Politics 3O: The United States Congress
Pomona College
Prof. David Menefee-Libey

Legislative Links to Congress

The legislative process:

» The Thomas guide to the House legislative process

» The Thomas guide to the Senate legislative process

» The House Rules Committee's procedural manual

» The Senate's description of its legislative process

To find information about specific legislation or activities within Congress:

>> Thomas: Federal Legislative Information on the Internet, including current and recent legislative activity, bills submitted, floor speeches, committee hearings and reports

>> The Pro Quest "Congressional Compass", from Lexis-Nexis, which allows searches for laws, bills, hearings, legislative histories, the daily Congressional Record, etc.

>> GovTrack is a fairly new Congress-watching site developed by an open government group called Civic Impulse.  It is very good, and has an easier interface than Thomas and ProQuest.

>> The Government Printing Office's "Federal Digital System", which also allows search for bills, documents, hearings, reports, laws, and other U.S. Government Documents (look on the right-hand side of the page for links).

>> The GPO even has the text of many Unanimous Consent Agreements in the Senate.  Look to the Calendar of the particular day the legislation came to the floor.

Other federal resources:

>> FirstGov, the best starting point when looking for information about the U.S. national government or public policy

>> STAT-USA (Until it was discontinued in September 2010, Stat-USA was the unified site for all federal statistics.  At this link, the librarians of the University of Central Florida put together a links page of what used to be at Stat-USA.  God bless them; it's a great resource.)

>> Statistical Abstract of the United States

>> U.S. Census Bureau

>> The Census Bureau Data Map

>> U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economics and Statistics Administration

>> U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

>> National Center for Education Statistics