Locating Information on Legislative Processes
Background on a Bill
- CQ Weekly [Ref JK 1 C15] - Also available in MasterFile Select in full-text from 04/11/1998 to 03/13/2004.
- CQ Almanac Plus 2003 [Ref JK 1 C66] - Annual summary and analysis of major legislation; includes vote records. (Newest issue we own is for 2001-2002).
Text of Bill and Committee Reports
- Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet [http://thomas.loc.gov] - Provides the full text of committee and conference reports from the 104th Congress (1995-96) to the current Congress. Provides access to Bill Texts for 107th Congress (2001-2002) and 108th Congress (2003-2004) and to and Committee Reports for 107th Congress (2001-2002) and 108th Congress (2003-2004).
- United States Code Congressional and Administrative News [Ref KF 62 A3 W42] - Contains presidential proclamations and executive orders, information on the status of legislation plus the full text of Public Laws signed during the reporting period and a legislative history. The web sites for the Unites States House of Representatives [www.house.gov] and United States Senate [www.senate.gov] also provide much of this information.
- GPO Monthly Catalog - FirstSearch database
- GPO Access: Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
- GPO Access: Congressional Reports - Provides the full text of committee and conference reports from the 104th Congress (1995-1996) to the current Congress
Floor Debate
- U.S. Congressional Record [Periodicals, 3rd floor] - Official source of information on recorded floor votes. Also available in GPO Access: Congressional Record [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord] . You can browse by day of session in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The Daily Digest for 2001, for example, provides the information that the USA Patriot Act was passed by the House on October 24th and by the Senate on October 25, 2001.
History of bills
- GPO Access: History of Bills [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/hob/index.html] - 1983 to the present
Presidential Statements on Legislation
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents [Periodicals, 3rd floor] - Published every Monday and is the official publication of presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other materials released by the White House Press Secretary. Also available in GOP Access by year (2001, 2002, 2003) and searchable.
Tips
-
Search LexisNexis Academic Universe for bill name (Farm Bill) or Bill number (H.R. 3295). Sometimes you can retrieve full text of the bill or retrieve a bill tracking report. Make sure to search for last two or three years. Here you can also locate full-text articles from the New York Times and the Washington Post.
SUNY Cortland's Memorial Library has been designated a Federal Depository for the 25th Congressional District. This means that the Library receives approximately nineteen percent of the available documents offered by the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). You can use the Library Catalog to locate Congressional documents. A catalog search will sometimes bring up both a paper copy and a link to the full-text online. Search by bill title, bill number (HR 5005), committee (Committee on Education and Labor) or subject (Agricultural laws and legislation). In advanced search you can search by collection (Government Documents) or document type (Federal Goverment Documents).
Other Useful Sources
- C-Span - Their Vote Search contains vote charts back to 1996
- Congressional Roll Call [Ref. JK1 .C6635] - Charts how legislators vote on roll call legislation
- FDLP - Federal Depository Library Program
- Federal Register
- FirstGov - Comprehensive index to U.S. Government web pages
- National Journal - (Also available in Expanded Academic and MasterFILE Select)
- New York Times Congressional Guide
- Federal Government Resources - Legislative Branch - University of Michigan Documents Center
Created by: Gretchen Herrmann
Memorial Library
Revised by Gretchen Herrmann and Margaret Anderson, November 2004