LibGuides: Government Documents & Information: Legislative Branch (Congress)

Legislative Branch

The House of Representatives and the Senate make up Congress, or the United States's Legislative Branch. These groups are responsible for lawmaking and policy. The following links provide useful information in researching these governing bodies as well as finding information on current legislation.

Research Tools

Congressional Directory
The official directory of the U.S. Congress.
* Short biographies of each member of the Senate and House, listed by various categories.
* Lists officials of the courts, military establishments, and other State & Federal departments and agencies.
Congressional Reports
A resource of historical Senate and House reports available through GovInfo.
GovTrack
Brings together information on the status of federal legislation, voting records, and other congressional data from official sources. Provides email updates and RSS/Atom feeds for all aspects of Congress.
Library of Congress (Congress.gov)
The Library of Congress Congress.gov site is the source for federal legislative information. Congress.gov provides several options for finding bills, resolutions, the Congressional Record, presidential nominations, treaties, committee reports and other Government Resources.
LLSDC's Legislative Source Book
A list of resources for U.S. federal and state legislative/regulatory information from the Law Librarians Society of Washington, D.C. (LLSDC).
U.S. Congress Votes Database
This page shows the outcome of all recorded votes on the Senate floor and House floor. It does not include votes in committee.
U.S. House of Representatives
Links to individual representatives' web sites, committee sites; includes roll calls, schedules, calendars, etc.
U.S. Senate
Easy "find your senators" feature; links to biographies, organization chart, related history and art, legislation, famous speeches, etc.
Vital Statistics on Congress
A reference guide for those interesting in Congressional activities. This is an source of impartial data on Congress and its members from the Brookings Institution.

Current Legislation Resources

Current Catalog of Congressional Documents
Includes all congressional documents available in electronic format. Note: there are three types of documents: House and Senate Documents; Senate Executive Documents; and Senate Treaty Documents.
Federal Register
The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
This provides up-to-date documentation on current bills on the House and Senate floors, as well as transcripts of session from the House Floor.