Researching Congress  Tags: research legislation history us_congress  

This page contains general information about the U.S. Congress and the legislative process.

Congressional History

Congresses by Year - Every time an election is held for the House of Representatives, a new Congress is convened in the odd year following the election. As a result, each Congress is assigned a new number every two years. The first session of the 111th Congress began in January. According to the Constitution, Congress has to assemble every year. Each of these annual periods of regular business is called a session. The U.S. House of Representatives has a web site giving the Session Dates of Congress. The U.S. Senate web site has lists of the Years of Congress and the Session Dates of Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives History - This site contains links to and information on the history of the U.S. House of Representatives.

United States Senate History - This web site contains links to a wide variety of historical information about the U.S. Senate

CQ Electronic Library - the CQ Electronic Library includes the online versions of the CQ Encyclopedia of American Government, the CQ Public Affairs Collection and CQ Researcher. CQ Researcher contains comprehensive reports and analysis about issues in the news and activities and members of Congress. The Encyclopedia of American Government contains information on the U.S government, including Congress, and how it works. The CQ Public Affairs Collection contains reports and analyses on issues as well as analyses of statistical data and historical events, historic documents and primary source materials on 22 subjects.

The Legislative Process

Enactment of a Law - A 28-page document on the legislative process written by Robert B. Dove, Parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate.

How Our Laws are Made - Not to be outdone, the U.S. House of Representative's Parliamentarian has written a 67-page publication on the legislative process.

How a Bill Becomes a Law - This links to the classic Schoolhouse Rock video on YouTube. "Oh I'm just a Bill ..."

How Laws are Made - a simple explanation of the steps involved in passing a law from Kids in the House site at the Clerk of the House.

Center on Congress, Indiana University - This site includes a lot of information on Congress, including the close-up video: How Congress Works - An Insider's View.

Heather Richmond

  Contact Info:
  Assistant Archivist
  Malpass Library
  University Archives, 6th Floor
  309-298-2717

E-Mail: HD-Richmond@wiu.edu