The Legislative Process: Background

Guides to the Legislative Process

• Chandler, Yvonne J.
  Neal-Schuman Guide to Finding Legal and Regulatory Information on the Internet.
  New York: Neal-Schuman, c1998.
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. KF 242.A1 C48 1998 (Offsite)
• Congressional Lawmaking: A Perspective On Secrecy and Transparency  From the Congressional Research Service, December 2011, CRS Report R42108
• How Our Laws Are Made (2007), John V. Sullivan, Parliamentarian, U.S. House of Representatives (earlier versions authored by Charles W. Johnson, then-Parliamentarian)
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. Y 1.1/7:106-197
• The Legislative Process  Congress.gov
• The Legislative Process: Enactment of a Law, Robert B. Dove, Parliamentarian, United States Senate (1997)
• The Legislative Process  From the House of Representatives
• Enactment of a Law  From the U.S. Senate
• Legislative Process Abner J. Mikva, New York: Aspen Publishers 2009
           Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. KF 4945 .A7 M55 2009 (Law)

Other Background Material

• CQ Committee Coverage and Schedules (Congressional Quarterly)
• 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

Resources in the Columbia University Library:

Congressional bills:

• Congressional Bills & Resolutions 1939-
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. 328.732 L (Butler)
• Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of Legislation
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. Y 1.2/2:

 Committee action:

• House & Senate Committee Hearings
  • Search the catalog for print or microformat copies of specific hearings by topic or search ProQuest Congressional

Ex. White House access to FBI background summaries : hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, second session ... June 20, 28, and September 25, 1996

• House & Senate Committee Prints and
• Senate or House Documents and
• Senate Reports and Executive Reports and
• House Reports
  • Search the catalog for print or microformat copies of specific Congressional chambers, documents or hearings by topic (use the US Government Documents facet in the advanced search), or search ProQuest Congressional

Floor Action:

• Congressional Record
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. KF35. U5 (Butler) or 328.732 E (Butler)
• Congressional Record
  • FDsys

Congressional Votes:

• The debates and proceedings in the Congress of the United States, 1796 : with an appendix, containing important state papers and public documents, and all the laws of a public nature; with a copious index, U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C. : Gales and Seaton, 1834-1856,  Hathitrust (other editions also available)
• Congressional Record
  See above
• Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report (no longer published, replaced with CQ Roll Call and other CQ publications)
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. JK 1 .C15  (Lehman)
• Congressional Roll Call
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. JK 1. C6635  (Lehman/Butler)​

Presidential Action:

• Federal Register (FDsys)
  No current print issues available on site; some off site and see HathiTrust link at Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. AE 2. 106
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (search FDsys)

   Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. J 80 .A284 (Butler) or AE 2.109: (Offsite)

• Cumulated Indexes to the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. J80 .A2831 (Butler)

Laws Issued:

• Slip Laws
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. AE 2.110: - No current print issues available
• U.S. Statutes at Large, 1951-present (FDsys)
        Columbia Libraries Catalog Call No. AE 2. 111: - Offsite, digitally through the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library link and at HeinOnline
• U.S. Code (FDsys)