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 House or Senate each legislative day
- Senate.gov finding aid
Advanced search - Congress.gov advanced search options
Advanced search form - legislation only, 93rd Congress-present (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 Congress-present (1981-)
Related glossary terms
amendment in the nature of a substitute
Anomalies - legislative data anomalies on Congress.gov
AOC - Architect of the Capitol
AOC website
Plan a visit to the U.S. Capitol
Appropriations - see also Appropriations and Budget Research Guide
Amending appropriation bills: a basic guide - House Committee on Rules
Expired and expiring authorizations of appropriations - CBO; previously titled Unauthorized appropriations and expiring authorizations (2000-2016)
Archived government websites
Congressional and federal government web harvests - National Archives
United States congressional web archive - Library of Congress
Audio and Visual Coverage Research Guide
B
Bill - see Legislation
Bill of Rights
– National Archives resource
Bill of Rights – 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
CBO - Congressional Budget Office [glossary term]
website
website
- National Archives repository of congressional records
Century of Lawmaking - Library of Congress repository of congressional documents and debates (1774-1875)
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
- GPO
Committee reports
About committee reports of the U.S. Congress
Browse House reports | Senate reports | Executive reports
Related glossary terms
Committees
About committee hearings of the U.S. Congress
About congressional committee profiles
Committees of the U.S. Congress
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
Executive Communications to the House - browse catalog (2015 -)
Executive Communications to the Senate - browse catalog (1979 -)
Related glossary terms
Congresses
Congresses - corresponding years (1927-)
congress (i.e. 2-year time frame) [glossary term]
Congress.gov - learn about Congress.gov
Congressional agencies
- Congressional Budget Office
- Congressional Research Service
- Government Accountability Office
- Government Publishing Office
LOC - Library of Congress
Congressional apportionment
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
- official printed directory from GPO
- from the National Atlas of the United States
- Census Bureau data on US, states, counties, congressional districts
- selected House documents and Senate documents from GPO
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
(subscription required for full access)
Congressional Record - see also Daily Digest
About the Congressional Record
Congressional Record [glossary term]
Most recent issue | Browse by date | Search
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
Constitution Day - resources for teachers
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 House and 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
- National Archives (1945-1989)
- National Archives (1953-present)
- White House
- National Archives
Expired and expiring authorizations of appropriations - previously Unauthorized appropriations and expiring authorizations (2000-2016) - CBO
F
FAQ - Frequently asked questions about Congress.gov
- Census Bureau data on the U.S., states, counties, and congressional districts
federal depository library [glossary term]
Federal judiciary
Federal Register
- GPO
- GPO
- GPO
- OMB/GSA status of agency documents undergoing review
and its - 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
Government Research Guide - links to legislative, executive, judicial, state, local, and international government resources
GPO - Government Publishing Office
Authenticated digital publishing
Federal Digital System (FDsys)
govinfo - Beta website that will eventually replace FDsys
GPO - Government Publishing Office [glossary term]
H
Hearings - committee/subcommittee hearings
- GPO
hearing [glossary term]
- current hearings in the House
House committee hearings and meetings video - Congress.gov resource
Law Librarians Society of Washington DC - , transcripts, etc.
Law Library of Congress - selected Congressional hearings (1908-2006)
Live audio and video of floor and committee proceedings - see Audio and Visual Coverage Research Guide
, listed by committee (selected)
Help pages - Congress.gov
Coverage dates for legislative information
Legislative documents that predate authenticated digital publishing
History of Bills and Resolutions - GPO
- updated day after Congressional Record published
on GPO (1983-present)
House manual - Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives
Latest PDF | Archive - GPO (1995-present)
House manual in XML - United States Legislative Markup (USLM) Project, GitHub
XML bulk data - GPO
House of Representatives - see House of Representatives Research Guide
House precedents
House Practice | Archive - GPO
Cannon | Deschler | Hind - GPO
House Rules Committee
House Rules committee [glossary term]
Website | Jump to: Resources tab for archived House rules, House manuals, rules of the committees, and surveys of activities of the Rules Committee
House standing rules
Latest PDF | Archive - Rules Committee, 112th Congress-present
I
International
- United Nations
International organizations - Library of Congress guide
- Northwestern University Library
- list from Northwestern University Library
international agreement [glossary term]
J
- official estimates for all tax legislation considered by the Congress
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
- US Courts
jurisdiction [glossary term]
K
L
Leadership
- Speaker, majority and minority leaders, whips, etc.
