More U.S. Legislative Resources

Congressional Offices

• U.S. Senate – Official Senate web site. Links to committees, bills and resolutions, U.S. treaties, and more.
• U.S. House of Representatives – Official House web site. Links to committees, bills and amendments, and more.
• Library of Congress – The largest library in the United States. Links to the U.S. Copyright Office, digital collections (e.g., the American Memory Project), how to use the library, and more.
• National Archives and Records Administration – The official archive of the U.S. government. Online exhibits include the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, Apollo 11 information, various treaties, and more.
• Government Accountability Office – As the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, the GAO writes formal reports on legal, political, and economic issues. Reports are available back to the 1950s.

Legislative History

• Legislative Source Book – Excellent site for locating and understanding federal legislative history documents, both online and in print.
• A Century of Lawmaking – Online collection of the records of the U.S. Congress from 1774 up to 1875. Also contains documents and reports from the U.S. Congressional Serial Set and the American State Papers.
• History of Bills – Searchable collection of legislative actions on bills reported in the Congressional Record. Coverage goes back to 1983.
• Congressional reports – Congressional reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. They are very useful in determining legislative intent. This online collection goes back to 1995.
• Tutorials & guides
  • Georgetown University
  • University of Michigan

Congressional Research Service Reports

• General – CRS is the public policy research arm of Congress. Its reports are valuable sources of statistics, analysis, and policy arguments. This site offers integrated, searchable access to many reports from 1990 on.
• Environmental – Currently posts over 1,900 CRS reports on environmental topics.
• National security – Online collection of CRS reports addressing national security, foreign policy, terrorism, and related topics.

Elections & Campaigns

• Federal Election Commission – Web site of the FEC, the agency responsible for enforcing campaign finance laws. An online library lists publications and forms produced by the FEC.
• U.S. Electoral College – Links to an FAQ, as well as an Electoral College calculator, historical election results, and other resources.
• U.S. Elections – From the online encyclopedia Infoplease. Links to current and historical information on U.S. presidential and congressional elections.
• American Election Studies – High quality data on voting, public opinion, and political participation. The Reference Library links to a bibliography of over 5,000 citations to election studies and articles.

News & Analysis

• C-SPAN – Articles, commentary, and audio/video on topics of national interest. Also links to special C-SPAN series (e.g., American Writers).
• Roll Call – Newspaper covering Capitol Hill. Some web site content available only to print subscribers.
• The Hill – Founded in 1994. Offers features on the business and politics of Capitol Hill, book and restaurant reviews, and a weekly column about the Capitol Hill neighborhoods.