Congress

CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

Note: Each congress lasts 2 years. Congresses are numbered consecutively. Example: 101st Congress = 1989-1990; 107th Congress=2001-2002. The first year of a congress is the first session. The second year is the second session.

LexisNexis Congressional
LexisNexis Congressional (MiamiLINK, Indexes & Databases or Research by Subject -- Government) is the place to go for congressional information. Search for information by subject or get complete information for an individual bill or law. Types of information available vary by time period. Indexing of publications is available from 1789 on. Complete list of publications related to individual laws (legislative history) is available from 1970 on. Full-text of some publications is available from the 1980's or 1990's depending on the type of publication. Full text of the Serial Set (reports and documents) is also available from 1789-1969.

Bills
Bill numbers have formats such as H.R. 2234 or S.308 (most common) and H.J.Res.46 or S.J.Res.13 (constitutional amendments must use this format). There are also H.Res., S.Res., H.Con.Res., S.Con.Res. -- these deal with internal matters or express the opinion of Congress. Bill numbering starts over again with each congress.

Thousands of bills are introduced each Congress, but only a small percentage are actively considered, and an even smaller number actually become a law. Bills not passed by the end of the Congress die. Some may be reintroduced in the next Congress, but bill numbers will be different.

Full-text and status is available online:
LexisNexis Congressional, 1989- (Select "Bills" from the main menu)
Thomas (thomas.loc.gov), 1989- ; status and summaries, 1973- .

Before 1989:
Do not have full-text, altho occasionally the text of a bill was included in a related committee hearing or committee report or sometimes in the Congressional Record.
Sources for status and sometimes summary information:
Congressional Index, 1965- Gov Ref J 69 .C6
Digest of Public Bills, 1939- (some early years may be incomplete) LC 14.6:
Congressional Record (and its predecessors), any date, but indexing is better for later years X
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, selected bills during the 1800's and Congressional Record and its predecessors from 1789-1875.

Reports and Documents
Numbered series issued by Congress. Report numbers have formats such as H.Rept. 98-367 or S.Rept. 100-15. Document numbers have formats such as H.Doc. 99-22 or S.Doc. 101-5. In the earliest years there were variations, such as H.Exec.Doc. or S. Misc.Doc. The first number is the Congress number. Example: H.Rept. 98-367 means the 367th report of the 98th Congress.

Reports are committee reports on individual bills. If a bill is actively considered, the committee to which it has been referred issues a report for the whole House or Senate summarizing the committee's recommendations.

Documents are anything else Congress wants to publish.

The most recent reports/documents are unbound and shelved at the end of row 11 (during renovation), arranged by series name and number. Older reports/documents have been bound. The bound volumes are called the Serial Set, shelved in row 10 (during renovation).

Indexes for recent years give SuDoc call numbers for reports/documents (Y 1.1/), but we do not shelve by these numbers. The number after the colon (:) is the report or document number -- just use that to locate the publication. Example: Y 1.1/8:105-211 means House Report 105-211. The SuDoc numbers and what they mean are below. A sign is also posted in the area where the unbound publications are located.

Y 1.1/3: (Senate Documents)
Y 1.1/4: (Senate Treaty Documents)
Y 1.1/5: (Senate Reports)
Y 1.1/6: (Senate Executive Reports)
Y 1.1/7: (House Documents)
Y 1.1/8: (House Reports)

Indexes:
LexisNexis Congressional (Select "CIS Index" for 1970- or "Historical Indexes" for earlier years)
Includes full text of reports, 1990- and full text of documents, 1995-
Includes full text of Serial Set, 1789-1969, under "Historical Full Text."

Committee Hearings
Committees may hold hearings on bills they are actively working on or on any issue that interests them. Hearings contain the transcripts of witness testimony, questions and answers, and any supporting documentation submitted by witnesses such as articles, letters, or reports.

SuDoc numbers begin with Y 4.

Some older Y 4's sent to SW Depository -- check library catalog. Some Y 4's in microfiche - mostly Y 4.Ap's. All hearings thru
1934 are available in a special microfiche collection arranged by the CIS index abstract numbers.

Indexes:
LexisNexis Congressional (Select "CIS Index" for 1970- or "Historical Indexes" for earlier years)
Includes text of witness statements (testimonies), 1988- .

Some recent hearings are online. Check the library catalog for online links for specific titles. Another option for online hearings is the committee web site. Go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov.

Committee Prints
Research or background reports on issues committees are working on. All information is the same as for committee hearings, above.

Congressional Record
Proceedings/transcript of House and Senate. These are the full floor sessions, not committee work. Committee work is reflected in reports and hearings. Contains debates, votes, and any material a member wants to submit, such as articles or speeches not actually delivered on the floor.

