Research Guides: Federal Legislation: Congress

Information about Congressional Members

New Members Guide 2010
Profiles on new Congressional members, published by the Hill Staff.
Member Directory (House)
Senators of the 116th Congress
Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile
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Congressional Research Service [CRS] Reports
African American Members of the United States Congress
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Congressional Research Service
Asian Pacific Americans in the United States Congress
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Congressional Research Service
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Interactive, searchable directory of all members of Congress by Name, Position, State, Party, Year, and Congress. Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- Y1.1/7: 108-222
Black Americans in Congress
Biographical profiles of African American members of Congress throughout history. Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY --Documents -- Y1.1/7:101-117.
Historical Data- Black Americans in Congress
Nine lists of data compiled by the U.S. House of Representatives
Congressional Directory
Also available in STROZIER, Documents General Collection Y4.P93/1: 1/
Congressional Pictorial Dictionary
Contains information on length of service, political party affiliation, and Congressional district for Congressional members and a "Party Division" page listing the total numbers of Republicans, Democrats, and Independent(s) in both chambers of Congress.
Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- Y4.P93/1: 1p/
Congressional Profile
Includes statistics on political party divisions.
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Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives
Financial disclosure reports of members of the U.S. House of Representatives of the ... Congress from ...
Link to physical copies of Financial disclosure reports of members of the United States House of Representatives, available STROZIER, Documents General Collection -- Y1.1/7: 96-151, etc.
Guide to House and Senate Members
Current session.
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GPO.gov
Hispanic Americans in Congres, 1822-1995
Legistorm- (Congressional salary data)
Legistorm- (Financial Disclosure)
LexisNexis Congressional
Click on Members & Committees for member profiles, committee membership, financial disclosure, demographics, and more.
Maplight.org
"a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, provides citizens and journalists the transparency tools to shine a light on the influence of money on politics. Elected officials collect large sums of money to run their campaigns, and they often pay back campaign contributors with special access and favorable laws...We currently track money and influence in the U.S. Congress and the California legislature, with more states to come."
Official List of Members of the House of Representatives of the United States and their places of residence (112th Congress)
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.
Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2009
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Congressional Research Service
Politics in America
in CQ Press Electronic Library
Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945
Congressional Research Service Report, by R. Eric Petersen, February, 2012
Report of the Secretary of the Senate.
Statement of the receipts and expenditures of the Senate.
STROZIER, Documents -- -- Y1.1/3: 96-47, etc. For reports through 1978, see the Serial Set.
Statement of Disbursements of the House
"A quarterly public report of all receipts and expenditures for Members of Congress, Committees, Leadership, House Officers and Offices of the House of Representatives." This is a 3 volume set.
STROZIER, Documents General Collection -- Y1.1/7: 104-191, etc.
Women in Congress
Contains biographical profiles of former women Members of Congress, links to information about current women Members, essays on the institutional and national events that shaped successive generations of Congresswomen, and images of each woman Member, including rare photos.
STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- Y1.1/7:108-223.
Women in the Senate

Selected Sources

The Almanac of American Politics
STROZIER LIBRARY General Collection -- JK271.A38
Latest in Ready Reference
CQ's Politics in America
STROZIER LIBRARY General Collection -- JK1012.C64
Latest in Ready Reference
Congress Merge
Information on your representatives in Congress, and members of committees and subcommittees, etc.
Congressional Resources
Research and analysis that is relevant to Congressional activity, from the Rand Corporation
CongressLink
"CongressLink provides information about the U.S. Congress -- how it works, its members and leaders, and the public policies it produces. CongressLink is directed to teachers of American Government and civics. It is multi-featured, offering original content (including lesson plans and historical materials) and up-to-the-minute information about Congress."
Vital Statistics on Congress
STROZIER LIBRARY -- Reference -- JK1041 .O76
History, Art, and Archives- U.S. House of Representatives
Vital Statistics on Congress
"Data on the U.S. Congress – A Joint Effort from Brookings and the American Enterprise Institute."

Congressional Activity

Resume of Congressional Activity
From the 80th Congress (1947-48) to the present.
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Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives

112th Congress (2011-2012)
Click on left side for some previous Congresses
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U.S. Senate
Major legislation of the Congress ...
STROZIER, Documents General Collection Ground Floor -- LC14.18: 96, issue 6 (96th Cong. Oct. 1979),
96, issue 11 (96th C. June 1980)-102, issue 3 (102nd C. May 1992)(99th Congress-102nd Congress)
Congressional Committees and Subcommittees

CQ Magazine This link opens in a new window
CQ Magazine provides nonpartisan information on Capitol Hill, legislative news and analysis of events. This also includes votes by the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States.
Topics:
Abortion
Agriculture
Appropriations
Banking and Financial Services
Budget
Congressional Affairs
Defense
Economic Affairs
Education
Employment and Labor
Energy
Environment
Executive Branch
Foreign Policy
Government Operations
Health
Homeland Security
Immigration
Intelligence
Legal Affairs
Pensions and Retirement
Politics and Elections
Regulatory Policy
Science
Taxes
Technology and Communications
Trade
Transportation and Infrastructure
Veterans' Affairs
Welfare and Housing

