An A to Z directory of help pages, research guides, lists, popular saved searches, and more. Legislative Process Glossary terms are in italics.
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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
A
Accounts - create a Congress.gov account to manage alerts and saved searches
Action on legislation - Browse by date - also called Yesterday in Congress, includes legislation introduced, reported, passed, and considered by the full U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate each legislative day
- U.S. Senate finding aid
Advanced search - Congress.gov advanced search options.
Advanced search form - legislation only, 93rd- (1973-)
- USA.gov
Alerts on Congress.gov - sign up for email alerts on members, individual bills, nominations, and the Congressional Record
Amendments - see also Legislation, Legislative Process
Congress.gov resources
Amendments to the Constitution - Constitution Annotated
Browse House and Senate amendments 97th- (1981-)
Related glossary terms
amendment in the nature of a substitute
Anomalies - legislative data anomalies on Congress.gov
Appropriations - see also Appropriations and Budget Research Guide
- U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee
- CBO - previously Unauthorized appropriations and expiring authorizations
Archived government websites
Audio and Visual Coverage Research Guide
B
Bill - see Legislation
Bill of Rights
- NARA resource
- Library of Congress resource
(1774- )
Books - Library of Congress online catalog
Browse lists - view items filtered by selected criteria and Congresses on Congress.gov
Budget - see also Appropriations and Budget Research Guide
- GPO
Budget process - see also Appropriations and Budget Research Guide
budget resolution [glossary term]
- Congress.gov bill status data
C
- live TV and radio coverage of proceedings of the U.S. Congress
Calendars
calendar [glossary term]
See Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
(CVC) website
Caucuses - |
CBO - Congressional Budget Office [glossary term]
- NARA repository of congressional records
(1774-1875) - Library of Congress repository of congressional documents and debates
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
- GPO
- GPO
Committee reports
Congress.gov resources
About committee reports of the U.S. Congress
Browse House reports | Senate reports | Executive reports
Related glossary terms
Committees
Congress.gov resources
About committee hearings of the U.S. Congress
About congressional committee profiles
Committees of the U.S. Congress resource page
House Committee hearings and meetings video
Legislation with actions related to committees - House | Senate
Related glossary terms
Committee websites - may include transcripts of hearings, markups, and reports
committees
committees
Communications
Congress.gov resources
About communications to the House
About communications to the Senate
Browse communications to the House 114th- (2015-) | communications to the Senate 96th- (1979-)
Search for House communications
Search for Senate communications
Related glossary terms
Congresses
Congresses - Congress.gov field values list of congresses and corresponding years 70th- (1927-)
congress (i.e. 2-year time frame) [glossary term]
Congress.gov - About Congress.gov resource page
Congressional agencies
- Congressional Budget Office
- Congressional Research Service
- Government Accountability Office
- Government Publishing Office
Congressional apportionment
- U.S. Census Bureau
- U.S. Census Bureau
- U.S. Census Bureau
- U.S. House of Representatives
- GPO - official directory
Congressional districts
- U.S. Census Bureau data on US, states, counties, congressional districts
106th-114th - National Map Small-Scale Collection, a collaborative effort among the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Federal, State, and local partners
- GPO - selected U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate documents
- U.S. House of Representatives
(subscription required for full access)
Congressional Record - see also Daily Digest
About the Congressional Record
Most recent issue | Browse by date | Search
Congressional Record [glossary term]
Congressional Record Index - topical access to remarks and activities by Members, individuals, organizations, and legislative business mentioned in the Congressional Record
Constitution Annotated - Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation. Legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution, based on Supreme Court case law
- Library of Congress - resources for teachers
- National Association of Counties (NACO)
CRS - Congressional Research Service
CRS - Congressional Research Service [glossary term]
D
Daily Digest - see also Congressional Record
Daily Digest [glossary term]
- machine readable data sets of the Executive branch; launched May 2009 by Federal CIO Council
Days in Session calendars for U.S. House and U.S. Senate - see also Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
Declaration of Independence - Primary Documents in American History; Library of Congress web guide
E
Embed a search box - For instructions and code, go to How to Embed the Search Box on Your Website
Ethics
(PDF) and other documents from the
Senate ethics manual (PDF) and other documents from the
