Legislative History Resources Reference Chart
This chart provides details of the legislative process and all of the documents created during the process.
Introduction
Legislative history is a term that refers to the documents that are produced by Congress as a bill is introduced, studied and debated. Our Legislative History Research Guide provides details of the legislative process and all of the documents created during the process. It also identifies the most useful resources for locating the documents. The purpose of this chart is to provide a more comprehensive look at the library resources, as well as free web sources, available for locating specific Congressional documents.
Bills
| ELECTRONIC | |
| THOMAS(free web) | From 101st Congress (1989) to present |
| FDsys.gov (free web) | From 103rd Congress (1993) to present |
| House & Senate Bills & Resolutions (free web) |
House Bills & Resolutions: from 1799 through 1873 (6th to 42nd Congresses), with the exception of the 12th Congress. Senate Bills & Resolutions: from 1819 through 1873 (16th to 42nd Congresses). |
| GovTrack.us(free web--independent project) | From 103rd Congress (1993) to present |
| ProQuest Congressional (formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional) | From 101st Congress (1989) to present |
| Bill Comparison database. Compare two different versions of the same bill, or any version of two different bills. Click the Bills > CQ Bill Comparison Reports link. From 104th Congress (1995) to present. | |
| Lexis |
Current Congress: Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. > U.S. Congress > Congressional Full Text Bills - Current Congress Previous Congresses beginning with the 101st (1989):Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. > U.S. Congress > Full Text Bills - Historical |
| Westlaw | CONG-BILLTXT-ALL database, from 104th Congress (1995) to the present. Note that Westlaw also has smaller databases for searching individual Congresses (from 104th Congress to the present): All Databases > U.S. Federal Materials > Bill Tracking. |
| MICROFORM | |
| From the 73rd Congress (1933) to present | Williams Media, Cabinets A9 & B1 |
| FINDING AIDS - ALPHABETICAL LISTS BY BILL TOPIC | |
| Congressional Record Index(free web) | Choose a Year, then browse the list of topics and link to a list of bills for the topic. From 98th Congress (1983) to present. [Available in print and on HeinOnline from 1873 to present.] |
| Congressional Index | Williams KF49 .C6. Choose volume for correct Congress and see Subject Index for listing of bills |
| Congressional Bills Glossary (free web) | Definitions for bill and resolution types (enrolled, engrossed, etc.) |
Hearings
| ELECTRONIC | |
| FDsys.gov(free web) | Selected hearings from 104th Congress (1995) to present, organized by committee. |
| Selected Hearings, 1960s-1998(free web) | A project of Rutgers School of Law. Hearings that are included are fully searchable. |
| House and Senate Committees (free web) | Links to the hearings pages of Congressional committees from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington DC's Legislative Source Book. |
| ProQuest Congressional (formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional) | Full text digital hearings from 1824 to present. Select the "Hearings" button only, and restrict by selecting the appropriate year or Congress at the bottom of the page. |
| Lexis | Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. > U.S. Congress > Committee Hearing Transcripts > CQ Transcriptions. Selected transcripts from 104th Congress (1995) to present. |
| Westlaw | USTESTIMONY database, full coverage from the 104th Congress, 2d session (1996) to the present; select coverage from the 103rd Congress to the 104th Congress, 1st session (1993-95). |
| PAPER | |
| Individual Hearing Transcripts | Use GULLiver's keyword search to locate a specific hearing. Individual hearing transcripts published before 1998 have been sent to off-site storage and must be requested at the Circulation Desk. |
| MICROFORM | |
| From the 23rd Congress (1833-1969) | Williams Media, Cabinets A4 through A7 |
| 1970-2004 | Williams Media, Cabinets B3 through B11 |
| FINDING AIDS - INDEXES | |
| ProQuest Congressional (formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional) | Hearings are indexed from the 18th Congress (1824) to present. Select the "Hearings" button only, and make sure to select the appropriate year or Congress at the bottom of the page. |
| Lexis |
Federal Legal - U.S. > Legislative Histories > CIS/Historical Index. Selected hearings indexed from 1789-1980 Federal Legal - U.S. > Legislative Histories & Materials > US - CIS Legislative Histories. Hearings indexed from 91st Congress, 2nd Session (1970) to present |
