Congress & Legislative History
Take the U.S. Congressional Leglislation Tutorial to understand how to do this type of research.
Guide to understanding and researching legislative history by the Library of Congress.
Congress Year to Congressional Session:
Congressional Session Chart by Indiana University. A chart provide links the years to a particular congressional session. Most information is by congressional session, yet sometimes you need the year to get to the correct congress.
Years and Sessions by the Government Printing Office. This chart linking the contemporary congresses by year that are online.
Federal Congressional Hearings and Documents:
Legislative Branch Resources of Congressional Materials is a good starting place to congressional materials.
United States Senate Committee Hearings. Search for current Senate hearings on the left panel or go in by committee. The hearings are provided in text, audio or video depending on the committee.
Congressional Reports of the House and Senate. Congressional reports originate from congressional committees that deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. There are two types of reports House and Senate Reports and Senate Executive Reports. The database for the current Congress is updated irregularly, as electronic versions of the documents become available.
Historic Federal Congressional Documents.
Congressional Information for Historians from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Government Documents provides a good table of subject indexes coverage of congressees by years.
Finding Congressional Documents from the Past from LLRX column on finding older congressional materials. The article is from 2003 so some of the links may be dead.
Historical Congressional hearings and documents by CSULB History Librarian. This connects you to the paper or online version of historical documents from 1774 to 1984.
Federal Agencies Directory by Federal Depository System at Louisiana State University allows you to view by hierarchical or alphabetical or search for an agency.
Government Printing Office Web Site Hosted by GPO provides access to independent investigations, cybercemetary of former federal web sites and various commissions.
Government Information Service Locator (GILS) allows you to search by agency or acronym for agency information.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention by the Library of Congress. Key political documents including the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
American Constitution: a Documentary Record by Avalon Project. This contains historical documents leading up to the United States Constitution.
Colonial Charters, Grants and related Documents:
Colonial Charters, Grants and related Documents by the Avalon Project contains the legal documents of the original fifteen colonies.
Federal Legislators Biographies and Background:
Biographies by University of Memphis Government Documents, provides links to all the key Washington, DC players.Official Congressional Directory by the Government Printing Office contains short biographies of each member of the Senate and House, listed by state or district, and additional data, such as committee memberships, terms of service, administrative assistants and/or secretaries, and room and telephone numbers. It also 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.
U.S. Senate Senator Contact information by the U.S. Senate provides contact information on each member plus much more and historical from 1774 to date.
Congressional Pictorial Directory by the Government Printing Office provides a color photograph of each member of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It also includes information about a Member of Congress' length of service, political party affiliations, and Congressional district. Also contains pictures of the President, Vice President, and House and Senate officers and officials.
California Assembly & Senate Information:
California Legislative Analyst's Office a nonpartisan agency to evaluation fiscal and policy implication of legislation. Check for older materials by author in COAST.
California Research Bureau a nonpartisan agency for the Governor and Legislature. Check for older materials by author in COAST. They also provide Studies in the News is a current compilation of policy-related items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau and State Information & Reference Center to supplement the public policy debate in California's Capitol.
California State Assembly site provides listings of committees and links a few audio hearings. The Assembly Daily Journal (1995 to present) or The Journal (1854 to present) provides information on activities of the assembly and committees.
California State Senate site provides committee information, hearings and publications. There are links to audio also. The Senate Daily Journal (2002 to present) or The Journal (1850-2002) is the best way to follow activities of the committees. Use the Senate Office of Research which develops public-policy initiatives for the California State Senate. It conducts strategic policy planning and evaluates policy initiatives from sources both inside and outside government. This bipartisan office of public-policy specialists assists members, committees and commissions of the Senate in bringing ideas to enactment, improving government effectiveness and providing the public with an understanding of state issues.
News Services on California Politics:
Rough and Tumble a newsletter on California public policy and politics.
The California Report by KQED's statewide audio radio news program, providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions affecting California and its diverse population.
California Channel by California's Cable Television Industry provides webcast of various Assembly, Senate and California Supreme Court hearings and events.
Capitol Weekly: The newspaper of California government and politics is a news service that provides information on politics in Sacramento.
The Usual Suspects: San Francisco's Political Home page is a source for San Francisco politics, elections and government. They also provide links to S.F. political organizations, elected officials and media organizations.
California Agencies Documents:
State and Local Government on the Net has a good list of California Agencies, Boards and Commissions, and Regional Agencies.
State of California Agency List is an alphabetical listing of agencies.
California Legislators Biographies and Background:
California State Legislature contains contact information, web sites, and other contact information.
California Legislature at Sacramento contains biographies, committee membership and photographs of senate and assembly members from 1941 to present.
State legislatures by National Conference of State Legislatures provides articles and information on various legislatures in the states. The National Conference of State Legislatures site has the links to the state legislatures
Content maintained by Kelly Janousek, Law and Politics Librarian