Executive business
- See also Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
Related glossary terms
Executive orders
(1945-1989) - NARA
(1994-) - NARA
- NARA - disposition tables list the status of Executive Orders from January 8, 1937 - January 20, 2017
- White House
- NARA
- CBO - previously Unauthorized appropriations and expiring authorizations
F
FAQ - Frequently asked questions about Congress.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau - data on the U.S., states, counties, and congressional districts
- GPO
federal depository library [glossary term]
Federal judiciary
- U.S. Courts
- U.S. Courts
Federal Register
- GPO
- GPO
- GPO
- NARA
and its page - find and comment on Federal Register documents
Feedback - submit a survey to Congress.gov
- case law, forms, find a lawyer
G
(and previous reports)
- Law Library of Congress
Glossary of legislative process terms
- jointly published by the Office of the Federal Register, NARA, and GPO - official handbook of the federal government
Government Research Guide - links to legislative, executive, judicial, state, local, and international government resources
Authenticated digital publishing
Federal Digital System (FDsys) - FDsys website will be retired and replaced by www.govinfo.gov on December 14, 2018
govinfo - access to official publications of the federal government
GPO - Government Publishing Office [glossary term]
H
Hearings - committee/subcommittee hearings
Browse and search
87th- (1961-) GPO
(1908-2006) - Law Library of Congress
110th- (2007-) - U.S. House of Representatives Library
Resources
House committee hearings and meetings video - Congress.gov resource
Live audio and video of floor and committee proceedings - see Audio and Visual Coverage Research Guide
, transcripts, etc. - Law Librarians' Society
, listed by committee - U.S. House of Representatives
hearing [glossary term]
Help pages - Congress.gov
Coverage dates for legislative information
Legislative documents that predate authenticated digital publishing
History of Bills (1983-) GPO
- updated day after Congressional Record published
House manual - Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives
- usgpo/house-manual - GitHub - United States Legislative Markup (USLM) project
House of Representatives - see House of Representatives Research Guide
House precedents
| | - GPO
House Practice 104th, 108th, 112th, 115th - GPO
House standing rules | (112th-)
- archived U.S. House of Representatives rules, House manuals, rules of the committees, and surveys of activities of the Rules Committee
House Rules committee [glossary term]
How Our Laws Are Made - Learn About the Legislative Process - Congress.gov resource
I
International
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Northwestern University Library
- Northwestern University Library
- United Nations (UN)
international agreement [glossary term]
J
- official estimates for tax legislation considered by Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. Courts
K
L
Leadership
- Speaker, majority and minority leaders, whips, etc.
- U.S. House of Representatives History, Art & Archives
- President of the U.S. Senate, President Pro Tempore, majority and minority leaders, whips, etc.
- Democratic Conference, Republican Conference, party policy committees, historical lists
Legislation - see also Amendments, Legislative Process
Browse reports on Congress.gov, 93rd Congress-present (1973-) unless otherwise noted
Action on legislation - Browse by date - also called Yesterday in Congress, includes legislation introduced, reported, passed, and considered by the full U.S. House or U.S. Senate each legislative day
Bill and law texts received today
Bills introduced as private legislation
House and Senate amendments - 97th- (1981-)
Legislation with actions related to committees - House | Senate
Legislative actions - reports of legislative actions taken per Congress and related bills
Most-viewed bills on Congress.gov - 113th- (2014-)
Sponsors and cosponsors - House | Senate - browse legislation by sponsor or cosponsor
Resources
- Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals (LLRX) guide
- see Common Versions of Bills table - GPO
Related glossary terms (jump past glossary terms)
amendment in the nature of a substitute
continuing resolution (continuing appropriation)
proposed/offered Senate amendment
Legislative histories
- NARA's repository of congressional records
- Law Librarians' Society guide to producing legislative histories
- Law Librarians' Society resource
Legislative process - see also Amendments, Appropriations, Committees, Legislation, Vetoes
Enactment of a Law - by U.S. Senate Parliamentarian - Congress.gov resource
Legislative process videos on Congress.gov - nine videos that explain common legislative phases
Related glossary terms (jump past glossary terms)
legislative subject term [glossary term]
LIV - Legislative Indexing Vocabulary [glossary term]
Lobbying disclosure - |
M
Markups
- some provide the text of selected markups
- some provide the text of selected markups
markup [glossary term]
Media galleries - |
Members of Congress - find members and see sponsored and cosponsored legislation on Congress.gov
About congressional member profiles - Congress.gov
- GPO - official directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives finding aid
