Public Resources - Legislative Branch - U.S. Federal Government Information - Subject and Course Guides at University of Nebraska

Find Laws

There are several ways to find United States federal laws.

Definitions from GovInfo.gov - "Most laws passed by Congress are public laws. Public laws affect society as a whole...Private laws affect an individual, family, or small group, and are enacted to assist citizens that have been injured by government programs or who are appealing an executive agency ruling such as deportation."

U.S. Public Laws
Every public law passed by Congress, starting with the most recent.
U.S. Code
All "general and permanent laws of the United States," organized by subject.
U.S. Statutes at Large
Official annual publication of all public and private laws.
(The latest completed year is 2014. For newer laws, see the U.S. Public Laws link above.)

Legislative Branch Basic Information

About the Legislative Branch
From USA.gov
How Laws Are Made & How to Research Them
From USA.gov
List of Legislative Agencies
From USA.gov - click the plus sign to expand the list.

Agencies within the Legislative Branch

Architect of the Capitol (AOC)
Plays a leadership role in decisions from the policing of Capitol Hill, to national standards of historic preservation, to supporting development of industry standards in fire safety, capital project management and security infrastructure
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Produces independent, non-partisan analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress; investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars
Library of Congress
The main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office - the largest library in the world
U.S. Botanic Garden
The U.S. Botanic Garden is dedicated to demonstrating the aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic and ecological importance of plants to the well-being of humankind

Current & Recent Congressional Activities

Congress.gov
General Congress website providing information on the legislative process.
The Congressional Record, U.S. Government Publishing Office (1994-present)
Official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress; see the "Daily Digest" for the most current activity. Annual index to the Record available from 1983
The Congressional Record, Library of Congress (1995 - present)
Proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress
CQ Roll Call
Daily news from Capitol Hill, including legislative tracking and advocacy news
The Hill
Daily news from Congress, politics, political campaigns, and Capitol Hill
C-SPAN
Video coverage of Congress since 1986; archived programs available online

Members of Congress, House and Senate

Nebraska's Senators & Representatives
Members of Congress
Includes biographical and contact information
U.S. House of Representatives
Includes information about House committees, legislative activity, and how the House works
U.S. Senate
Includes information about Senate committees, legislation and records, Senate art, and Senate history
MegaVote
Track the voting record of your Senators and Representatives

Legislative History (including Status and Summaries of Bills)

See the Resources @ UNL Libraries page for older volumes of the Congressional Record.

Congressional Bills (1993 - present)
From the U.S. Government Publishing Office
Congressional Documents (1975 - present)
From the U.S. Government Publishing Office
Congressional Hearings (1985 - present)
From the U.S. Government Publishing Office
Congressional Reports (1995 - present)
From the U.S. Government Publishing Office
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1817-1952)
House and Senate reports and documents - more will be added as they are digitized. UNL users can access the Serial Set through 1994 using the link on the "Resources @ UNL Libraries" tab on this guide.
govinfo
Provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government