Research Guides: U.S. Government Information: Legislative Branch

UCI Law Library

For more legal information about Legislative history, please visit UCI Law Library research guide-Legislative History.

About

United States legislation refers to the laws enacted by the U.S. Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. These laws, known as statutes, govern various aspects of American life, including civil rights, commerce, taxation, and national security. Legislation begins as a bill, which must be approved by both chambers of Congress and signed by the President to become law. If vetoed, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote. Federal laws must comply with the U.S. Constitution and are subject to judicial review by the courts.

The legislative branch is made of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate with the purpose to make and pass laws. Additionally, the following six agencies also report to the U.S. Congress: Architect of the Capitol, Congressional Budget Library of Congress, United States Botanic Garden, United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), United States Government Publishing Office (GPO).

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the general public. Congress.gov is developed and maintained by the Library of Congress using data originated and owned by the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Since 1859, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress has been the primary source for biographical information on Members of the United States Congress and Continental Congresses.
Congressional Directory
The Congressional Directory is the official directory of the U.S. Congress, prepared by the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP). It presents: short biographies of each member of the Senate and House, listed by state or district, committee memberships, terms of service, administrative assistants and/or secretaries, and room and telephone numbers for Members of Congress, and lists officials of the courts, military establishments, and other Federal departments and agencies, including D.C. government officials, governors of states and territories, foreign diplomats, and members of the press, radio, and television galleries.
United States House of Representatives
Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 state.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of Congress, the other being the House of Representatives. It plays a crucial role in lawmaking, approving treaties, and confirming presidential appointments, including judges and cabinet members. Comprising 100 members, with two senators from each state, each serving six-year terms, the Senate helps balance the power of the House and ensures a more thoughtful, deliberative approach to legislation.

Legislative resources

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
CBO provides independent analysis of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process. Annually, it produces numerous reports and cost estimates for proposed legislation. As a nonpartisan agency, CBO conducts objective, impartial analysis and hires based on professional competence. It does not make policy recommendations and includes methodology summaries in its reports and estimates.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
CRS reports provide Congress with both anticipatory and on-demand research and analysis to support their legislative, oversight, and representational duties. All reports adhere to the core values of CRS; they are authoritative, objective and nonpartisan. Reports range in length from several pages to more than one-hundred pages and cover the full breadth of topics of interest to Congress.
Congressional Record - 1994-Present
The Congressional Record, in GovInfo, is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session.
Congressional Record
"After each day that Congress is in session, the proceedings are printed in the Congressional Record (CR) and available the following morning. New daily issues, reporting business from the previous day if either the House or Senate or both met, are usually available by 10:00 am."
Congressional Record (bound edition) - Volume 23 (1892) - most current bound volume
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. At the end of each session of Congress, all of the daily editions are collected, re-paginated, and re-indexed into a permanent, bound edition.
C-SPAN The House of Representatives and The United States Senate
C-SPAN is a public service created by the American Cable Television Industry and offers daily Congressional hearings live on the web.

HeinOnline
Database of legal resources, including laws, regulations, some trials and court reports, treaties, monographs, and a variety of other materials covering United States and foreign law. Coverage includes private and public international law, intellectual property and legal history. Includes full text image-based searchable database of legal periodicals. Database coverage for each periodical is from the beginning issue to the most current allowed under contract.
Legislative Insight
Legislative Insight is a federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full-text publications relevant to enacted United States public laws.
LLMC Digital
Full text, image-based searchable database of primary and secondary legal publications. Collections include: U.S. federal, state, and territories government documents; case reporters, legal periodicals and treatises; foreign government, multi-jurisdictional, and international law documents; canon law, Native American law, and legal philosophy.
Nexis Uni
Provides full-text access to U.S. federal and state statutes, regulations, court cases, administrative agency decisions, law reviews, to selected court briefs and pleadings, and legal news sources. Also includes international, national, local newspapers, and wire services, as well as radio and television transcripts. Business, medical, industry, and legislative magazines, journals, and newsletters and various directories are also available. Wide geographic coverage and translations from foreign-language sources, as well as news services like the Associated Press, Agence France Press, El Pais.
ProQuest Congressional
A collection of historic and current congressional information. This database includes the full text of congressional publications, a bill tracking service, public laws, regulations, news and social media, nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, hearings, and historical context summaries. Coverage also includes information about Congress, including member biographical and committee assignment information, voting records, and financial data.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (via Readex)
Database of texts from the bound, sequentially numbered volumes of all the reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Texts constitute a rich source of primary source material on all aspects of American history.

U.S. Statutes at Large, 1951 - present
The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress.

Westlaw Campus Research
Provides a starting point for legal research; use the search box to find a document by citation or name, or search for documents. Your best bet for an initial search will come from Secondary Sources, you can find the link in the Browse section.