Guide to Legislative Research

GUIDE TO LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

Dimond Library - Documents Department
University of New Hampshire

The Government Information Department home page provides links to selected
resources by subject. The department's Data Center offers researchers computers
available for web searching as well as access to a number of subscription and
CD-ROM databases.

Bills

The legislative process begins with the introduction of bills either in the Senate (S.) or the House of Representatives (H. R.). Bills are called, "An Act"

Y1.4/1 - 96th - present (1979- present) Congress -Microforms
http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong009.html The GPO Access site offers all published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) to the current Congress.
http://thomas.loc.gov Thomas, from the 93rd (1973 - 1974) Congress - present Provides access to bill summaries and statutes, bill text, major legislation, public laws, roll call votes, and more.
Congressional Index , 1985 -: Reference KF 49 .C 6

History of Bills

Although all of the sources in this guide document the history of a bill in some manner, there are some titles that do so more specifically.

Bill Summary & Status, 93rd (1973- 1974) Congress - present: Thomas; http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d105query.html
History of Bills, 1983 - 1999: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces200.html
History of Bills and Resolutions: This is a supplement of the Congressional Record Index which lists the bills in numerical order with the Senate and House bills in separate lists. Includes actions reported in the Congressional Record with date and page numbers.

Congressional Committee Hearings

Bills are assigned to the committee which deals with the topic the bill covers. If the committee decides to hold hearings, these can include testimony from interested or knowledgeable parties, members of the public, and members of the executive branch of the government. Hearings provide excellent background on the subject even if the bill does not become law. Sometimes investigative hearings unrelated to specific legislation are held.

At UNH we have older hearings in paper and the newer ones in microform. Check the online catalog for the more recent materials and the indexes listed below for the older materials.

Monthly Catalog: 1925- present Docs Ref 3.8: yr.
Marcive WebDocs Catalog: 1976- present. The Monthly Catalog linked through Government Information home page. (http://docs.unh.edu)
CIS Index: 1974 - present Docs Ref KF 49 .C62 yr; Comprehensive index allows searching by subject or witness name. Abstracts include description of hearing, purpose, dates and committee responsibilities as well as summarizing individual witness testimony.
Popular Names of U. S. Government Reports: Docs Ref LC 6.2:G 74/984; Somewhat dated, but excellent for historical research of congressional hearings, committee prints, and reports by common or popular name rather than the official title.

Congressional Committee Prints

Similar to hearings but often of a more general, fact-finding nature these are often unconnected to specific legislation.

At UNH we have older committee prints in paper and the newer ones in microform. Check the online catalog for the more recent materials and the indexes listed below for the older materials.

Monthly Catalog: 1925- present Docs Ref 3.8: yr.
Marcive WebDocs Catalog: 1976- present. The Monthly Catalog linked through Government Information home page. (http://docs.unh.edu)
CIS Index: 1974 -present Docs Ref KF 49 .C62 yr; Comprehensive index allows searching by subject or witness name. Abstracts include description of hearing, purpose, dates and committee responsibilities as well as summarizing individual witness testimony.
Popular Names of U. S. Government Reports: Docs Ref LC 6.2:G 74/984; Somewhat dated, but excellent for historical research of congressional hearings, committee prints, and reports by common or popular name rather than the official title.

Congressional Committee Reports

These take the form of Senate and House, Reports and Documents. They become part of the U. S Serial Set. It is from these that the most persuasive case can be made for the "legislative intent" or what was intended by the legislators when the bill was written and passed into law. These also include congressional conference reports.

At UNH we have older committee reports in paper and the newer ones in microform. Check the online catalog for the more recent materials and the indexes listed below for the older materials.

CIS American State Papers and U. S. Serial Set Index 1789-1969

Docs Ref Z1223 .Z9 C65/1975/

This indexes congressional reports and documents including the many maps in these volumes.

CIS Index

1974 - present. Docs Ref KF 49 .C62 yr

Comprehensive index allows searching by subject or witness name. Abstracts include description of hearing, purpose, dates and committee responsibilities as well as summarizing individual witness testimony.

