Legislative Research Process

• Congress starts renumbering bills with each Congress, so you will need the Congress number and the bill number.
• Most bills are never acted on once they are introduced.
• If a bill is not passed by the end of that Congress it is automatically killed.
• If the bill was not referred to a committee for further consideration, there are unlikely to be hearings on it. Try searching ProQuest Congressional by bill number and/or subject.
• For voting records try the Congressional Record, or the CQ Almanac.
• If there is a voice vote, there is no record of how individuals voted on it.

Check Sources for Federal Legislation Federal Bills or Bill Status/Tracking.

What do you already know about the law?

• Do you have a full citation?
• Do you have the official name or a popular name for the law?
• Do you have an approximate idea of when the law was passed?

If not, do a Google search to find the date of passage, public law number, and citations to the U.S. Statutes at Large and the U.S. Code. Doing background reading in internet sources (e.g., Wikipedia) should also help you find dates and public law numbers for legislation amending that act.

Then, check Sources for Federal Legislation U.S. Code or Public Laws/U.S. Statutes at Large. See the next question for help determining which one you need

Regulations are developed by the agencies that oversee that area of government. They are typically much more detailed and specific than their corresponding legislation. Check Sources for Federal Regulations.

Find the text of the original public law in the U.S. Statutes at Large. There you can determine the bill number, as well as a short legislative history. This will also give you the corresponding section number where the text will be found in the U.S. Code, which is a subject arrangement of laws currently in effect.

After you determine which source has the information you need, use the Quick Links below to access that source.

Consult the U.S. Code, which is a subject arrangement of all of the laws currently in effect.

• divided into 50 major subject categories, called titles
• numbered sections of a public law may appear in different areas of the code, depending on the subject matter of that section
• numbering of the subject categories, or titles, does not correspond exactly to the numbering used in the Code of Federal Regulations
• sections within the U.S. Code do not have the same numbers as they have in the U.S. Statutes at Large

After you determine which source has the information you need, use the Quick Links below to access that source.

Check the previous question to determine the best source for the text of the law.

Check Sources for Congressional Actions and Information.

A legislative history, which can usually be accessed by public law number, will give you: the main provisions of the act, the bill number, and a list of committee reports, hearings and other important documents. Other categories of congressional publications can be useful in helping you to determine the intent of the legislation, its implementation, key proponents and opponents, etc.

• Congressional Hearings include testimony of people who support or oppose the legislation. Since hearings are generally very lengthy, look at the abstract in ProQuest Congressional to learn who testified, what organizations were represented and what positions were presented. The abstract will also indicate any supplemental materials reprinted in that hearing. Often statistics, journal articles, and previously unpublished research are reprinted here for the convenience of the committee. If full-text is not available online, look under library Call Number: GVP US Y4. (Specific call number listed in abstract.)
• Committee reports provide a summary of the bill, legislative intent, fiscal impact, and the Committee recommendation. If the Committee is divided on the bill there will generally be a "minority report" included. Reports often give an overview of the pros and cons brought out at the hearings. Find them in the U.S. Serial Set/American State Papers or Congressional Record. If full-text is not available online, look under library Call Number: GVP US Y1. (Specific call number listed in abstract.)
• >The Congressional Record shows all floor action and debate in the House and Senate and is updated daily.
• Federal Roll Call Votes shows how each member of Congress voted on a bill. If the voting record indicates "voice vote" there will be no record of how individuals voted.