Abbreviation: cqwk
Vendor: Sage Publishing
Subjects: Political Science, Public Administration and Policy
Type: Government Publications, Newspapers and Newswires

Law Library of Congress
Current congressional activity and links going back to 2001.
Open Congress
A non-profit, non-partisan public resource
Report on activities during the ... Congress
STROZIER, Documents -- -- Y1.1/8: 100-1134, etc. 100th Congress-current
STROZIER, Documents -- Microfiche -- Y1.1/8: 96-1564, etc. 96th Congress-102nd Congress
U.S. House of Representatives Roll Call Votes
1990-present
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Office of the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
Congress.gov
"Congress.gov makes federal United States legislative information freely available to the public. Launched Sept. 19, 2012, this version of the site is an initial beta release of Congress.gov, created as a successor to THOMAS.gov, the current public site for legislative information. The Congress.gov beta site contains legislation from the 107th Congress (2001) to the present..."
Thomas.gov

Congressional Record

An Overview of the Congressional Record and its Predecessor Publications
Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. Published since 1873, it is published daily when Congress is in session.

Congressional Record : Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress.
STROZIER, Documents General Collection Ground Floor -- X.
STROZIER, Documents Microfiche Ground Floor -- X.
Congressional Record from FDsys
1994 to Present
Hein Online
Vols. 1-151 pt. 19 (1873-2005) (43rd Congress, Special Session to 109th Congress, 1st Session )
LexisNexis Congressional
Click on Daily Congressional Record & Rules on left side, choose Congress.
99th Congress (1985-86)-present

Supplementary Sources for Current Congressional Activity

Proquest Congressional (Hot Topics)
Click on "Political News/Hot Topics" on left side for access to
The Hill (1995 - present), Roll Call (1989 - present) and The Washington Post (Section A) (1977 - present)

CQ Magazine This link opens in a new window
CQ Magazine provides nonpartisan information on Capitol Hill, legislative news and analysis of events. This also includes votes by the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States.
Topics:
Abortion
Agriculture
Appropriations
Banking and Financial Services
Budget
Congressional Affairs
Defense
Economic Affairs
Education
Employment and Labor
Energy
Environment
Executive Branch
Foreign Policy
Government Operations
Health
Homeland Security
Immigration
Intelligence
Legal Affairs
Pensions and Retirement
Politics and Elections
Regulatory Policy
Science
Taxes
Technology and Communications
Trade
Transportation and Infrastructure
Veterans' Affairs
Welfare and Housing

Abbreviation: cqwk
Vendor: Sage Publishing
Subjects: Political Science, Public Administration and Policy
Type: Government Publications, Newspapers and Newswires

Congressional Quarterly Almanac
Located in STROZIER LIBRARY --Documents -- JK1 .C663.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States (House Journal)
STROZIER, Documents -- -- XJH:
Later years (98th Congress+)available in microfiche, earlier years in print. Online for 1789-1875.
House Journal
1991-1999 available here on GPO Access
Senate Journal
STROZIER, Documents -- -- XJS:
Online from 1789-1875. Some of the earlier years in print, later years (96th Congress+), in microfiche
National Journal
A nonpartisan weekly print journal on politics, policy and government, providing daily news analysis of key political and policy development
STROZIER LIBRARY Periodicals 2nd Floor -- 320.5N276
Library has 1992-Aug.2008. Strozier Micromaterials Film PR 287, 1971-1991. Coverage in Academic Search Complete, 2000-14 days ago.
New York Times 1999 to current
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Details: The New York Times is considered the "official" U.S. newspaper because it publishes the complete text of important documents, speeches, and presidential press conferences. The paper's reporters have won scores of Pulitzer Prizes throughout the publication's 150-year history.
U.S. News & World Report
The White House (Briefing Room)
Click on the Briefing Room for the President's weekly address and other current information.
OpenCongress
An "editable guide to Congress for the people, by the people."
U.S. Congress
Lists members of Congress, committee information, Congressional resources and more.
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Project Vote Smart
CQ Today
Daily publication. July, 2009-current is available in General One File (Infotrac)
Congressional Digest
Covers Congressional activity and known for its pro-con format, with guest columns written by Congressional analysts and legislators. Coverage is from 1921-present.

Congressional Glossaries

Congressional Glossary
Thomas.gov
Glossary of Congressional and Legislative Terms
TheCapitol.Net

Databases

Earmarks Database
Earmark data from the U.S. Congress is now searchable for FY 2008, 2009, 2010
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Legistorm
GovTrack.us
Track the activities of Congress, including voting records for all the Congresses and Bill/Resolutions
House Expenditure Reports
Sunlight Foundation
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Sunlight Foundation
Senate Gift Rule Database
Transparency Data
"Transparency Data is a central source for federal lobbying disclosure, federal grants and contracts, earmarks and federal and state campaign contributions."
U.S. Congress Votes Database
Browse every vote in the U.S. Congress since 1991.
Washington Post