Principles of Legal Research (4th ed. 2025)

Chapter 6. Legislative Information

§ 6.1 The Federal Legislative Process

• Legislative Source Book (LLSDC) [page 133]
• Congress.gov [page 133]
  • Congress.gov - Coverage Dates [page 134, note 7]
• Learn About the Legislative Process (Congress.gov) [page 133, note 6]
  • John V. Sullivan, How Our Laws Are Made, H.R. Doc. No. 110-49 (2007)
  • Robert B. Dove, Enactment of a Law (1997)
• Govinfo [page 134]
  • Govinfo - What's Available [page 134, note 7]

(a) Preliminary and Informal Consideration

• The White House [page 134]
• Roll Call [page 134]
• The Hill [page 134]

(b) Bills

• Congressional Bills (Govinfo) [page 137]

(c) Hearings

• Committees of the U.S. Congress [page 140]
• Congressional Hearings (Govinfo) [page 140]
• C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle [page 140]

(d) Committee Reports

• Elizabeth Rybicki, Congressional Research Service, 98-696, Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress [page 141, note 15]
• Congressional Reports (Govinfo) [page 143]
• U.S. Serial Set (Govinfo) [page 143]
• An Overview of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set [page 143, note 18]
  • Permalink: https://perma.cc/T8GT-T4ZH (last updated Mar. 2021)
• American State Papers (Library of Congress) [page 143, note 19]
• Christopher M. Davis & Elizabeth Rybicki, Congressional Research Service, RL30244, The Committee Markup Process in the House of Representatives [page 143, note 20]

(e) Floor Debates

• Congressional Record Collection (Govinfo) [page 145]
• Mildred L. Amer, Congressional Research Service, 93-60 GOV, The Congressional Record: Content, History and Issues [page 145, note 23]
• Congressional Record, Permanent Edition (Govinfo) [page 147]
• Richard McKinney, An Overview of the Congressional Record and Its Predecessor Publications (LLSDC) [page 147, note 25]
  • Permalink: https://perma.cc/M8T2-27PV (last updated May 2020)
• House Journal and Senate Journal (Govinfo) [page 148]
• Journals of Congress, 1789-1875 (Library of Congress) [page 148]

(f) Presidential Approval or Veto

• Todd Garvey, Congressional Research Service, RL33667, Presidential Signing Statements: Constitutional and Institutional Implications [page 149, note 28]

§ 6.2 Other Congressional Publications

• Congressional Documents (Govinfo) [page 149]
• Congressional Committee Prints (Govinfo) [page 150]
• Congressional Budget Office [page 150]
• Government Accountability Office [page 150]
• Congressional Research Service [page 151]
• Every CRSReport.com [page 151]
• Congressional Research Service Reports (UNT) [page 151]

§ 6.3 Congressional Research Resources

• Federal Legislative History Research: A Practitioner's Guide (LLSDC) [page 153, note 34]
  • Permalink: https://perma.cc/3SV5-2E78 (last updated Sept. 2019)

(b) Congress.gov and Other Congressional Websites

• U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives [page 156]

(e) CQ and Tracking Services

• GovTrack.us [page 158]

(f) Directories

• Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions, 1936-99 [page 158, note 38]
• Official Congressional Directory (Govinfo) [page 159]
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress [page 159]

§ 6.4 State Legislative Information

• State Legislative History Research Guides Inventory (Indiana University) [page 160]
• Book of the States [page 160, note 41]
• Plural [page 162]
• State Blue Books and Encyclopedias [page 162]
• Initiative & Referendum Institute (University of Southern California) [page 163]