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Tracing Federal Legislation

Contents: Bills & Bill Status Floor Action Background, News, Summaries of Legislation Committee Action (Hearings & Reports) Roll Call Votes Presidential Action Legislative Histories Guides to the Legislative Process Citing Your Sources Need More Help?

Bills & Bill Status

Bills are drafts of laws which propose new laws, or amend or repeal existing law.

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet   Library of Congress Text of bills from 1989 on; bill summary and status from 1973 on. Congressional Record Index, "History of Bills and Resolutions" section. Maps & Gov Info Reference   KF 35 .C6,   1911- · Does not contain the text of the bills: lists legislative actions on bills reported in the Congressional Record. · "Entries give the bill number, title, summary, sponsors and cosponsors, and list actions on the bill giving the Congressional Record page and date. E.g., S5798 [9JN] = Senate section, page 5798, June 9. · 1983- History of Bills via GPO Access

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Floor Action

The Congressional Record and its predecessors are the official record of the proceedings and debates of Congress.

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet   Library of Congress Thomas has the text of the Congressional Record from 1989 on. · Click on Congressional Record in the list at the top left of the page. The full-text of the Congressional Record from the 43rd Congress and of the predecessors to the Congressional Record is also available through the Library of Congress' A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation collection. Annals of Congress, 1789-1824 Register of Debates, 1824-1837 Congressional Globe, 1833-1873 Congressional Record: 1873-1875 For more information on the Congressional Record and its predecessors, including Library locations, see the Maps & Gov Info guide Congressional Record.

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Background, News, Summaries of Legislation

CQ Weekly Off-campus connection requires login. Weekly summary of congressional activities; highlights of major issues, status of major bills, votes, and amendments. Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus. (1945-   ) Reference   JK 1 .C663 Annual survey of legislation for a session of Congress. Includes summaries of major issues and actions, and voting records.

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Committee Action (Hearings & Reports)

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet   Library of Congress Links to reports and selected hearings from 1995 on. Congressional Hearings 1997-     via GPO Access "Not all congressional hearings are available on GPO Access. Whether or not a hearing is disseminated on GPO Access depends on the committee." Congressional Reports 1995-     via GPO Access Quick Links to House and Senate Committee Documents and Hearings Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. Organized by committee. Catalog of U.S. Government Publications   July 1976- Identifies current and historical federal publications, and provides direct links to those available online. · Check the Library Catalog and also with Maps & Government Information (2nd floor of the Library) to see if we own items that aren't available online. CIS Index. Maps & Gov Info Reference Indexes congressional hearings, reports and other publications (the Library will have most of these publications). Since 1984, provides a legislative history for each Public Law listing the congressional publications related to its passage.

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Roll Call Votes

CQ Weekly Off-campus connection requires login. In the Weekly Report section, under For the Record, select Votes Chart. · To see previous issues, click to open the Read Recent Issues box under the CQ Press logo (top left of the screen). Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus. (1945-   ) Reference JK 1 .C663 Voting Information from Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet: · Roll Call Votes, 1989-     · Bill Summary & Status: includes roll call numbers from 1973 on, and links to roll call votes beginning in 1991. · Compiling a Member Voting Record: how to find voting records for members of Congress. Key [Congressional] Votes 1993-     Project Vote Smart Select an issue, enter a bill number, or search by keyword. Resume of Congressional Activity 1947- present, includes total number of yea/nay and roll call votes per session.

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Presidential Action

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. (online 1993-   ) The official publication of presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other materials released by the White House Press Secretary. White House News Update the Weekly Compilation by looking through recent press releases on this site. Presidential Vetoes. [1789-1988 and 1989-2000]. Reference KF 42.2 1992 and 2001 Presidential Vetoes via Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet (Library of Congress): Bills, Resolutions 1. Select Bill Summary & Status. 2. Select a Congress. 3. Under Browse by, select Vetoed Bills. Presidential Vetoes (1789-present) Office of the Clerk of the House Number and type of vetoes by each President, and number overridden.

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Legislative Histories

CIS Index. (1970-   ) Maps & Gov Info Reference Provides a legislative history listing publications related to the passage of each Public Law from 1984 on. United States Code Congressional and Administrative News. (1941-2003) Reference KF 4 Legislative Histories of Selected U.S. Laws in Electronic Format   Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.

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Guides to the Legislative Process

Congress and Law-Making: Researching the Legislative Process. Reference KF 240 .G63 1989 Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Congress. Reference JK 1021 .C565 2000 How Our Laws Are Made by the House Parliamentarian Enactment of a Law by the Senate Parliamentarian How a Bill Becomes a Law from Project Vote Smart Reports on the Legislative Process by the Congressional Research Service

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Citing Your Sources

Citation Style Guides Auburn University Libraries Guides to Citing Government Publications Includes legal citation style guides.

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Need More Help?

In the library? Ask a librarian at the reference desk, on the 1st floor near the elevators. Not on campus? Use the web form to IM or email a question to a reference librarian: Ask A Librarian Pdf Version of this Guide

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Revised 5 March 2008
	Send comments to Carol Doyle Agricultural Sciences & Technology Librarian and Head, Maps & Government Information
The Madden Library is a selective federal and California depository.