congress; link to search 1989-2004.
C-SPAN's Congressional
Votes Library
Covers all congressional votes from 1996 to current, but with limited descriptions.
Searchable by member of congress, subject, or month.
Marcive WebDocs
(UW Only)
The Library
of Congress U.S. Legislative Branch Page Congress.Org LegiStorm.com See also Political News Resources and
Elections and Practical Politics for other
sources of information on congressional issues and activities.
E-mail: cass@u.washington.edu
Last modified:
Friday February 08 2008
Legislative Oriented Databases
Congressional Universe (From
CIS - UW Only)
Extensive database including a database of congressional publications; bills,
laws, and regulations; members of congress and committees; hot topics in Congress;
and searchable versions of the National Journal and CongressDaily
- click on "Inside Washington".
A searchable index of government publications -- including congressional
documents -- going back to 1976. Provides links to documents available on
the web, and Superintendent of Document call numbers for publications in
print (check the UW catalog to confirm it has particular publications).
Other Sources of Congressional Information
Project Vote Smart
A non-profit and non-partisan voter informatin organization. Website includes
information on elected officials and candidates, including biographies and
addresses, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, evaluations
by special interests; Information on Congress, including status of legislation,
members & committees, sponsors, voting records and vote descriptions; and
information on government and politics, including elections, federal & state
governments, issues, and politics.
Includes extensive information links about the U.S. Congress, Congressional
internet services, Legislative Branch support agencies, miscellaneous Congressional
services, and the history of Congress.
"Congress.Org is a joint venture of two Washington, D.C. area firms with
expertise in communicating with Congress." The site includes directory information
and information about legislation, as well as performance evaluations by
special interest organizations.
Billing itself as "transparency's sidekick," this non-partisan site
is affiliated with Washington DC based Storming
Media. Requires free registration to access certain files, and may evolve
into a fee-based service for some materials. Provides an easy mechanism for
searching thousands of Congressional trips taken on public money.
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