Monthly Catalog

1925- present Docs Ref 3.8: yr.

Marcive WebDocs Catalog

1976- present. The Monthly Catalog linked through Government Information home page. (http://docs.unh.edu)

Popular Names of U. S. Government Reports

Docs Ref LC 6.2:G 74/984

Somewhat dated, but excellent for historical research of congressional hearings, committee prints, and reports by common or popular name rather than official title.

Congressional Debate & Votes These are recorded in the Congressional Record which is the official record of the deliberations of Congress and is published daily when Congress is in session.

Congressional Record, 1873 -

1995 - http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces150.html

1990 - Docs Ref X 1.1/A:-

1982 -, 97th Congress, Docs Microforms X1.1: & X1.1/2:

1789, 1st Congress - 1982, 97th Congress Microfilm, Microforms Level 2

Congressional Globe, 1833-1873

1833, 23rd Congress - 1873, 42th Congress 3rd Session.

Microforms, Level 2 & Docs. Ref. X1.1:

Presidential Action

Once a bill passes both houses of Congress, it is referred to the President for a signature, a veto, or passage without his signature. This action is often accompanied by a statement that may be found in

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Docs Ref AE 2.109:

Current only; older materials compiled in the Public Papers of the President.

Docs. Ref. . AE 2.114: 1984- and GS 4.113: 1929-1983

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html#pd; 1993 -

Public Papers of the President

Starting with the Hoover Administration, this series includes the text of Presidential statements, such as communications with Congress, public speeches, press conferences, public letters, and executive orders. Currently it duplicates and replaces the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.

Docs Ref. AE 2.114: 1984- and GS 4.113: 1929-1983

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 3. (annual)

This annual publication provides the full text of executive orders and proclamations from the President.

Laws

Once signed by the President, a bill becomes law. Vetoed bills are returned to Congress and can be passed into law by a 2/3 vote of both the House and Senate. Bills can become law if the President neither signs nor vetos the bill.

Public Laws, PL (Slip Laws)

The first form in which the text of the law appears is a pamphlet. Each is numbered by the Congress session number and the specific public law number. Docs Ref AE 2.110:

U. S. Statues at Large

1789-1837

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html

1901-1983 Docs. Ref. GS 4.111:

1984 - present Docs Ref AE 2.111:

Issued at the end of each Congress, these provide a chronological arrangement of public slip laws, private laws, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and some presidential materials bound in volumes by the congressional session. These can be used as legal evidence of the laws and are considered acceptable as proof of those laws in the courts.

U. S. Code Federal statutes codified or arranged by 50 subjects known as titles rather than in chronological order by congressional session. Contains the general and permanent laws currently in force. The full official version is published every 5-6 years with annual updates of the newly passed laws. Subject and Popular Name indexes as well as a table indicating where in the Code the particular statutes appear.

Legislative History or Intent

Federal Legislative Histories. Doc Ref KF 42.2 1994: Convenient summary of all the documents relating to the passage of major legislation from 1862-1990.
CIS Index, Legislative Histories: 1984- These annual volumes summarize all the documents relating to the passage of legislation of that year.; 1970-1983. These histories were included in the annual abstract volume.
How Our Laws are Made Y1.1/7:101-139.: Also available on Thomas http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html
This gives a detailed description of the legislative process.

Tracking Legislation

WHAT	WHERE
Bills	GPO Access; Thomas 1973-; Congressional Index, Depository bill collection
Status of Bills	GPO Access; Thomas 1973-; Congressional Index, Depository bill collection
Background information on a bill or public policy issue	Congressional Hearings CIS Index 1974- Monthly Catalog, 1925-
	Marcive WebDocs Catalog 1976- Thomas, hearing files & links to Committee home pages
	Committee Reports and Documents GPO Access CIS Index 1974-; U.S. Serial Set Index; Monthly Catalog Marcive WebDocs Catalog 1976-
Congress person's position and vote	Congressional Debate Congressional Record
President's position and action	Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Public Papers of the President
Laws	Slip Laws US Statutes US Code

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Last updated 16 June 2000