Below are digital starting points for U.S. federal legislative history research. To find New York state bills, reports and "bill jackets," access this BLS Library guide: New York State Legislative History Research.
Digital Starting Points to Find Federal Legislative Material (publicly accessible)
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 option to Browse Legislation from the 118th Congress (2023-2024).
Tip: Click "+" to right of: Legislation by Subject and Policy Area.
Legislative Subject Terms include:
Agricultural conservation and pollution
Agricultural practices and innovations
Agricultural research
Animal and plant health
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Aquaculture
Aquatic ecology
Fishes
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Fruit and vegetables
Livestock
Mammals
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine pollution
Meat
Veterinary medicine and animal diseases
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Policy Areas include:
Agriculture and Food
Animals
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]
GovInfo-Includes free online access to official publications of the U.S legislative branch of the federal government. [Provider: U.S. Government Publishing Office.]
Congressional Serial Set | Browse by Topic(includes many Agricultural, Animal, Farm, Fishes, Fishing, Whaling and Wildlife topics) - States on this page: "The Serial Set is comprised of the numbered Senate and House Documents and Senate and House Reports, bound by session of Congress. The contents of the Serial Set have varied throughout the publication’s history, and at times have included House and Senate Journals, and the reports of executive departments and agencies." [Provider: GovInfo, a service of the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Searchable Databases for Legislative/Legislative History Research (subscription)
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)
Supports Boolean searches, such as: biosecurity and food
Recommends bills based on terms typed in search box.
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 many Popular Law Names (examples in this list include: Animal Welfare Act, Animal Welfare Act Amendments of 1976)
Click an Act's popular law name to paste the name into the main screen search box.
Tip: If you already know the popular name of an Act (examples: Animal Welfare Act, Animal Welfare Act Amendments of 1976, Big Cat Public Safety Act, Endangered Species Act, Horse Protection Act, Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1978, Lacey Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Pet and Women Safety Act, Shark Finning Prohibition Act, Shark Conservation Act of 2010, Twenty-Eight Hour Law, Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992), enter the popular name in the main screen search box/search to obtain a legislative history of the Act.
Beneath main screen search box, there also are links to Popular Topics, including Animal Protection and Welfare and Endangered Species.
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). (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.
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.")
