Research Guides: Government Information Research Guide: Statutory Law

Introduction

The primary sources for the legislative history, the legislative documents themselves at different stages of their development, can be located in numerous ways. For more information, see Basic Overview on How Federal Laws Are Published, Organized and Cited.

For how Congress works, see Understanding Congress: A Citizen's Guide from the Center on Congress at Indiana University. (made available from Bell Memorial Public Library)

The live proceedings of Congress have been televised since 1987 on C-SPAN and are available via the C-SPAN Video Library Current video of Congress is available at C-SPAN.

American State Papers

American State Papers documents, legislative and executive, of the Congress of the United States
he American State Papers, comprising a total of thirty-eight physical volumes, contain the legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838.

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U. S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873
Published congressional records from the Continental Congress (1774) through the 43rd Congress (1875), digitized by the Library of Congress' American Memory Project.

U. S. Congressional Serial Set

Schedule of Volumes to the U.S. Serial Set: 1970 to Current
Available from Law Librarians Society of Washington, D.C. The Serial Set is also available through a subscription for Proquest Congressional's U.S. Serial Set Digital Collection or for Readex's U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994: An Archive of Americana Collection.

U. S. Congressional Serial Set
Publication Date: 1957-
FDsys provides access to the index to the set, the Numerical Lists of Documents and Reports, since 1957.

U. S. Serial Set, 1833-1917
Includes selected digitized documents from the Serial Set.

United States Congressional Serial Set
Publication Date: 1817-1930s
Selected digitized full-text available through the Hathi Trust Digital Library.

Congressional Calendars, Documents, Hearings, Prints, Reports

Congressional Calendars
FDsys contains the Calendars of the United States House of Representatives and History of Legislation and the Senate Calendar of Business, (1995- ).
Congressional Committee Prints
"Publications issued by Congressional Committees that include topics related to their legislative or research activities, as well as other matters such as memorial tributes. The prints are an excellent resource for statistical and historical information, and for legislative analysis." Available from FDsys. Also available for subscription from Proquest's Congressional Research Digital Collection (CRDC).
Congressional Documents
FDsys provides full-text access to contemporary documents (1817- ).
Congressional Hearings
FDsys provides full-text access to contemporary hearings (1945- ). Selected hearings are available in digitized format by searching the Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also, available for subscription from Proquest's Congressional Hearings Digital Collection, (1824- ).
Congressional Reports.
FDsys provides full-text access to contemporary reports (1821- ).
Congressional Research Service Reports
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a division of the Library of Congress that produces well-researched reports for Congress on any issue relevant to Congress.

Bills and Resolutions

Bills and Resolutions
Historical bills and resolutions are available in the "Century of Lawmaking" by the Library of Congress' American Memory project.
Congressional Bills and Resolutions
FDsys provides access siince 1993.
Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions
Selected historical bills and resolutions (1936-1990) are available through the Hathi Trust Digital Library.

Congressional Debates and the Congressional Record

Congressional Record (1873- )
Current issues, and those from the recent historical past, are available at Congress.gov.

Congressional Record (1994- )
Available through FDsys (1994- ). The complete historical and contemporary CR is available by subscription as Proquest Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection.

Congressional Record (Bound Edition, 1873-2017)
Congressional Record (1873-July 2017) is available through FDsys in PDFs scanned from the bound volumes. It is located on the FDsys Additional Government Publications page.

Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789
Call Number: KF4505 .U55 1968
Publication Date: 1968
Printed set is in 34 volumes (v.1, 1774 - v.34, 1788/1789). Digitized version is available in the "Century of Lawmaking". Also available in LLMC Digital.

Public Laws, Statutes at Large

Public and Private Laws
Available from FDsys, (1995- ).
Public Laws
Available from Congress.gov (1951- ).
Statutes at Large, 1789-1875
From the "Century of Lawmaking" in the Library of Congress' American Memory project. Includes the Revised Statutes of the United States (vol. 18, 43rd, 1873-1875) which reflected the then current law still in existence in 1875.
United States Statutes at Large (1789-1951)
"The United States Statutes at Large is the collection of every law, public and private, ever enacted by the Congress, published in order of the date of its passage. These laws are codified every six years in the United States Code, but the Statutes at Large remains the official source of legislation. Until 1948, all treaties and international agreements approved by the Senate were also published in the set. In addition, the Statutes at Large includes the text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, amendments to the Constitution, treaties with Indians and foreign nations, and presidential proclamations" (Library of Congress).

United States Statutes at Large (1951- )
Call Number: Reference Level 3 - Alcove 3 KF50 .U455
"Typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress" (GovInfo). Printed volumes available for 1939-2011. Digitized version also available as U.S. Statutes at Large in LLMC Digital (1789- ).

U. S. Code

U. S. Code
The current code digitized by the Cornell University Law School.
United States Code
From the U.S House of Representatives, (1994- ).
United States Code
From FDsys (1994- ).