- GPO
N
NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) [glossary term]
News services
(subscription required for full access)
Nominations
Congress.gov resources
Supreme Court nominations - browse catalog (1981-)
Related glossary terms
Nominations resources
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. Courts
- Law Library of Congress resources
Nongovernmental organizations (NGO)
O
- U.S. House of Representatives
P
(1789-) - U.S. House of Representatives
phrase searching - see Search Overview
Policy area term
Browse bills by policy area term
Policy area terms - Congress.gov field value list
policy area term [glossary term]
President
- Public papers of the U.S. Presidents, hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara
(1945-1989) - NARA
(1993-) - GPO - daily and weekly updates including statements, messages, remarks
- NARA
- NARA - list of all presidential libraries
Presidential nominations - see About Nominations
(1789-) - Clerk of the U.S. House resource
Private legislation
private bill [glossary term]
- voting data for members of Congress
Public laws
Public laws list on Congress.gov
- NARA - list of current public law numbers
Q
R
ranking member [glossary term]
Refine a search using facets (also called filters) - Congress.gov search guide
Regulations - - GPO | - NARA
resolution of ratification [glossary term]
(1947-) - U.S. Senate
Roll Call votes by the U.S. Congress (1989-) - Congress.gov browse list
Rules, precedents, and procedures
Committee websites: , |
Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives - GPO
House precedents - House practice (PDF), , , and - GPO
House procedures - , , and - U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee
- U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee
House standing rules (PDF) - U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee
Senate procedures - - GPO | - U.S. Senate
- U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee
S
Schedules for Congress - see Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
Search help
Action search scope notes - Congress.gov help page on legislative actions searches
Search tips by category - browse Congress.gov search tips
Search tools overview - Congress.gov help page on search basics
- U.S. Senate
Senate - see Senate Research Guide
Senate Rules and Administration Committee
Senate standing rules Latest PDF |
Sergeant at Arms - |
Sessions of Congress
Days in session calendars - see also the Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
1st- (1789-) - U.S. House of Representatives
1st- (1789-) - U.S. House of Representatives
1st- (1789-) - U.S. House of Representatives
Sessions of Congress 1st- (1789-) and | See also 1st -108th (1789-2004)
(1789-) - Law Librarians' Society
Speaker of the House - see Leadership
Sponsors and cosponsors
Browse legislation by sponsor/cosponsor - House | Senate | Search
cosponsor [glossary term]
sponsor [glossary term]
State and local government
State legislature websites - Congress.gov resource
memorial [glossary term]
Statistics
- U.S. Census Bureau
- U.S. Census Bureau - data on U.S., states, counties, and congressional districts
(1947-) - U.S. Senate resource
Statutes at Large
1st-81st (1789-1950) - Law Library of Congress
- Law Librarians' Society research guide
Subcommittees - see Committees
T
- Library of Congress - lesson plans about government, law, and politics
text similarities [glossary term]
Think tanks and advocacy groups
- U.S. Senate Office of Public Records
- Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
- University of Michigan Documents Center - list of political science resources
Tips - see Search Tips Overview
- Department of Commerce Trade Compliance Center - text of trade agreements
Treaties
Treaty document resources on Congress.gov
Browse treaty documents by topic
Treaty resources
- U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee
- U.S. State Department
(PDF) - U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee print
- U.S. State Department
- U.S. State Department
Related glossary terms
Twitter - The Law Library of Congress tweets about legislation and Congress.gov enhancements via @Congressdotgov.
U
(2000-2016) - CBO - collection is now titled Expired and expiring authorizations of appropriations as of 2017
United Nations
- official handbook of the federal government
and the - U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Law Revision Counsel (OLRC)
U.S. founding documents resources
U.S. founding documents gallery - Congress.gov
online exhibit- Library of Congress
V
Vacancies
- U.S. Courts
- GAO search tool
Vetoes - see also Legislation, Legislative Process
Browse vetoed legislation - Congress.gov
- Secretary of the Senate indexes (1789-)
- U.S. House of Representatives
veto [glossary term]
Vice Presidents
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. Senate Library, complete list (1789-)
Video - see Audio and Visual Coverage Research Guide
Votes - see Votes in the House and Senate Research Guide
W
Website archives (1994-) - NARA - Clinton, Bush, and Obama administration websites
White House Executive Clerk's office recording - (202) 456-2226
X
XML bulk data - Congress.gov bill status data
Y
Z
Zip code - - U.S. House of Representatives finding aid