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This guide traces the process by which a bill becomes a law in the United States. The process begins with the bill's introduction in Congress and ends with its codification into U.S. law. Print or microfiche sources and links to full text Internet sources for documents produced in each step of the process are provided in the table below. Full descriptions of the main internet sites which contain legislative materials can be found at the end of the table, along with links to other sites which describe the legislative process in more detail.
The call number for print sources is given. Most of the items included are available in Lehman Library, either in the U.S. Government Documents collection, Lehman, or the Lehman stacks.
| Print Version |
Action |
Internet Version |
- Congressional Bills & Resolutions:
- 328.732 L - Butler
- 1939-1972
- Congressional Bills & Resolutions:
- Y 1.4/1: Law microfiche
- 1983-2000
- Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of Legislation:
Y 1.2/2: US GovDocs
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Bill Introduction
Members of the House or Senate introduce bills for consideration by the Congress. The President, a member of the Cabinet or head of a Federal agency can also propose legislation. |
- Congressional Bills & Resolutions, 1823-1873 (American Memory)
- Congressional Bills (GPO Access)
- Texts of bills from the 103rd Congress (1993/94) to the present
- History of Bills (Vol. 183-) from the 98th Congress (1983/84) to the present
- Congressional Bills (Thomas)
- Bill summary & status for the 93rd (1973/74) to 108th (2003/04) Congresses
- Bill text for the 101st-108th Congresses
- Congressional Bills (LexisNexis Congressional)
- Texts of bills from the 101st Congress (1989/90) to the present
- CIS Legislative Histories from the 91st Congress (1969/70) to the present:
Search by keyword
Search by Public Law, Statutes at Large, or Enacted Bill number
- Hot Bills and Hot Topics
- Bill tracking feature from the 101st Congress (1989/90) to the present
- Current Status Table on Selected Legislation, 109th Congress
- Final Status Table on Selected Legislation, 108th Congress
- Final Status Table on Selected Legislation, 107th Congress
- Final Status Table on Selected Legislation, 106th Congress
- House Calendars, from the 104th Congress (1996/97) to the present (GPO Access)
- Senate Calendars, from the 104th Congress (1996/97) to the present (GPO Access)
- Senate Legislative & Executive Calendars (U.S. Senate)
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| Print Version |
Action |
Internet Version |
- House & Senate Committee Hearings:
- Through 1975, printed hearings are located in Butler Library -- ask Butler Reference for assistance
- Y 4.: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- CIS Index to Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings, 1823-1976:
- MICFICHE FX 4365 - Lehman
- House & Senate Committee Prints:
- Y 4.: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1970-1981
- Senate Documents:
- Y 1.1/3: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- 328.734 - Offsite
- Senate Treaty Documents:
- Y 1.1/4: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- Current Congress also in paper
- Senate Reports:
- Y 1.1/5: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- 328.734 - Offsite
- Senate Executive Reports:
- Y 1.1/6: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- House Documents:
- Y 1.1/7: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- 328.734 - Offsite
- House Reports:
- Y 1.1/8: US GovDocs microfiche
1976-present
- Lehman CIS microfiche
1976-1981
- 328.734 - Offsite
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Committee Action
A Bill is debated on the floor and then sent to committee(s) for revisions. Hearings are held, with testimony from interested parties; Prints are reports or studies prepared for the use of a committee, often by the Congressional Research Service (CRS); and Reports are issued containing the revised bill, committee's recommendations and background information. Reports can also be issued as a result of investigations by Congress.
Once revised, a bill is brought again before the House or Senate for approval. The bill may then be referred to a conference committee to reconcile differences in similar bills in both Chambers. Conference committees are composed of members of both the Senate and the House.
About Congressional Hearings, from GPO Access.
Documents (Senate & House) are usually communications from the Executive Branch. They can include reports of Executive Departments and Agencies, often submitted in accordance with Federal law.
Senate Treaty Documents contain the texts of treaties submitted to the Senate by the President for ratification.
Senate Executive Reports are reports of the Committee on Foreign Relations relating to treaties which have been submitted to the Senate for ratification. They can also be reports of various Senate Committees regarding the nomination of persons for Federal positions.
About Congressional Documents, from GPO Access. |
- House of Representatives Committee Offices and Schedules
- Senate Committees and Schedules
- CQ Committee Coverage (Congressional Quarterly)
- U.S. House Hearings: a Comprehensive Listing of Committee Meetings, 1985 to the present
(North Carolina State University) -- a list only
- Quick Links to Congressional Publications (Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.)
