U.S. Federal Legislative Histories
Legislative histories are important for several reasons. They reveal the legislative intent -- the reason behind the need for legislation, and they provide important social and political history at the time of introduction of bills and the legislative process.
Elements of legislative histories can generally be located in Penrose Library as follows:
In the U.S. Congressional Serials Set (after the Y 4. classification in the Docs Stacks):
- Senate and House Reports
- Senate and House Documents
Congressional reports can be the richest source among the many kinds of documents, since they often reveal the legislative intent -- the reason for the legislation.
In the Docs Stacks in the Y 4. classification:
- Senate and House Hearings
- Senate and House Committee Prints
Congressional hearings often contain meaningful backfround material for the social scientist. Included in them may be expert testimony, statistics, maps, and materials reprinted from other sources. Congressional committee prints, if available, ofter serve as valuable background research.
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Online Indexing Databases |
Print Indexing Resources |
Locating Congressional Reports & Documents in the Serial Set |
Online Resources |
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| Online Indexing Databases |
| Online research databases useful in tracking federal legislation. |
LexisNexis Congressional
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Provides full coverage of U.S. federal legislative activity from 1789 to present. This sources indexes the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Also available are the full text of bills starting in 1989, public laws starting in 1988, committee reports starting in 1990, House and Senate documents starting in 1995, Congressional Record starting in 1985, Federal Register starting in 1980, National Journal starting in 1977 and other U.S. government information.
University of Denver Community
Content types:
Full Text :
Index :
Selected Full Text
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THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet
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Provided by the Library of Congress, this is a browsable and searchable database to federal legislation including bill text, bill summary and status, roll call votes, public laws, the Congressional Record, House and Senate reports, and much more.
Publicly Available
Content types:
Full Text :
Abstracts
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GPO Access
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Free online service of over 1,500 databases of Federal information.
Publicly Available
Content types:
Full Text :
Abstracts
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| Print Indexing Resources |
| Print resources are often useful for older legislation (pre-1970). |
CIS U.S. Serial Set Publications
See PEAK Catalog
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Reference Documents
Z1223.Z9 C65 1975
Indexes the United States Congressional Serial Set from 1789 through 1969. The Serial Set contains House and Senate Reports and Documents relevant to the background of congressional bills and resolutions. Usually Reports are more important that Documents, since they often provide insights into the legislative intent.
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Catalogue of the Public Documents of the ... Congress
See PEAK Catalog
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Reference Documents
GP 3.6:
Spine title says: "Document Catalogue." Provides bibliographic access to public documents issued by Congress, including reports, documents, hearings and committee prints from March 1893 through 1940.
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The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress
See PEAK Catalog
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Documents Stacks
X:
Also know as the Annals of Congress, coverage covers the 1st through the 18th Congress (1789-1824). Speeches and debates are paraphrased. These volumes are online through the Library of Congress A Century of Lawmaking project.
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Register of Debates in Congress
See PEAK Catalog
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Documents Stacks
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Continues the Debates and Proceedings, and covers 1824-1837. These volumes are online through the Library of Congress A Century of Lawmaking project.
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The Congressional Globe
See PEAK Catalog
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Documents Stacks
X:
Continues the Register of Debates in Congress and covers 1833-1873. These volumes are online through the Library of Congress A Century of Lawmaking project.
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Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress
See PEAK Catalog
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Documents Stacks
X:
This is the fourth and final series of congressional publication containing debates. Coverage is from 1873 to present. Volumes from 1873-1877 are online via the Library of Congress A Century of Lawmaking project. Recent years of the Record are available from THOMAS, with text searching and roll call votes going back to the 101st Congress (1989). The Record is searchable from 1995 to present through GPO Access.
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| Locating Congressional Reports & Documents in the Serial Set |
| Congressional (House and Senate) Reports and Documents are eventually bound in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. In order to locate the appropriate Serial Set volume it is helpful to consult the numerical lists [Numerical lists and schedule of volumes of the reports and documents].
Although this may be done with print resources, it is possible to use online resources as described below: |
LexisNexis Congressional
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Serial Set volume information can be found for all reports and documents through 1969. The "CIS-NO" contains the Serial Set number. For example, "CIS-NO: 7777 H.rp.1280" means that you could go to Serial Set vol. 7777 and find House Report 1280.
From 1970 onward LexisNexis Congressional will not help at all. You will need to keep reading below.
University of Denver Community
Content types:
Full Text :
Index :
Selected Full Text
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Numerical lists and schedule of volumes of the reports and documents of the ... Congress, ... session
See PEAK Catalog
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Online
GP 3.7/2:
Click on the online version, and you can look up the Serial Set volume numbers.
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| Online Resources |
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| Enactment of a Law |
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/enactlawtoc.html
Describes the legislative process from the Senate perspective. Authored by Robert B. Dove, Senate Parliamentarian.
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| How Our Laws are Made |
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html
Describes the legislative process from the House perspective. Authored by Charles W. Johnson, House Parliamentarian.
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