Guides: Rinn Law Library Database List: U.S. Congressional Resources

US Congressional Resources

When the interpretation of a statute requires an understanding of legislative intent, lawyers need access to the documents that were involved in passing the law. These sources meticulously index and link to the various documents generated during the United States Congress’s legislative process, which can help you create a narrative a bill’s history.

Congress.gov
Congress's freely available database that helps keep track of every action on a given legislation and provides full-text access to various versions of bills and transcripts in the Congressional Record.. As of this writing, records go back to 1973.

Congressional (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Provides the tools for searching the Congressional Record, finding members of Congress, tracking proposed legislation by keyword and sponsor, and searching Congressional hearings, the Federal Register, the U.S. Serial Set Digital Collection, Congressional committee schedules, Committee Prints and Miscellaneous Publications, and Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports. Dates covered: 2004 – present.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
A weekly publication that covers current and controversial issues with complete summaries, timelines and bibliographies.
Dates Covered: 11/1/1991-present.
Govinfo This link opens in a new window
The U.S. Government Printing Office disseminates official information from all three branches of the Federal Government. Search the entire catalog of government publications. Formerly called FDsys.
Access note: Freely available to the public.

HeinOnline - U.S. Congressional Documents
A wide collection of documents produced by and for Congress, including historical committee reports from the Serial Set, Congressional Record archives, and reports from the Congressional Research Service.
HeinOnline - U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
A collection of pre-compiled legislative histories for statutes throughout the 20th century. If you're researching the legislative history of a Federal statute, this is a great place to start.

ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window
Legislative histories, including fully searchable PDFs of full-text publications. Each history includes the full text of the public law itself, all versions of related bills, law-specific Congressional Record excerpts, committee hearings, reports, and prints. Also included are presidential signing statements, CRS reports, and miscellaneous congressional publications that provide background material to aid in the understanding of issues related to the making of the law.