- For each Congressional committee, links to relevant material: Hearing List, News, Publications, Schedule, Search, Testimony, Transcripts, Visual/Audio; generally, 105th Congress (1997/98) to the present
- Congressional Hearings (GPO Access)
- A limited number of Congressional hearings are available via GPO Access, from the 104th Congress (1995/96) to the present
- Testimony from Congressional Hearings (LexisNexis Congressional)
- Prepared statements and selected question & answer transcripts (1988-present)
- Congressional Hearings on the Web
(University of Michigan Documents Center)
- Selected hearings from the 105th Congress (1997/98) are searchable by committee, government agency or lobby group
- Committee Hearings (House)
- Selected committee hearings, 1997-2001
- Key Congressional Hearings:
- Webcasts, live and archived, from FedNet
- CapitolHearings.org
- Streaming audio of in progress Senate hearings, from C-SPAN
- Publications (LexisNexis Congressional)
- The full scope of publications, including Reports from the 101st Congress (1990) to the present,
Prints from the 103rd Congress (1993) to the present,
Documents from the 104th Congress (1995) to the present
- Senate, House & Treaty Documents (GPO Access)
- Selected documents from the 104th Congress (1995/96) to the present
- Senate, House & Executive Reports (GPO Access)
- Selected reports from the 104th Congress (1995/96) to the present
- Committee Reports (Thomas) for the 104th-108th Congresses
- House and Senate
- Committee home pages are additional sources of legislative information
- Senate Bibliographies
(North Carolina State University)
- Comprehensive index to Senate prints, hearings, and publications from the 98th Congress (1983-84) to the present
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| Print Version |
Action |
Internet Version |
- Congressional Record:
- No current print version available
- Congressional Record:
- 328.732 E - Butler
- 1873-1981
- KF 35 .U5 - Butler
- 1981-1996
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Floor Action
The revised bill is brought before the House and Senate for approval. Debate on the floor of Congress is transcribed in the Congressional Record.
Specific terminology is used to describe the different versions of a bill as its status changes during the legislative process. For example: introduced, agreed to, enrolled, engrossed, laid on table, received, referred, etc. All these and more are explained in the Congressional Bills: Glossary section of GPO Access.
About the Congressional Record, from Thomas. |
- Congressional Record & Index (GPO Access)
- Congressional Record (Vol. 141-) from the 104th Congress (1995/96) to the present
- Congressional Record Index from the 98th Congress (1983/84) to the present
- Congressional Record (Thomas) for the 101st Congress to the present
- Congressional Record Index (Thomas) for the 104th Congress to the present
- Congressional Record (LexisNexis Congressional)
- Congressional Record from the 99th Congress (1985/86) to the present: search by page citation or date
- Congressional Record from the 99th Congress (1985/86) to the present: search by keyword or speaker
- Audio files of Congressional Debate, from FedNet
- A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873
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| Print Version |
Action |
Internet Version |
- Congressional Record:
- Current print version not available
- Congressional Record:
- 328.732 E - Butler
- 1873-1981
- KF 35 .U5 - Butler
- 1981-1996
- Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report:
- JK 1 .C15 - Lehman
- Current issues in Reference
- Congressional Roll Call:
- JK 1 .C6635 - Lehman
- Current volume in Reference
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Congressional Votes
Members of both Chambers vote on the final version of the bill.
Consult the "Congressional Voting Records" section of the Legislative Resources web page for more sources, both print and internet. |
- U.S. House of Representatives Roll Call Votes, 101st Congress, 2nd session (1990) to the present (Thomas)
- U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes, 101st Congress, 1st session (1989) to the present (Thomas)
- Congressional Votes (LexisNexis Congressional)
- Key Votes: by member
- Member Votes: by member and bill number (100th, 1987/88 to present)
- C-SPAN Congressional Votes Library
- Search by month or subject (keyword), from the 104th Congress, 2nd sess. (1994) to the present
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| Print Version |
Action |
Internet Version |
- Federal Register:
- No current print issues available
- Federal Register:
- AA 158 - Law microfilm (1950-1983)
- S A.3 F33 - Law microfiche (1986-present)
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents:
- J 80 .A284 - Butler (1965-1976)
- AE 2.109: US GovDocs (1976-2000)
- Public Papers of the Presidents
- J 80 .A2831 - Butler
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Presidential Action
A bill approved by both House & Senate is sent to the President. The President may comment on the bill and then sign or veto it. If he signs it, the bill becomes law. If he vetoes it, it may go back to Congress for redrafting or Congress may override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both Houses. If the President does not return the bill to Congress with his objections within 10 days, the bill automatically becomes a law. If Congress adjourns before the 10 day period, the bill is vetoed (pocket veto).
