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Legislative History: Tracing and Finding Bills and Laws
Each United States Congress introduces legislation in the form of bills and resolutions. These bills are considered in the various House and Senate committees. Hearings may be held and reports are issued. If a House and Senate bill have different language, the bills then go to a conference committee to reconcile the differences. If the bill passes both the House and Senate with the same language, and the President signs it, it becomes law. Most introduced bills never become law and the bills must be re-introduced in the next Congress.
See the following sources for a more detailed explanation of the legislative process:
Ben's Guide to how laws are made
Our American Government (Government Printing Office)
How Our Laws are Made (Library of Congress)
Enactment of a Law (Library of Congress)Legislative Histories' Guides
- LexisNexis Congressional > Legislative Histories, Bills and Laws, from 91st Congress 1969 to present. Look in the "Help Toolbox" for a description of the legislative process.
- Federal Legislative Histories (Boston College Law Library) - use pages 5 and 6 to find a public law number or a bill from another citation.
Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name. Clapp Docs KF90 .S538. Go from the popular name of a public law to its public law number.- History of Bills (GPO) - 1983 to present
- U.S. Congressional Bibliographies (NC State) - 1983 to present.
Related Information
- U.S. House of Representatives and current House committees
- U.S. Senate and Senate Committees
- C-SPAN Capitol Spotlight - legislative news
- Congressional Research Service Reports
- CQ Library - clicking on this link allows you to search all the databases below.
CQ Congress - members of Congress, key votes, interest groups, public policy legislation
CQ Researcher Archive - in-depth, unbiased background and analysis on timely political topics from 1991+
CQ Voting and Elections - data, analyses, explanations and historical material on the election process.
CQ Weekly - articles on legislation before Congress, political and lobbying activity. Includes votes data. 1983+.
CQ Almanac 1945+ - original analysis and data on major legislation and political dates during each Congressional session. Also in print at Clapp Ref JK 1 C66- National Journal Group's Policy Central - comprehensive resource on politics and policy. Consists of:
National Journal - nonpartisan weekly on politics, policy and government. 1977+.
Congress Daily - key players and legislative process on Capitol Hill; latest 2 weeks.- Polls and Surveys
- Interest Groups
Almanac of American Politics 1972-. Clapp Ref JK 271 B343 and Politics in America Clapp Ref JK1010 .P64. Senators, Represenatives and Govenors; their records and election results, their states and districts. Includes interest group ratings for elected officials as well as campaign expenditures reported to the FEC. Also has descriptions of Congressional districts.
Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process. Clapp Ref JK 1096 O43 1996. Discusses how the contemporary Congress makes laws and how its rules and procedures shape domestic and foreign policy.
Congressional Quarterly Guide to Congress. Clapp Ref JK 1021 C565 2000 2 vols. Background information on the history, procedures, powers, committees and financing of Congress in an easy to read style.
Encyclopedia of American Public Policy. Clapp Ref JK 468 P64 J33 1999. Discusses topics and major legislation around the major policy areas (crime, education, health, etc.).
The following sources may be used to locate Congressional documents in the Wellesley College Library or online. Note the coverage dates very carefully.
Print/Microfiche |
Online |
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| House Bills (H.R.) (proposed legislation) | Digest of Public General Bills 76th Cong. - 101st Cong. (1939-1990). Clapp Docs J 52 A3 |
American Memory 6th Cong. - 42nd Congress (1799-1873)
GPO Access 103rd Cong.(1993-94) to present |
| Senate Bills (S.) (proposed legislation) | Digest of Public General Bills 76th Cong. - 101st Cong. (1939-1990). Clapp Docs J 52 A3 |
American Memory 16th Cong. - 42nd Congress (1819-1873)
GPO Access 103rd Cong.(1993-94) to present |
| Committee Hearings (witness testimony and prepared statements, submitted reports) | Look in the Wellesley Library catalog for recent titles. We have 1945-1980 in microfiche and 1980 to present in paper. Ask at the Reference Desk. |
GPO Access 104th Cong. (1995-96) to present L/N Congressional - transcripts/testimony 1988 to present |
| Committee Reports (purpose/scope of bill, reasons for approval) | American State Papers (1789 - 1838) Check the Library Catalog. U.S. Cong. Serial Set 77th Cong. - 95th Cong. (1941-1978) Clapp SuDocs Y 1. Ask at the Reference Desk. U.S. Code Cong. and Admin. News 92nd Cong. - 101st Cong. (1972-1990). Clapp Docs KF 63 A2 House and Senate Reports (microfiche) SuDoc Y1.1 96th Cong. (1979) to present. Ask at the Reference Desk. |
American State Papers 1789-1838 GPO Access 104th Cong. (1995-96) to present |
| Conference Reports | GPO Access 109th Cong. (2005-06) to present |
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| Congressional Documents | American State Papers (1789-1838) Check the Library Catalog. U.S. Cong. Serial Set 77th Cong. - 95th Cong. (1941-1978) Clapp SuDocs Y 1. Ask at the Reference Desk. |
American State Papers (1789-1838)
GPO Access 104th Cong. (1995-96) to present |
| Congressional Record and predecessors (debate/remarks on the floor of Congress) | 1st - 98th (1789-1984) Clapp Docs J 11 R5 99th (v.131,1985) to present in microfiche, Clapp SuDocs X and X 1.1: Ask at the Reference Desk. |
Annals of Congress 1789-1824
GPO Access vol 140 (1994) to present |
| Floor Votes Taken | Congressional Record (see options above) |
Thomas 101st Congress (1989-90) to present U.S. Congress Votes Database from the Washington Post, 1991 to present Look in the Congressional Record (see options above) |
| Public laws (P.L.) | Statutes at Large (vol. 1, 1789) to present. Clapp Docs KF 50 U5 |
American Memory 1789-1875
GPO Access 104th Cong. (1995-96) to present |
| Presidential Signing Statements | Messages and Papers of the Presidents (Washigton-Wilson) Clapp Docs J 81 B96 Public Papers of the Presidents (Hoover to present) Clapp Docs J 80 A283 |
American Presidency Project Hoover - G.W. Bush (UCSB) Public Papers of the Presidents 1991 to present |
Once the public law has been passed, it is "codified"; that is, various topic sections are taken out of the public law and put into the United States Code in a subject arrangement. The Code will have the public laws in their most current form; that is, the original law, with all its amendments, that is currently in effect.
Executive Branch agencies such as the EPA and the Dept. of Education then make regulations based on the current law and publish these regulation in the Code of Federal Regulations. Proposed and final changes to agency regulations are published in the Federal Register. The public may comment on proposed changes before they are made final. In order to get the very latest regulations, you must consult the latest Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register issues published subsequent to the Code.
Print |
Online Note: L/N Congressional and Westlaw Campus = Wellesley community only |
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| United States Code | United States Code Service Clapp Docs KF 62 1972 .L38 |
GPO Access 1994 to present L/N Academic latest only Westlaw Campus latest only. Search Contents List, click on title |
| Code of Federal Regulations | Title 3 (The President) only. Ask at the Reference Desk. |
GPO Access 1996 to present L/N Academic current and archive 1981+ Westlaw Campus latest only. Search Contents List, click on title |
| Federal Register | GPOAccess 1994 to present L/N Academic 7/1/1980 to present Westlaw Campus 1981 to present. Search Contents List, click on title |
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| Comment on Proposed Legislation |
- Wellesley College Library
- Date created: March 17, 2008
- Last modified: March 24, 2008
- Expires: September 1, 2008