- President of the 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 House or Senate each legislative day
Bill and law texts received today
Bills introduced as private legislation
House and Senate amendments - 97th Congress-present (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 Congress-present (2014-)
Sponsors and cosponsors - House | Senate - browse legislation by sponsor or cosponsor
Resources
Active legislation - Senate.gov finding aid
Finding Congressional Documents from the Past - Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals (LLRX)
Finding U.S. Government Documents at the Library of Congress - LOC
Versions of bill texts, see Definitions of 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
- National Archives repository of Congressional records
- guide to producing legislative histories from the Law Librarians' Society
- Law Librarians' Society
Legislative process - see also Amendments, Appropriations, Committees, Legislation, Vetoes
Enactment of a Law - by the Senate Parliamentarian
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]
Library of Congress (LOC)
Finding U.S. Government Documents at the Library of Congress
LIV - Legislative Indexing Vocabulary [glossary term]
Lobbying disclosure - |
M
Maps - from the National Atlas of the United States
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
Find your representative by zip code - House.gov finding aid
- GPO
N
NARA - National Archives and Records Administration
Congressional and federal government web harvest
NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) [glossary term]
News services
(subscription required for full access)
Nominations
- U.S. Senate
nomination [glossary term]
Supreme Court nominations - Congress.gov records dating from 1981
Supreme Court nominations - Law Library of Congress resources
Nongovernmental organizations (NGO)
World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO)
notes [glossary term]
O
- U.S. House of Representatives
P
parliamentarian [glossary term]
party caucus / conference [glossary term]
House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website (1789-present)
phrase searching - see Search Overview
Policy area term
Browse bills by policy area term
policy area term [glossary term]
Policy area terms [field value list]
President
- Public papers of the U.S. Presidents, hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara
- National Archives (1945-1989)
- daily and weekly updates including statements, messages, remarks, GPO (1993-)
- National Archives
- National Archives list of all presidential libraries
Presidential nominations - see About Nominations
- Clerk of the House resource (1789-)
Private legislation
private bill [glossary term]
privileged nomination [glossary term]
- voting data for members of Congress
Public laws
Public laws list on Congress.gov
- National Archives list of current public law numbers
Public laws update service recording - (202) 741-6043
Q
Quick Start - Congress.gov Quick Start guide [PDF]
R
ranking member [glossary term]
recess appointment [glossary term]
Refine a search using facets (also called filters) - Congress.gov search guide
Regulations - |
resolution of ratification [glossary term]
(1947-)
Roll Call votes by the U.S. Congress browse list (1989-)
Rules, precedents, and procedures
Committee websites: House, Resources tab - Rules Committee | Senate - Rules and Administration Committee
House manual [PDF] Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives and search the manual and rules - GPO
House precedents - House practice [PDF], Deschler's precedents, Cannon's precedents and Hinds' precedents - GPO
House procedures - general parliamentary, 115th legislative protocols, and committee - Rules Committee
House special rules reported - Rules Committee
House standing rules [PDF] - Rules Committee
Senate procedures - ,
S
Schedules for Congress - see Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
Search help
Search tools overview - Congress.gov help page on search basics
Senate - see Senate Research Guide
Sergeant at Arms - |
Sessions of Congress
Days in session calendars - see also the Calendars and Schedules Research Guide
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
Sessions of Congress (1789-) - and [PDF]
[PDF] - Law Librarians' Society (1789-)
slip law [glossary term]
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
memorial [glossary term]
Statistics
- Census Bureau data on U.S., states, counties, and congressional districts
(1947-)
Statutes at Large
Volumes 1-64 (1789-1950 – Law Library of Congress)
Volumes 65-125 (1951-2011 – GPO)
(research guide from the Law Librarians' Society)
Subcommittees - see Committees
subject [glossary term]
T
Teacher resources - lesson plans about government, law, and politics
text similarities [glossary term]
Think tanks and advocacy groups
- Senate Office of Public Records
- Clerk of the House
- list of political science resources from University of Michigan Documents Center
Tips - see Search Tips Overview
- text of trade agreements from the Department of Commerce Trade Compliance Center
Treaties
Treaty document resources on Congress.gov
Browse treaty documents by topic
Treaty resources
- State Department
[PDF] - committee print
- State Department
- State Department
U.S. treaties: a beginner’s guide - Law Library of Congress
Related glossary terms
Twitter - The Law Library of Congress tweets about legislation and Congress.gov enhancements via @Congressdotgov.
U
Unauthorized appropriations and expiring authorizations (2000-2016) - collection is titled Expired and expiring authorizations of appropriations as of 2017, CBO
United Nations -
- official handbook of the Federal Government
and the - House of Representatives Office of the Law Revision Counsel
U.S. founding documents resources
U.S. founding documents gallery - Congress.gov
Creating the United States online exhibit - Library of Congress
V
Vacancies
- United States Courts
- GAO search tool
Vetoes - see also Legislation, Legislative Process
Browse vetoed legislation - Congress.gov
- Secretary of the Senate indexes (1789-)
History of line-item veto notices - GPO
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
veto [glossary term]
Vice Presidents
- House of Representatives History, Art & Archives website
- Senate Library, complete list (1789-)
Video - see Audio and Visual Coverage Research Guide
Votes - see Votes in the House and Senate Research Guide
W
White House
Website archives - Clinton, Bush, and Obama administration websites, National Archives (1994-present)
White House Executive Clerk's office recording - (202) 456-2226
X
XML bulk data - Congress.gov bill status data
Y
Z
Zip code - - House of Representatives finding aid