Full-text available online:
LexisNexis Congressional, 1985- (Select "Publications" from the main menu)
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, 1789-1875.

Print copy shelved under SuDoc X. Consists of current, daily issues (unbound) and the earlier bound volumes. The "bound" volume edition is in microfiche after 1977, altho the annual indexes are still in print format.

Earliest years have different titles (Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, Congressional Globe). The earliest years are more of a summary than an actual transcript.

Indexes (other than the full-text search on LexisNexis Congressional and Century of Lawmaking):
Thomas at thomas.loc.gov has an annual index search (in addtion to a full-text search), 1995-
Annual index vol(s) shelved at end of each year in the bound set. Bi-weekly indexes for current daily issues

Finding all congressional action/publications for a specific law (Legislative History)

LexisNexis Congressional, 1970-
Select "CIS Index," then "Legislative Histories by number" if you know the law number or "Legislative
Histories" to search by keyword or title.

Before 1970:

U.S. Code and Congressional Administrative News, 1945- Law Collection
Arranged by year and public law number. First part of each year contains the text of each law. After
that there is a legislative history section by law number. Contains brief information and the full-text of
selected reports. There is a subject index at the end of each year.

LexisNexis Congressional, 1789-
Select "Historical Indexes" Search by subject or original bill number.

Congressional Index, 1965- Gov Ref J 69 .C6
Can provide some status and report number information by bill number.

Summary of activities for major legislation
Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1948-
Gov Ref JK 1 .C66, 1967-
King Ref JK 1. C66, 1953-
King IMC Microfilm 1948-1951

CQ Weekly - more detailed weekly coverage and coverage for the current year before the Almanac is issued
Online, 1983-
Southwest Depository JK 1 .C15, 1979-2004
King IMC Microfilm, 1956-1978

Major Acts of Congress King Ref KF 154 .M35 2004 v.1-3 -- short essays on selected acts with bibliographies.

Finding all congressional action/publications for a specific bill

LexisNexis Congressional - several options
Select "Bills" from the main menu for 1989-
Select "CIS Index," then "Bill Number" for 1970-
Select "Historical Indexes," then "Bill Number."

Congressional Index, 1965- Gov Ref J 69 .C6
Can provide some status and report number information by bill number.

Congressional Record and its predecessors, any date X

Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, full text of Congressional Record and its predecessors, 1789-1875.
Annual indexes include a bill number index. Annual index is online on Thomas, 1995-. Full-text search
on LexisNexis Congressional, 1985-.

CQ Titles above may also help, if major bill

The Legislative Process (in brief) and Publications at Each Step

1. A BILL IS INTRODUCED into the House or Senate.
See Bills.

2. A BILL IS REFERRED TO A COMMITTEE of the House or Senate.
See Committee Hearings, Committee Prints.

3. THE COMMITTEE REPORTS THE BILL to the full House or Senate.
See Reports in the Reports and Documents section.

4. THE HOUSE OR SENATE DEBATES AND VOTES on the bill.
See Congressional Record.

5. REPEAT OF 1-4 IN THE OTHER HOUSE if passes first house

6. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE APPOINTED AND REPORTS, if both houses pass differing versions
See Reports in the Reports and Documents section.

7. CONFERENCE REPORT APPROVED by the House and Senate
See Congressional Record.

8. PRESIDENT'S SIGNATURE and the bill becomes a public law.

Finding voting records
Voting records for individual members of Congress are available for roll call votes. Some votes are taken as voice votes in which no individual votes are recorded.

LexisNexis Congressional
Select the "Members" category, then Votes (1988- ) or Key Votes (1987- ). In Votes, search for bills by number or keyword. In Key Votes, search for particular member of Congress by name.

Votes can also be found in the bill tracking report either by selecting "Bills" and searching Bill Tracking by keyword or Bill Tracking by number. If you know it's a law, you can also find the Legislative History, by selecting CIS Index, Legislative Histories, and locating the legislative history, then click on the bill tracking report in the enacted bill line near the top.

Congressional Quarterly Almanac Gov and King Ref JK 1 .C66
CQ Weekly Online, 1983-
Congressional Roll Call, 1970- King Ref JK 1 .C6635

These CQ titles include all roll call votes. The Almanac lists all votes each year. The weekly lists all votes each week. These votes are also compiled in a separate publication, Congressional Roll Call (King Ref JK 1 .C6635

Congressional Record X

Members of Congress/Committee Membership

LexisNexis Congressional
Select "Members" or "Committees."

House Web site www.house.gov

Senate Web site www.senate.gov

Official Congressional Directory Gov Desk Y 4.P 93/1:1

Biographical Directory of the American Congress Gov Ref Serial Set 13849
http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp

Internet Resource Listings

Federal Government Resources on the Web Legislative Branch (University of Michigan Documents Center)