University Library: U.S. Government Information: Legislative Branch

General Information

U.S. House of Representatives
Information on House members, committees, legislative activity, and more.
U.S. Senate
Information on Senate members, committees, legislative activity, and more.
Learn About the Legislative Process
Links to resources that explain Congressional lawmaking procedures.
Congressional Directory
Official directory of Congress.
Members of the U.S. Congress
Directory of current and recent Representatives and Senators with links to their congressional activity.
Committees of the U.S. Congress
List of standing, special, select, and joint committees. Links lead to information on each committee.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Biographies of all Representatives and Senators who have served in Congress.
Glossary of Legislative Terms
Definitions of important legislative terms.

Major Resources

HeinOnline Academic
Contains the U.S. Code, Congressional Record, Congressional Serial Set, American State Papers, and more.

Congressional Record

Congress.gov - Congressional Record
Browsable by date and searchable by keyword. For predecessors to the Congressional Record (prior to the 43rd Congress, 1873-1875), go to Browse, select Congress number or years, then go to Debates of Congress.
GovInfo - Congressional Record (Daily)
Browsable by date. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.
GovInfo - Congressional Record (Bound)
Browsable by date. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.

HeinOnline Academic
Go to U.S. Congressional Documents, then select Congressional Record or Congressional Record Daily, or select one of the predecessor publications, Congressional Globe, Register of Debates in Congress, or Annals of the Congress of the United States.
ProQuest Congressional Record, 1789-2009
Full text of the Congressional Record (1873-2009) and its predecessors, the Congressional Globe (1833-1873), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Annals of Congress (1789-1824). For more recent editions, go to Congress.gov.

Congressional Serial Set and American State Papers

HeinOnline Academic
Go to U.S. Congressional Serial Set. The American State Papers are also available here.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 (Readex)
The digital version of the bound, sequentially numbered volumes of the Reports, Documents, and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
American State Papers, 1789-1838 (Readex)
Contains legislative and executive documents of the first 14 U.S. Congresses.

United States Code

Non-Annotated Versions. The U.S. Code is available at the following locations:

Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Legal Information Institute - U.S. Code
GovInfo - U.S. Code
Browsable by year. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.
Library of Congress - United States Code
A collection of older editions of the U.S. Code.

HeinOnline Academic
Go to U.S. Code.

Annotated Versions. There are two main annotated versions of the U.S. Code: United States Code Annotated (USCA) and United States Code Service (USCS). These annotated versions are available in the following databases:

Westlaw (Thompson Reuters)
Go to the Federal Materials tab, then click on United States Code Annotated (USCA).
Nexis Uni
Go to Sources, then find USCS - United States Code Service.

Slip Laws and Statutes at Large

Slip Laws (Public and Private Laws)

Congress.gov - Public Laws
Browsable by Congress number/year and searchable by keyword.
Congress.gov - Private Laws
Browsable by Congress number/year and searchable by keyword.
GovInfo - Public and Private Laws
Browsable by Congress number/year. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.

United States Statutes at Large

GovInfo - Statutes at Large
Browsable by year. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.
Library of Congress - Statutes at Large
Contains older editions of the Statutes at Large, dating back to 1789.

HeinOnline Academic
Go to U.S. Statutes at Large.

Other Congressional Publications

Bills and Resolutions

Congress.gov - Legislation of the U.S. Congress
Excellent resource for tracking bills through the legislative process.
GovInfo - Congressional Bills
Browsable by Congress number/year, then by bill type. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.

Hearings

GovInfo - Hearings
Browsable by Congress number/year, chamber, and committee. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.

HeinOnline Academic
Go to U.S. Congressional Documents, then Congressional Hearings.

Congressional Documents and Reports

GovInfo - Congressional Documents
Browsable by Congress number/year and chamber. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.
GovInfo - Congressional Reports
Browsable by Congress number/year and chamber. To conduct a search, go to the GovInfo Advanced Search page.

Congressional Research Service Reports

HeinOnline Academic
Go to U.S. Congressional Documents, then CRS Reports.

U.S. Government Information