Key Resources
- GovinfoAuthenticated, full-text access to essential federal legislative publications, including the Congressional Record, House and Senate calendars, bills, public and private laws, and full-text hearings, reports, documents, and Committee prints from the past several Congresses. Check ProQuest Congressional and HeinOnline for additional as well as historical materials.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowContemporary and historical publications from the U.S. Congress, including the Congressional Record, bills, hearings, reports, and Committee prints. Many added value features are included, among them topic-focused pages, links to social media and news sources, Congress in context (essays to explain legislative developments at a particular historical moment), and links to proposed and adopted federal regulations.
- Congress.govCongress.gov is a comprehensive site for Congressional information ranging from Congressional publications to information about members, voting records, treaties, nominations, Law Library and Congressional Research Services, reports, etc. Scroll to the bottom of the Congress.gov homepage to find additional links.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowHeinOnline is available courtesy of the Northeastern School of Law Library. The database includes a rich repository of both contemporary and historical Congressional materials.
Selected Congressional Publications
The Library provides access to both contemporary and historical collections of Congressional materials.
- Congressional Record (Bound)The Bound edition is the permanent version of the Record. Content may differ slightly from that of the predecessor Daily editions due to slight revision and rearrangement of the text. Pages are numbered continuously and no longer carry the H, S, and E prefixes (House, Senate, and Extension of Remarks).
- Congressional Record Index (Daily), 1983 to presentPublished biweekly when Congress is in session. In this digital index, the History of Bills is a separate database. The History is included in the print edition of the Index.
- History of BillsAlthough treated as a separate database, this index is part of the overall Congressional Record Index.
- Congressional CalendarsIncludes the Senate Calendar of Business and the Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives/History of Legislation. 104th Congress to present.
Selected Historical Congressional Publications
- American State Papers (Readex/Newsbank) This link opens in a new windowUnited States legislative and executive documents from the start of the republic in 1789 to the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set 1817-1980 This link opens in a new windowImportant documents of the United States Congress including reports, journals (1817-1952), Senate executive documents, treaties (after 1978), committee reports, executive reports to congress, and more.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowUse Proquest Congressional to locate a broad range of Congressional publications, including hearings, reports, documents, and Committee prints. We provide access to all published hearings from 1824 to present (1824-2003 generously funded by the Office of the Provost; 2004 to present, courtesy of the School of Law Library).
- Annals of Congress, 1789-1824 (Opens in new window)Predecessor to the Register of Debates, Congressional Globe, and Congressional Record. Through HeinOnline, courtesy of the Law Library.
- Register of Debates in Congress, 1825-1837 (Opens in new window)Successor to Annals of Congress; predecessor to the Congressional Globe and Congressional Record. Through HeinOnline, courtesy of the Law Library.
- Congressional Globe, 12/1833 - 3/1873 (Opens in new window)Through HeinOnline, courtesy of the Law Library.
- Congressional Record, 1873 - 2017 (Opens in new window)Through HeinOnline, courtesy of the Law Library. This is the bound or final edition of The Record.
- Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 1789 (Opens in new window)Through HeinOnline, courtesy of the Law Library.
Other Legislative Branch Agenices - Congressional Research Service (CRS)
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) deserves special mention because of the scope, quality, and relevance of its research output. CRS researchers are experts in their fields and bring years of experience and analytical insight to their work.
The CRS prepares thoroughly researched studies of issues and government programs for members of Congress. Topics are as varied as the work/interests of Congress, so the scope is great.
Historically, CRS materials weren't routinely made available to the public and had to be sought through a variety of intermediary organizations which made it their business to collect CRS reports. Some of those organizations are noted below for readers in search of historical materials.
The CRS site on Congress.gov has been the official site for reports since 2018 when public access was initiated.
- University of North TexasHistorically, UNT has a leader in the effort to digitize and preserve government information. Pre-2018 CRS reports may be found on this site.
Other Legislative Branch Resources
In addition to Congress, the legislative branch includes a number of other important agencies. Please see the separate section on CRS, the Congressonal Research Service.
- Congressional Budget OfficeAs self-described on its web page, "Since 1975, CBO has produced independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process."
- Government Accountability OfficeFrom the GAO web page, "GAO provides Congress, the heads of executive agencies, and the public with timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve government and save taxpayers billions of dollars. Our work is done at the request of congressional committees or subcommittees or is statutorily required by public laws or committee reports, per our Congressional Protocols."
- GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions, 1994-2008 (On GovInfo)The GAO reports include evaluations and investigations of many federal programs and agencies. For a broader range of publications, use the Reports and Testimonies link on the GAO website.
- Library of CongressSee especially the Research Centers, the Law Library, and Congress.gov (described elsewhere).
- Law Library of Congress (part of the Library of Congress)The Law Library's Legal Research Institute provides a robust training schedule of webinars and in-person workshops. A legal blog is also published.
Selected Educational Materials
- How Our Laws Are MadeOnline document provided by the Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives and now available through Congress.gov.
- The Legislative Process (videos)This nine-part series explains how a bill becomes a law from its introduction to Presidential approval.
Selected NU Library Resources
- American State Papers (Readex/Newsbank) This link opens in a new windowUnited States legislative and executive documents from the start of the republic in 1789 to the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817.
- CQ MagazineCoverage of developments in Congress in specific and the federal government in general. Excellent source on government activity written in lay persons' terms.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowHeinOnline is available courtesy of the Northeastern School of Law Library.
Full text legal documents including regulations and other government publications, reports, Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) and UN Treaty series, and law reviews and journals. - ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowModern legislative history indexing and documents for the United States Congress.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set 1817-1980 This link opens in a new windowImportant documents of the United States Congress including reports, journals (1817-1952), Senate executive documents, treaties (after 1978), committee reports, executive reports to congress, and more.