Committee Reports (House, Senate, Conference)
| ELECTRONIC | |
| THOMAS (free web) | From 104th Congress (1995) to present |
| FDsys.gov (free web) | From 104th Congress (1995) to present |
| U.S. Serial Set (free web) | Selected reports from 23rd to 64th Congresses (1833-1917) |
| ProQuest Congressional (formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional) |
Search in "Serial Set" for full text 1789-2003. Make sure to select the appropriate year or Congress at the bottom of the page. Search in "House & Senate Reports" for full text from 1990-present. Make sure the select the appropriate year or Congress at the bottom of the page. |
| Lexis | Legal > Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. > U.S. Congress > Committee Reports. From 101st Congress, 2d Session (1990) to present, although the coverage of the 101st and 102nd Congresses is only selective. |
| Westlaw |
LH database. From 101st Congress, 2d Session (1990) to present. USCCAN-REP database. Selected reports from 1948 to present. |
| PAPER | |
| United States Congressional Serial Set | House Reports and Senate Reports volumes, Williams KF29 .U5, from 97th Congress (1981) to present. |
| USCCAN (United States Code Congressional and Administrative News) | Legislative History volumes, Williams KF48 .U54. Selected reports from 78th Congress, 2d Session (1944). |
| MICROFORM | |
| From the 1st Congress (1789-1969) | Williams Media, Cabinets A1 through A4 |
| (1970-2004) | Williams Media, Cabinets B3 through B11 |
| FINDING AIDS | |
| Congressional Serial Set Catalog(free web) | Choose Advanced Search and click on Congressional Serial Set. Search Committee Reports from the 95th Congress (1977) to present. |
| ProQuest Congessional (formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional) | Search Committee Report listings from 1789 to present. First "Clear All", then choose "Serial Set" and "House and Senate Reports." Make sure to choose the correct year or Congress at the bottom of the page. |
| U.S. Congressional Serial Set: Numerical Lists of Documents and Reports (free web) | 85th to 109th Congress (1957-2006) |
| THOMAS (free web) | Choose the appropriate Congress and click Browse Committee Reports for a list in numerical order. 104th to current Congress (from 1995) |
| CIS U.S. Serial Set Index | Williams Media, Z1223.Z9 C65 (1789-1998) |
Congressional Debates (Congressional Record)
| ELECTRONIC | |
| FDsys.gov (free web) | Daily Edition, 1994 to present. Bound editions, 1999-2001 |
| THOMAS(free web) | From 101st Congress (1989) to present. Daily Edition. |
| HeinOnline | Bound Editions of Congressional Record, 1873 to 2006. Also includes Annals of Congress, Register of Debates & Congressional Globe. Daily Edition of Congressional Record, 101st Congress (1990) to present. |
| ProQuest Congressional (formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional) |
All Bound Editions, 1789-1997. Includes Annals of Congress, Register of Debates & Congressional Globe. Daily Edition, 1985 to present. From 99th Congress (1985) to present. |
| Lexis | Legal > Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. > U.S. Congres > Congressional Record, All Congresses Combined]. From 99th Congress (1985) to present. Daily Edition. |
| Westlaw | CR database. From 99th Congress (1985) to present. Daily Edition. |
| LLMC | Bound Edition from v. 1 (1873) - v. 4 (1876) and v. 136 (1990) - v. 152 (2006) |
| Century of Lawmaking (free web) |
Annals of Congress(1789-1825, 1st-18th Congresses). Bound Edition. Register of Debates(1824-1839, 18th-25th Congresses). Bound Edition. The Congressional Globe (1833-1873, 23rd-42d Congresses). Bound Edition. |
| PAPER | |
| Congressional Record | Williams KF35 .A26. Daily edition issues are discarded when the bound edition arrives. From 43rd Congress (1873). Bound Editions to 2003; Daily Editions 2003-present. |
| Congressional Globe | Williams KF35 .A25. From 23rd to 42nd Congress (1833 to 1873). Bound Edition. |
| Annals of Congress | Williams KF35. A2 1834. Bound Edition. From 1st to 18th Congress (1789 to 1824). Bound Edition. |
| MICROFORM | |
| Congressional Record | Williams Media, Cabinet B16 & B17. From 1873. Bound Edition to 2003. Daily Edition 2003-present. |
| Congressional Globe | Williams Media, Cabinet A1. From 1868 to 1873. Bound Edition. |
| FINDING AIDS | |
| Congressional Record | Williams KF35 .A26. There is an index for each volume |
| Sessions & Years of Congress with Corresponding Congressional Record Volume Numbers (free web) | Table comparing years, Congressional Record volumes and Congresses (useful when using LLMC database, which lists debates by volume only). |
Created 12/10 (MK)
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