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National Security & Human Rights: Resources

Free Digital Starting Points to Find Key U.S. Government Publications

GovInfo - Offers free online access to official publications of the U.S legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government. [Provider: U.S. Government Publishing Office.]

Links to these popular sources:

Regulations.gov - Provides free online access to U.S. regulatory materials, including: "trending regulations, public comments, supporting analyses, FR notices, and rules."  [Provider: U.S. government]

  • Tip: Look for link: Document Comments when viewing a recently proposed federal regulation.

The White House - Describes the current Administration and its priorities. Provides News of Presidential actions, press briefings, speeches, and statements.     

Note: Executive Orders and additional presidential documents appear in the Federal Register (daily, 1936-present) [Publisher: Office of the Federal Register, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration]

BLS Library's Subscription Databases to Find/Analyze Key U.S. Government Publications

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. ( server)

  • Tip: Click tab: Browse Topics > Defense and Security.  There could be a topic pertinent to your research, such as: Border Security, Cyber Security, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Guantanamo Bay Naval Station Detentions + Intelligence Community. 
    • Each topic includes news, background reports, featured events, viewpoints (= "views on the topic documented in the oral and written testimony from witnesses during a [U.S.] congressional hearing") + links to primary sources (such as laws + presidential materials).
  • Tip to find a specific document: 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). ( server) 

  • Tip: Click: Browse All Topic Pages.  Includes legislative histories on Artificial Intelligence, Border Security + Countering Domestic and International Terrorism.
  • 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.

U.S. Congressional Documents Library (in HeinOnline) > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN). [Publisher: W.S. Hein] ( 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 page: Statutes & Court Rules (requires BLS username/password) provides:

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

  • Arnold & Porter Legislative Histories
  • Congressional Record (scope: 99th Congress (1985) - present)
  • 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.")

Unpublished: CQ Magazine

Single-user subscription to CQ Magazine (weekly news/analysis) > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (CQ) - Reports on acts of the U.S. Congress. [Provider: FiscalNote] ( server)

  • Tip:To view defense news in both CQ Magazine, click tab: Analyze > CQ Defense.  Click: See More @ bottom of screen to view more defense news.