GovInfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
Search U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications for catalog records. Many records link to the full text.
All FDLP Resource Guides are open educational resources for anyone to share, copy, and reuse.
To learn about the U.S. Congress, check out some resources below, including Congress.gov, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, and reports by the Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, and U.S. Government Accountability Office. In addition, see examples of official, authenticated U.S. Government publications by the legislative branch in GovInfo.
House Committee on Energy and Commerce holding a hearing on March 24, 2004 (Image source: NAID: 6769104)
Click on the tabs of this box to learn about U.S. Government information regarding congressional activities or documents written by the U.S. Congress or a legislative branch agency.
Below are some U.S. Government resources on congressional activities.
Here are three examples of publications by legislative branch agencies or services: the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congressional Research Service (CRS), and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Congressional Budget Office
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Congressional Research Service
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U.S. Government Accountability Office
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Click on the tabs of this box to learn more about the selected congressional information that are available in GovInfo. Each highlighted publication has examples under a unique theme.
A congressional bill will have different versions of it during the legislative process. For example, "Engrossed (House)" means the "official copy of the bill or joint resolution as passed, including the text as amended by floor action, and certified by the Clerk of the House before it is sent to the Senate." The following documents are some examples.
H.R. 2272 (EH) – 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007
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H.R. 2751 (EH) – Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act
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H.R. 2954 (EH) – Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act
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H.R. 774 (EH) – Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015
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H.R. 1975 (EH) – Pala Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act of 2021
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Congressional commission reports contain the findings, data, analyses, and recommendations of a commissioned entity. The following examples concern the 9/11 attacks, national security related to U.S.-China economic relationships, the oil spill from Deepwater Horizon, and U.S. intelligence capabilities concerning weapons of mass destruction.
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2021 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
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GovInfo has a collection of congressional hearings. One example of a committee is the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. It has jurisdiction "over much of the non-defense Federal research and development."^ There are currently five subcommittees: Energy, Environment, Investigations and Oversight, Research and Technology, and Space and Aeronautics. The featured hearings are from the 96th, 105th, 109th, 114th, and 117th Congresses. Topics include operational planning for the space shuttle; understanding the the Y2K problem; ensuring reliable voting machines; discussing the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act; and evolving research needs related to the coronavirus.
^U.S. House of Representatives
COVID–19 Variants and Evolving Research Needs
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Dyslexia and the Need to READ: H.R. 3033, the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act
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Space Shuttle Operational Planning, Policy, and Legal Issues
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Voting Machines: Will the New Standards and Guidelines Help Prevent Future Problems?
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Y2K: What Every Consumer Should Know to Prepare for the Year 2000 Problem
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The Congressional Pictorial Directory is a biennial publication on all members of the U.S. Congress. The following selected examples come from the 106th, 108th, 112th, 115th, and 117th Congresses. For each of these featured documents, the accompanying pictures compare the covers of the Directory, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Congressional members from the state of Wyoming.
The Congressional Record is the "official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress." The Bound Edition is the permanent version and each session of Congress has its own volume. The following documents concern the U.S. Senate's impeachment proceedings of William W. Belknap (acquitted), Harold Louderback (acquitted), Halsted L. Ritter (found guilty), and Harry E. Claiborne (found guilty).
Impeachment of William W. Belknap
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Impeachment of Harold Louderback
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Impeachment of Halsted L. Ritter
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Impeachment of Harry E. Claiborne
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The Congressional Record includes the Daily Digest, which highlights House and Senate floor actions. The following examples concern the Senate's confirmation of the first six female justices to the Supreme Court of the United States (Hons. Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson).^ The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary first vets presidential nominees. If the Committee approves a nominee, then the full U.S. Senate confirms the nomination.
^Some featured examples below are available digitally from Congress.gov
Published by the U.S. House of Representatives' Office of the Law Revision Counsel, the U.S. Code is the "codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States," and has 53 subject titles. Some of the titles "have been enacted into positive (statutory) law." Title 10 of the U.S. Code pertains to the armed forces. Below are excerpts of each subchapter of Title 10: Armed Forces, including links to the 2020 edition of the U.S. Code.
Subtitle A—General Military Law
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Subtitle C—Navy and Marine Corps
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Subtitle D—Air Force and Space Force
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The volumes of the U.S. Congressional Serial Sets are compilations of documents from the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate on various subjects. The Law Library of Congress digitizes these collections. Try searching the collection by topic. The documents below are some results from a search for "animals."
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Exploration of the valley of the Amazon, made under direction of the Navy Department
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Appropriation to pay certain claims to Sioux Indians for loss of horses
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Shorter contributions to general geology 1925
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