Guide to library reference sources
Jan Goldsmith, April 2002.
Last Updated: January 25, 2006
Political Science 140A
Use this guide as you trace a bill. It lists a selection of reference sources located in the YRL Reference Collection , as well as links to Web resources. This guide should be useful to students in Political Science 140A, National Institutions: Congress.

general background
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choosing a bill
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It is preferable to choose a topic/bill that
  • interests you
  • is controversial
  • has passed and become a public law
  • is from the last 20 years
This will make your job easier and ensure that there is enough material to work with. If you pick a recent bill that hasn’t passed, you will find very little information. If you choose an older bill that hasn’t passed, you will have more work to do to pull together the information.

  • LexisNexis Congressional CIS Index: Legislative Histories
  • (If at the outset you use this in book form, you can quickly see how much material there is on the bill. The volumes are located on the Government Resources Tables near the reference desk.)

  • Congressional Quarterly Almanac. [JK 1 .C76/Reference Reading Room]
  • Annual summary and analysis of major legislation; includes vote records.

  • Acts and Cases by Popular Name (Shephard’s). [KF 80 .S547/Reference Reading Room]
  • Index to bills and laws by popular name, such as "the Clean Air Act."

identifying materials
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  • LexisNexis Congressoinal CIS Site Map

  • Congressional Information Service (CIS) Index and Abstracts.
    [Government Resources Tables, near the YRL Reference Desk]
  • Index to hearings, prints, reports, and documents. Use the index by Bill Number to identify the related publications.

  • Congressional Index. [KF 49 .C6/Reference Reading Room]
  • Index to floor actions by bill number and topic. Offers the clearest chronological history of the bill, including when one bill is replaced by another.

finding materials
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Since 1970, CIS has provided an excellent index to all congressional publications. What follows is some of the specific parts of the LexisNexis Congressional, GPO Access and Thomas, that you will need.

Text of the Bill or Law:

  • LexisNexis Congressional CIS Index:
  • Bills (101st - Current Congress)
  • Laws (100th - Current Congress)
  • U.S. Code

  • GPO Access:
  • Bills (103rd - Current Congress)
  • Laws (104th - Current Congress)

  • Thomas:
  • Bill Text (101st - Current Congress)
  • Public Laws (93rd - Current Congress)

Hearings and Committee Prints:

  • Congressional Hearings on the Web (Univ. of Michigan Documents Center)
  • Links to committees with at least some of their hearings online. Click on "hearings" or "publications" or on the subcommittee to see what is available, which is fairly limited.

  • Congressional Information Service (CIS) Index and Abstracts [Government Resources Tables, near the YRL reference desk]
  • Index to hearings, prints, reports, and documents. Hearings and prints for the past 5 years are on the YRL-RIS A-Level. Previous years kept by the SRLF and the Law Library.
  • Use the UCLA Library Catalog to search by committee name, subject, or hearing title.

  • Testimony: Some testimony is available on LexisNexis Congressional. Use the "Advanced Search" form to search by witness name or use the "Search by Number" form to search by hearing number.

  • GPO Access: Congressional Committee Prints
  • A limited number of prints are available from the 105th - Current Congress.

Reports and Documents (also called the Serial Set)

Congressional Record. (Transcripts of House and Senate floor activity)

Roll Call Votes

  • LexisNexis Congressional: Floor Votes (100th - Current Congress)

  • Congressional Quarterly Almanac. [JK 1 .C76/Reference Reading Room]
  • Annual summary and analysis of major legislation; includes vote records.

  • Congressional Roll Call. [JK 1 .C74/Reference Reading Room]

Signing Statements

secondary sources
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Secondary Sources (for analysis and media coverage of bills, congress members, topic)
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citing government publications
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