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Law: Federal: Legislative Branch Resources

Helpful Links

U.S. Senate Reference page

This is page is maintained and updated by the U.S. Senate's librarians. Researches may find Bibliographies, the "How To . . . " and Glossary pages helpful.

U.S. Code Popular Name Tables

When looking for a U.S. law, oftentimes you only know the popular name (e.g. Family and Medical Leave Act). Finding the citation is made easier by use of a popular name table. Below you will find two Web sites that list the popular name of laws and provide the citation to the Public Law or U.S. Code sections.

Other Resources

Bills & Resolutions

U.S. Code

The good news first: the U.S. Code is freely available on many sites. Unfortunately, most link to the official 2006 edition and recommend checking the Office of the Law Revision Counsel Classification Tables for updates. In addition, these sources link to the unannotated U.S. Code. If you are used to using Westlaw or Lexis, these drawbacks may bother you. If this is the case, I would recommend that you use Lexis Academic Universe at your local college or university or visit your local county law library for access to their electronic databases. Another option is to subscribe to a lower-cost legal research service such as Loislaw, VersusLaw or FastCase.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications

The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications may be used as an online finding tool for electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the U.S. government (from July 1976 to present). It is updated daily and contains current and historical publications. Provides direct links to those publications available online. The monthly (with semiannual and annual indexes) print version ceased with no. 1345 (Dec. 2004). Consult the print Monthly Catalog for publications issued prior to July 1976. Check with your local federal depository library to locate copies of the print catalog and other items that are not available online.

GPO's MetaLib

The Government Printing Office (GPO) has launched a new federated search tool (link below).

Use it to search AGRICOLA Books, Access to Archival Databases (AAD) System -  NARA, AUL Index to Military Periodicals, Catalog of U.S. Government Publication (CGP), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Catalog Search, Library of Congress (LOC), PubMed, TRIS Online, and USA.gov.

Legislative History Research Guides

Legislative History Sources