Legislative Branch - Congress - Government Information - Research Guides at Syracuse University Libraries

Congressional Information

How a Bill becomes a Law
Both a video and written description of the legislative process.
Congressional Directory
Pictorial directory of Senate and House members for the 117th Congress.
118th Congress 2023-2024
Lists of who is in Congress, committee assignments, and legislation activities, etc. for the 118th Congress.
Vital Statistics of Congress - 2022
A reference guide for those interesting in Congressional activities. This is an source of impartial data on Congress and its members.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) - Formed in 1914 as the Legislative Reference Service, and with a name change in 1970 to the Congressional Reference Service, the CRS has a duty to furnish high-quality reports with a rigorous pursuit of objectivity without partisan bias.

CRS Reports - Congressional Research Service
From the Congressional Research Service. All reports from the past two years are now freely available to the public to read and download. Currently over 11,800 reports are available.
CRS Reports
The Homeland Security Digital Archive database has a menu pull-down choice to search for 31,000+ CRS reports dating back to 1980.
CRS Reports(Archives) from Univ of North Texas
Copies of CRS Reports from 1990-2019. Has over 43,000 reports available.

Keeping Track of Congress

Gov Track
Tracks the United States Congress and informs the citizens on what is going on in Congress.
GAO - Government Accountability Office
An independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the "congressional watchdog,"
CBO - Congressional Budget Office
Produces independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.

Historical Legislation

Annals of Congress (1789-1824)
Index to the Annals (also called Debates and Proceedings) cover the 1st Congress through the first session of the 18th Congress.
Register of Debates (1824-1837)
Find and download PDFs from the 19th to the 25th Congresses from the "Browse by Congress" pull down menu.
The Congressional Globe (1833-1873)
Find and download PDFs from the 23rd to the 42nd Congresses from the "Browse by Congress" pull down menu.
Congressional Serial Set - pre-1817
Includes House and Senate Documents and Reports; reports usually concerning proposed legislation or issues under investigation. Documents address many topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations or reports of special investigations made for Congress.
more...less...
Note: SU Library has almost every volume of the Serial Set: 1789-1969 as part of LexisNexis Congressional
US Serial Set from GOVINFO
US Serial Set from the 85th Congress (1957-58) - 112th Congress (2011-2012) Contains numerical lists of documents and reports and Schedule of Serial Set Volumes
U.S. Congressional Serial Set
Link from GPO
U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, 1774-1873.
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP)(1976-present)
The CGP is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online.
Current catalog of Congressional Documents
Includes all congressional documents available in electronic format, 1985 to present, in text or PDF formats. Note: there are three types of documents: House and Senate Documents; Senate Executive Documents; and Senate Treaty Documents.

Congress Live

To view live webcasts of the House of Representatives and the Senate go to the homepage links below. Look for the links on each page that direct you to view live sessions.

U.S House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
U.S. Senate Radio-Television Gallery
Watch Senate Committee Hearings live from this Senate website.

Current Legislation

Legislation

Congress.Gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. Congress.gov is usually updated the morning after a session adjourns. This site takes the place of the old THOMAS.GOV site which has been retired.
Congressional Record
Transcripts of all discussion and debate from the floor of Congress. Note: SU Library has all of the Congressional Record (and its predecessors) on microfiche in the Maps and Government Information Department, 3rd floor Bird Library.
Committee Hearings - Search
Search for committee documents from the Office of the Clerk for the House of Representatives.

Laws

Statutes at Large of the U.S.
The United States Statutes at Large is the collection of laws passed by the United States Congress, in chronological order. Source is from the Law Library of Congress.
Statute Compilations
Statute Compilations are compilations of public laws that either do not appear in the U.S. Code or that have been classified to a title of the U.S. Code that has not been enacted into positive law.
United States Code
The US Code is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives
United States Code (GPO)
Arranges federal law into titles (subjects). Includes current and one previous edition (1994 forward).
United States Code (Cornell)
Generated from the most recent official version made available by the US House of Representatives. From the Legal Information Institute (Cornell).

Regulations

Federal Register
The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. Includes 1994 (Volume 59) to present
E-Code of Federal Regulations
New searchable version of the CFR from GPO and the National Archives.
Code of Federal Regulations (GPO)
The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. Each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year and is issued on a quarterly basis.
Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell)
Another interface to the CFR, provided by the Legal Information Institute (Cornell). Links to the official version from GPO Access (listed above).
Regulations.gov
"... the public face of the Federal E-Government eRulemaking Program, facilitates public participation in the Federal regulatory process by improving the public's ability to find, view, and comment on Federal regulatory actions."

Government Information: Legislative Branch - Congress

Congressional Information

Historical Legislation

Congress Live

Current Legislation