Library Services

Federal Legislation

Enactment of federal statutory law by Congress, the passage of a bill through two legislative bodies, the Senate and the House of Representatives, followed by approval of the executive, the President, is an elaborate process comprised of several important elements. A written record of these important elements can be found in both print and online sources. Only a small percentage of bills introduced in Congress successfully pass both houses and are signed by the President into law as statutes. Ultimately, Public Laws are codified in the United States Code.

Congressional Materials - Elements:

Bills: Proposed laws must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate before being sent to the President for approval or veto. Bills are numbered in a separate series for each house (e.g., SB 1, HR 2) and retain that number for both annual sessions of each Congress. After being introduced, each bill is assigned to committee in each house.
Hearings: Congressional committees hold hearings on proposed legislation and in areas within their scope of responsibility.
Reports: Congressional committees, in each house individually and by conference among members of both houses, issue reports, making recommendations on a pending bill to each house as a whole. Reports are identified by the number of the Congress, followed by a sequential number indicating the order issued in each house (e.g., S. Report No 107-10, H.R. Report No. 107-22).
Debates: Congressional debates take place on the floor of the House and Senate. They are reported in the Congressional Record.
Committee Prints: Committees create items intended for internal use, including investigations, research and analysis.
Documents:Committees create items intended for external use, including studies, special reports and executive communications. Documents are identified by the number of the Congress, followed by a sequential number indicating the order issued in each house (e.g., S.Doc.No. 107-125, H.R.Doc. 107-235)

Access to Congressional Materials:

Print source: Congressional Index: R328.73 C734. This looseleaf service, consisting of two volumes for each Congress, provides a chronology for every bill introduced. The set includes indexes by subject and bill number, brief abstracts of bills, voting records and biographical information on Congressional members.The legislative materials referenced in the Congressional Index are not available in print at the Sacramento Public Library. They may be found, however, at the California State Library.

Online sources: Internet access permits full text access to recent legislative materials.

THOMAS (http://thomas.loc.gov/)
Bill summary 1973- (93d Congress)
Bill Text 1989- (101st Congress)
Public Laws 1973- (93d Congress)
Committee Reports 1995- (104th Congress)
Congressional Record 1995- (104th Congress)
GPO Access (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html)
Congressional Documents 1995- (104th Congress)
Committee Prints 1997- (105th Congress)
Congressional Hearings 1995- (104th Congress)
Congressional Record 1994- (103d Congress)
Senate and House of Representatives:
Senate (http://www.senate.gov/)
House (http://www.house.gov)

Final Enactment: United States Code

The United States Code is a codified compilation of federal statutory law, arranged by subject into fifty titles.

Print source: United States Code, FED Y 1.2/5:
Online source: United States legislative

publications (http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/)

Statutes at Large, the official annual compilation of federal legislation produced by GPO, and U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, a commercial compilation produced by West Group, which incorporates limited legislative history information, are both unavailable at the Sacramento Public Library. They may be found, however, at the Sacramento County Public Law Library, (http://www.saclaw.lib.ca.us/) and the California State Library, (http://www.library.ca.gov/)