Federal Legislative History:Online Resources

Maria A. JankowskaUCLA Research Library

January 2012

Outline• I am just a bill – YouTube video• Bill introduced in House/ Senate• Bill assigned to Committee• Committee Prints• Hearings and Testimony• Markups and Votes• Floor Debates (Congressional Record)• Conference Committee (Reports)• President Signs or Vetoes• Public Law (Slip Law or Statutes at Large)• Law Codified (United States Code)• New Regulations (Federal Register)• Regulation Codified (Code of Federal Regulations)

School House Rock! - Just A Bill

Bills, Resolutions, and Amendments

• Draft legislations introduced in either the House of Representatives (H.R. #) or the Senate (S.#) within the United States Congress.

• GPO About Congressional Bills

Examples of Printed Bill: 107 H.R. 3162, 110 S. 55

• OpenCongress109th Congress (2005/07-present

• FDsys-Browse Bills103rd Congress (1993/95 – present

• ProQuest Congressional 101st Congress (1989/91–

present• Thomas

101st Congress (1989/91) – present

• Century of LawmakingBills & Resolutions 1799-1873.

Committee Prints

• Committee Prints and miscellaneous congressional publications are used by committees during the consideration of a bill. Often written by the Congressional Research Service (CRS)

• FDsys: Congressional Committee

• ProQuest CongressionalFrom 1930- Search “Congressional Publications”

• Congressional Research Service Reports access via UNT digital collection.

Hearings and Testimony

• Congressional hearings are transcripts of testimony before committees and subcommittees in the United States Congress.

• FDSys 104th Congress (1995-present

• UCLA library catalog use to find print, online, and

microfiche holdings

• ProQuest Congressionalindexed from 1824 – current, Transcripts from 1988-present

• Congressional Committees

Bill Markup Reports

• After hearings are completed, the bill is considered in a session that is popularly known as the “mark-up” session. Amendments may be offered to the bill, and the committee members vote to accept or reject these changes.

• National Journal Daily covers recent markup sessions for the House and Senate

House and Senate Committee Reports

• Committee report describes the purpose and scope of the measure and the reasons for recommended approval. House Report numbers are prefixed with “H.Rpt.” and then a number indicating the Congress.

• American State Papers1st -25th Congress (1789-1838)

• Archive of Americana (under U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-198015th -98th Congress (1817-1985)

• American Memory U.S. Serial Set 23rd -64th Congress (1833-1917)

• Proquest Congressional 101st Congress (1990- • FDsys Congressional Reports

104 congress (1995/97-

Floor Debates

• Debate time for a measure is normally divided between proponents and opponents. When amendments are offered, these are also debated and voted upon.

• Congressional Record (via Hein) 43rd-109th Congress (1873-2005

• Congressional Record (ProQuest Congressional) 1873-1997

• FDsys Congresional Record 1994-present

Conference Reports

• If the two houses disagree on aspects of the bill, they may have a conference to resolve disputes. They will draft a report showing how they came to their conclusions.

• Once the bill passes both houses, it is called an "enrolled act."

• FDsys Congressional Reports 104th Congress (1995-present

Presidential Statements

• After the bill is passed by Congress, the President must sign the bill into law. Look for the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents or the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States.

• FDsys Compilation of Presidential Documents1993-present

• FDsys Public Papers of the President (1991-2004)

Sources for Laws

• Slip Law• Statute at Large (at

the end of each session)

• U.S. Code (organized by subject)

• FDSys: Public and Private Laws (1995 to date; PDF & text)

• United States Statutes at Large (1951-2002; 2003 to date; PDF & text)

• HeinOnline Select U.S. Statutes at Large from the list of collections.

• ProQuest Congressional Select Legislative Histories, Bills and Laws.

More Resources

• Voteview.com Roll Call Data, last 50 Senate votes, and nomination data.• United States Senate – Legislation & Records • United States House of Representatives – The Legislative Process• FDSys: History of Bills 98th Congress (1983) to date • OnTheIssues: Every Political Leader on Every Issue• CQ Electronic Library Reference resource for research in American

government, politics, legislation, history, public policy, and current affairs.• Think Tanks, Kennedy School Library Harvard's Kennedy School of

Government list of links to public policy think tanks• Rand Corporation Issue Briefs Policy-oriented summaries of published

work. Access open to all Internet users.• PolicyArchive Online archive of public policy research.