About the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, from GPO Access.
About the Public Papers of the Presidents, from the National Archives & Records Administration.
Public Law 104-130 gave the President line item veto power, so that he may strike specific provisions from a bill without vetoing the entire bill.
P.L. 104-130 was subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court on June 25, 1998 (Opinion No. 97-1374) |
- Federal Register (GPO Access)
- Includes Presidential documents and Executive Orders since 1994
- Federal Register (Hein Online)
- Includes Presidential documents and Executive Orders 1936-2000
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (GPO Access)
- Presidential signings and vetoes, 1993 to the present
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (Hein Online)
- Presidential signings and vetoes, 1965-2004
- Virtual Library Publications
(Clinton Presidential Materials Project)
- Search for publicly released documents and executive orders of the Clinton administration, 1993-2000
- History of Line Item Veto Notices, with links to affected legislation (GPO Access)
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| Print Version |
Action |
Internet Version |
- Federal Register:
- No current print issues available
- Federal Register:
- AA 158 - Law microfilm (1950-1983)
- S A.3 F33 - Law microfiche (1986-present)
- Code of Federal Regulations
AE 2.106/3: US GovDocs
- Current year only
- Code of Federal Regulations
- S A.3 C642 - Law microfiche
- 1938-present
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Regulations Issued
Executive agencies draft detailed regulations which specify how the laws are to be carried out. New and proposed regulations are announced in the Federal Register. New regulations are incorporated into the Code of FederalRegulations which is an annual subject arrangement of regulations in force.
In April and October of each year, the Unified Agenda is published, which summarizes the rules and proposed rules that each agency expects to issue during the following 12 months.
About the daily Federal Register, from the National Archives and Records Administration.
About the Code of Federal Regulations, from the National Archives and Records Administration.
Regulatory matters, from the Office of Management and Budget. |
- Federal Register (GPO Access)
- Includes Presidential documents and Executive Orders since 1994
- Federal Register (Hein Online)
- Includes Presidential documents and Executive Orders 1936-2000
- Code of Federal Regulations. (GPO Access)
- Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations (GPO Access)
- Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations (REGINFO)
- -- Table of Contents -- Browse by Agency
- -- Indexes -- Subject Access
- REGINFO.GOV (Regulatory Information Service Center)
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The format for this page and the preceding tables were adapted from one created by Maryann Readal, Documents Librarian, North Harris College, Houston, TX.
Internet sites which contain significant amounts of legislative materials are:
- CQ.com
- CQ.com is a compehensive, current legislative information system, provided by Congressional Quarterly.
- GPO Access: Legislative Branch Resources
- GPO Access is the official U.S. government archive for electronic Congressional publications, generally from the 104th Congress forward.
- LexisNexis Congressional
- LexisNexis Congressional provides detailed indexing and citations to all Congressional materials, 1970-present, indexing to the entire U.S. Serial Set, and links to full text for more recent items.
- Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet
- Thomas is the official web site for the U.S. Congress, with links to bills, public laws, the Congressional Record, roll call votes, and committee information.
The legislative process can be a complicated one, with several versions of a bill in both houses, committee hearings, floor debate, reports, and floor votes all along the way. The process sometimes results in law, often not. The CQ Weekly Report poster "How a Bill Becomes a Law," posted in the Lehman Room, illustrates the process graphically. Also, consult:
- Chandler, Yvonne J.
- Neal-Schuman Guide to Finding Legal and Regulatory Information on the Internet.
- New York : Neal-Schuman, c1998.
- KF 242 .A1 C48 1998 - Lehman
- Johnson, Charles W., III.
- How Our Laws Are Made.
- Y 1.1/7:106-197 - U.S. Government Documents
- The Legislative Process, from the U.S. Senate
- The Legislative Process: Enactment of a Law, by Robert B. Dove, Parliamentarian, United States Senate
- The Legislative Process, from the House of Representatives
- Mikva, Abner J.
- Legislative Process.
- Boston : Little, Brown, 1995.
- KF 4945 .M54 1995g - Lehman
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