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U.S. Government Information: Legislative Branch/U.S. Congress

Legislative Branch

"Established by Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the U.S. Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers." [Source: The White House, The Legislative Branch]

Legislative Agencies

Architect of the Capitol - Constructs and maintains the historic Capitol Hill buildings and grounds.

Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records Administration - Provides the historical records of the U.S Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressional Budget Office - States here that it creates "independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process." 

Government Accountability Office - States here it is an independent agency that "examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently." 

Government Publishing Office - Creates and provides "information, products and services" for all branches of the U.S. government. Explore and Research (on main page) provides a pull-down menu of links to:

Library of Congress - Notes that it is the key research body of the U.S. Congress and offers "millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts."  Provides a main screen search box with a pull-down menu to search by type of material (such as: Books, Films/Videos, Legislation, Manuscripts, Newspapers, Periodicals, Personal Narratives, Photos/Prints/Drawings).

Research guide: Finding Goverment Documents.

Key link: Digital Collections.

Key link: Help Resources Available from the Library of Congress.

Note: The Library of Congress' Library Collections & Services Group includes this Division: Law Library.  There are many digital research guides available here, including 67 guides under topic: Government.  This page also includes link: Ask a Librarian: Law Library of Congress.

Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) - Advances "workplace rights, safety and health, and accessibility in the [U.S.] legislative branch."

U.S. Congress: Members

U.S. House of Representatives         

U.S. Senate    

Biographical Directory:

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress - Covers current and past members of the U.S. Congress + past members of Continental Congresses.  Filter by Congress (such as: 118 (2023-2025), party, position and/or state.

U.S. Congress: Publicly Accessible Sources of Proceedings

C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle - Offers recordings of U.S. Congressional proceedings, including Congressional news conferences and hearings.  Tip: Search C-SPAN videos by Organization: U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives and add search terms.  Includes audio streams of live Congressional hearings.  C-SPAN states: "You must log in with your television provider in order to view the C-SPAN Live Streams." [Provider: C-SPAN]

U.S. House of Representatives: 

U.S. Senate:

Publicly Accessible Digital Research Products of the Congressional Research Service

U.S. Congressional Research Service - Provides public access to "research products" (including reports on key policy issues) created by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for the U.S. Congress. CRS works to provide "timely, objective, and authoritative research and analysis."  CRS is a federal legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress. The site description notes that CRS "serves as shared staff exclusively to congressional committees and Members of Congress."

  • Use the keyword search feature to find material about your topic. 
  • Alternatively, to view a full list of CRS material, leave the search bar empty and click: Search. The filters on the left side of the page can be used to narrow down the results.
    • Suggested topic filters: Constitution & Civil Liberties; Education; Health Care; Immigration; Justice & Law Enforcement; Law; and Social Welfare.

Publicly Accessible Digital Starting Points to Find Legislative Material

Congress.gov - States on this page that it is "the official website for U.S. federal legislative information." [Presenter: U.S. Library of Congress]

  • Includes bills proposed in the U.S. Congress + actions/status information about the bills. Offers an Advanced Search feature.
  • Includes Congress members' remarks in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the U.S. Congress (daily, when Congress is in session) (scope: daily Congressional Record from 1995 - present + bound ed. of Congressional Record from 1873 (43rd Congress) - 1994 (103rd Congress)
    • See also: GovInfo: Browse: Congressional Record (scope: bound ed. of Congressional Record from 1994 - present). [Provider: GovInfo, a service of the U.S. Government Publishing Office] 

Constitution of the United States - Includes text and Constitution: Related Events. [Provider: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration]

GovInfo - Includes free online access to official publications of the U.S legislative branch of the federal government. [Provider: U.S. Government Publishing Office.]

Links to:

United States Code - This site states that "[t]he United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States." [Preparer: Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.]

  • This site states: "The currency date for each section of the United States Code is displayed above the text of the section. If the section has been affected by any laws enacted after that date, those laws will appear in a list of 'Pending Updates'. If there are no pending updates listed, the section is current as shown."

BLS Library's Subscription Databases

CQ.com (daily news/analysis, when the U.S. Congress is in session) & CQ Magazine (weekly news/analysis) > in each of BLS Library's SARA catalog records, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (CQ) - Reports on acts of the U.S. Congress. [Provider: FiscalNote] (remote access requires BLS proxy server)

ProQuest Congressional > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (PROQUEST) - Provides the full text of many U.S. legislative and executive publications. (remote access requires BLS proxy server)

  • Tip: Link: Advanced (beneath main screen search box) supports searches by content type + states the date range of available material for each content type (example: Content type: Hearings: 1824-Present).
    • Search example: Researchers can enter the name of a witness/panelist and limit the search by content type: Hearings.

ProQuest Legislative Insight > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (PROQUEST) - Provides legislative histories of U.S. public laws.  As ProQuest notes here: "[l]egislative histories enable you to trace the development of a public law from early consideration to enactment."  These legislative histories include links to specific documents (such as bills, discussions in the Congressional Record and reports). (remote access requires BLS proxy server) 

  • Offers a main screen search box, including a link to Popular Law Names. 
  • Offers an Advanced Search feature to search by number/citation (e.g., by bill number or by public law number).
  • Supports searches in the full text of documents associated with a U.S. public law.
  • Allows researchers to download documents.

U.S. Congressional Documents Library (in HeinOnline) > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN). [Publisher: W.S. Hein] (remote access requires BLS proxy server)

  • Features the Congressional Record bound volume set (1873-present) + its predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873).  Also provides the Congressional Record Daily edition from 1980-present.
  • Features House and Senate documents and reports included in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (scope:1817-2017) + a collection titled: Congressional Documents (2018-present).
  • Also provides collections of Committee Prints and Congressional Hearings.

Westlaw Precision > tab: Statutes & Court Rules (requires BLS username/password) provides:

Westlaw Precision > tab: Legislative History (requires BLS username/password) includes:

  • Arnold & Porter Legislative Histories
  • Congressional Record (scope: 99th Congress (1985) - present)
  • Federal Tax Legislative History (scope: "Congressional committee reports setting out the legislative history of tax-related public laws as reprinted in U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News from 1948 through 1989. From 1990 forward, the database contains all congressional committee reports, including reports on bills that did not become law. Presidential signing statements, issued at the time the president signed a bill into law, are also included.")
  • Legislative History - 1776 (scope: "Documents related to the founding of the United States, including the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, notes on the debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, the Federalist papers, and ratification resolutions of the states. Coverage begins with selected resolutions passed by the First Continental Congress in 1774.")
  • Legislative History - Congressional Reports (scope: "All congressional committee reports, including reports on bills that did not become law, beginning with 1990. Also sets out the legislative history of public laws as reprinted in U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) from 1948 through 1989, as well as the legislative history of securities laws beginning with 1933 and presidential signing statements reprinted in USCCAN beginning with 1986.")
  • U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories (for many public laws enacted between 1921-1995 + PL 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)