LibGuides: Free Legal Research Resources: Federal Statutes and Legislation

United States Code

FDSys
FDsys contains virtual main editions of the U.S. Code. The information contained in the U.S. Code on FDsys has been provided to GPO by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. While every effort has been made to ensure that the U.S. Code on FDsys is accurate, those using it for legal research should verify their results against the printed version of the U.S. Code available through the Government Printing Office.
Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel prepares and publishes the United States Code, which is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.
Legal Information Institute
This version of the U.S. Code is generated from the most recent official version made available by the US House of Representatives. The listing on the House server provides exact currency information. Click "How Current is This?" on any page to get the updates.
Justia
FindLaw
Legal Information Institute: Popular Names Table
Laws acquire popular names as they make their way through Congress, based on either substance, honoring of the sponsor, or political support. The table helps researchers locate laws in the code when they can only remember the name of the act or piece of legislation.
Office of Law Revision Counsel: Popular Name Tool
The Popular Name Tool enables you to search or browse the United States Code Table of Acts Cited by Popular Name.

Bills & Resolutions

FDSys: Congressional Bills
Congressional bills are legislative proposals from the House of Representatives and Senate within the United States Congress. Coverage is from 103rd Congress (1993-1994) to present.
FDSys: History of Bills
The History of Bills lists legislative actions on bills that are reported in the Congressional Record, which has been published since 1874. In print it is part of the Congressional Record Index, the biweekly publication from the Joint Committee on Printing, but on FDsys it is a separate collection.
Congress.gov: Bills & Resolutions
Search bill texts, bill summaries & status, multiple congresses, or browse bills by house or senate, number or popular name, or public law number.
United States Senate: Active Legislation
Active Legislation is a list of bills that have been receiving legislative or media attention. Bills are listed alphabetically by popular title or general subject. The list is updated weekly when the Senate is in session.
U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk: Legislation & Votes
Bill summaries and statuses and bill texts.

Slip Laws

Library of Congress
Full text of public laws from 101st through current Congress. Summary and major actions of public laws from 93rd through 100th Congress.
FDSys
Full text from 104th through the 113th Congress (1995/96- 2013/14).

Statutes at Large

Library of Congress: American Memory
Volumes 1 (1789) - 18 (1875).
govinfo
Years 1951 - 2011.

U.S. Congressional Documents

United States Congress: Conference Reports
A conference report is an agreement on legislation that is negotiated between the House and Senate via conference committees. It is printed and submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval.
Congressional Reports
Congressional reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. There are two types of reports: (1) House and Senate Reports and (2)
Senate Executive Reports.
FDSys: House Rules and Manual
The House Rules and Manual is published by the House Parliamentarian's Office. This document is formally entitled Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives and contains the fundamental source material for parliamentary procedure used in the House of Representatives
FDSys: Senate Manual
The Senate Manual, prepared during the second session of each Congress by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, contains the standing rules, orders, laws, and resolutions affecting the Senate, as well as copies of historical U.S. documents, such as Jefferson's Manual, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution of the United States, et cetera. and selected statistical information on the Senate and other Government entities.
FDSys: Congressional Documents
The Congressional Documents collection consists of House Documents, Senate Documents, and Senate Treaty Documents.
FDSys: Congressional Hearings
A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, joint, or special committee of Congress, usually open to the public, to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. FDsys contains selected House and Senate hearings for the 105th Congress (1997-98) forward.
FDSys: Congressional Committee Prints
Congressional Committee Prints are publications issued by Congressional Committees that include topics related to their legislative or research activities, as well as other matters such as memorial tributes. The prints are an excellent resource for statistical and historical information, and for legislative analysis.
Congress.gov: Roll Call Votes
A roll call vote guarantees that every Member's vote is recorded, but only a minority of bills receive a roll call vote.
Congress.gov: Committee Reports
Search committee reports from 104th through current congress
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
Includes the Journals of the Continental Congress, Letters of Delegates to Congress, Congressional Globe, Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, and the American State Papers.

Helpful Tools

Key to Legislative Citations
Provided by the United States Senate, Key to Legislative Citations provides a description of the different citations, such as "H.R." or "P.L" stand for and their meaning.
Historical Party Divisions: U.S. House
Lists the political divisions of the House of Representatives from 1789 to present. Included is the total number of Representatives allotted each Congress, as well as the breakdown of Delegates and Members representing all the political parties.
The National Atlas: Map of Congressional Districts
The National Atlas offered simple maps of each Congressional District. Designed for easy reference, they showed the Congressional District overlaid on top of State and county boundaries along with interstate and US highways, selected streams and waterbodies, and major cities. The National Atlas program was discontinued in 2014, but some of the older maps may still be available for purchase.
Capitolhearing.org
CapitolHearings.org distributes gavel-to-gavel audio coverage of U.S. Senate Committee hearings. The Senate produces the audio feeds, and C-SPAN encodes and streams these hearings via CapitolHearings.org.
CapitolHearings.org - a new public service from C-SPAN - lets you to listen to Senate hearings live online.There are 26 U.S. Senate Committee hearing rooms that have audio streaming capabilities.
GovTrack.us
GovTrack.us is a tool by Civic Impulse, LLC to help the public research and track the activities in the U.S. Congress, promoting and innovating government transparency and civic education through novel uses of technology. You'll find here the status of U.S. federal legislation, voting records for the Senate and House of Representatives, information on Members of Congress, district maps, as well as congressional committees and the Congressional Record.
U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk: Legislative Activities
The U.S. House of Representatives offers streaming video feeds of the House Floor Proceedings dating back to the beginning of the 111th Congress.

Congressional Directory

FDSys: Congressional Directory
The Congressional Directory is the official directory of the U.S. Congress, prepared by the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP). Coverage is from the 41st Congress (1869-1870) to present.
Congress Pictorial Directory
118th Congress
United States Senate: Contact Information
Name, address, number, and email for all current Senators.
United States House of Representatives: Directory of Representatives
Name, address, telephone, and email for all current Representatives.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Search for representatives and senators in Congress from 1774 to present. Includes picture and short biography.

Bills Presented to the President

Lists bills that have passed by both the House and Senate and have been sent to the White House for the President's signature. Compiled by the Law Library of Congress.

Top Ten Legislative Items

Top ten bills searched on THOMAS, compiled from weekly usage statistics. Compiled by the Law Library of Congress.

House Floor Today

Identifies the latest bills and resolutions considered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Compiled by the Law Library of Congress.

Senate Floor Today

Identifies the latest bills, resolutions, nominations, and treaties considered on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Compiled by the Law Library of Congress.

Congressional Record

FDSys: Congressional Record (Daily)
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. FDsys contains Congressional record volumes from 140 (1994) to the present. At the back of each daily issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities.
FDSys: Congressional Record (Bound)
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873 and is still published today. Coverage is from 1998-2002.
FDSys: Congressional Record Index
The Congressional Record Index (CRI) serves as the index to the Congressional Record. When Congress is in session, the Joint Committee on Printing publishes the Congressional Record Index biweekly. In print, the Congressional Record Index contains both the index proper and the History of Bills and Resolutions.