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 This link opens in a new window
Contains the U.S. Code, Congressional Record, Congressional Serial Set, American State Papers, and more.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set This link opens in a new window
From Readex.
American State Papers (1789-1838) This link opens in a new window
From Readex.

Congressional Record

Congress.gov - Congressional Record
Browsable by date and searchable by keyword.
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.
Library of Congress - Congressional Record and Predecessors
Part of the American Memory project, this collection includes Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837), Congressional Globe (1833-1873), and Congressional Record (1873-1875).

ProQuest Congressional Record (1789-2009) This link opens in a new window
Full text of the Congressional Record (1873-2009) and its predecessors, including 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 https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record.

United States Code

Free Online Versions. The U.S. Code is available at the following websites:

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.

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) This link opens in a new window
(USCA)
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
(USCS)

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.

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.

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 This link opens in a new window
Go to U.S. Congressional Documents, then CRS Reports.

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U.S. Government Information