Law and Legal Research

The official source for federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. Bill records are available on Congress.gov from 1973 (93rd Congress) to the present. The full texts of bills are available from 1989 (101st Congress), and the full text of laws from 1995 (104th Congress ).

Although you may search by keyword, the most effective way to search this database is to click on the “Legislation” link at the top of the screen. Use the search limiters (Congress, subject, status of legislation) in the left column to narrow your search. For example, if you limit by subject to social welfare and status of legislation to “became law”, your will only be searching for legislation that has passed. If you also limit by congressional sessions after 1998, your results will include the law. See the example below

ProQuest® Congressional is the most comprehensive online resource available for congressional publications and legislative research. Includes abstracts and indexing for congressional publications, legislative histories, member biographies, committee assignments, voting records, and financial data; and the full text of key regulatory and statutory resources.

You may search by keyword, law or bill number. The most effective way to search this database is to search Legislative Histories (1969 to present) when looking for passed legislation. For example, searching a key term will find all legislation passed from 1969 to present where a compiled history exists. Once you find a piece of legislation, click on the title and click on either the PL number or the Statute at Large link for a copy of the text