The Federal Legislative Process
Want to refresh or enhance your knowledge of the federal legislative process in the United States? See the resources listed on the pages below.
- Government 101: How a Bill Becomes LawVia Vote Smart
- Ways and Means Green BookThis important resource from the House Ways and Means Committee provides descriptions and historical information on major social and economic programs, e.g., TANF, Medicare, Social Security, etc.
Where to Find Enacted Laws
Westlaw Campus Research
Westlaw Campus Research covers thousands of publications, most of which are available in full text. It is especially useful for legal research, and includes the U.S. Code Annotated, the Federal Register, and the Code of Federal Regulations.
U.S. Code Table of Popular Names
The Table of Popular Names is a list of common names for legislative acts. Where possible, the Legal Information Institute has linked the Popular Names item to its relevant section of the U.S. Code.
United States Federal Law
Website with links to many legal resources.
Where to Find Legislation (Both Bills and Laws)
- Congressional Publications (ProQuest)For current legislation, select only Bills & Laws, from the facets on the left, and search by keyword. Also make sure you limit by Congress-the current Congress is the 114th.
For enacted legislation, select only Legislative Histories from the facets on the left and search by keyword or act name.
To search by bill number, public law number, etc., go here - GovTrack.usTo search, on the left, enter your keyword(s), select a Congressional term and current status. Alternatively, select a Congressional term, scroll down and select a subject. You can also browse by subject: From the home page (www.govtrack.us), select "Bills and Resolutions" and then select the "By Subject" tab.
- Congress.govCongress.gov is the official source for federal legislative information, replacing Thomas. On the main page, the default search is for current legislation. You can change the pull-down menu on the left to "All Legislation." Enter your keywords, topic, e.g., "mental health," "child nutrition," etc. On the results page, use the facets on the left to limit your search to specific Congresses and legislation type, e.g., "Status of Legislation."
Numbering and Citations
1. Bills introduced in every Congress are given sequential numbers, e.g., H.R. 1, H.R. 2, S. 1, S. 2, etc.
2. It is also important to know the number of the Congress, e.g., 117th. See Dates of Sessions of the US Congress. The session of congress is often included in the bill number (e.g. 117 H.R. 110)
3. Once a bill becomes law, it gets a public law number in its first printing as a slip law. The public law number has two parts-the first part is the number of the Congress, and the second part indicates it was the nth law passed by that Congress, e.g., Public Law 111-148. Public law is often abbreviated PL in citations.
4. The public law is also cited to the Statutes at Large, a second printing of the slip laws, arranged chronologically in bound volumes. A Statutes at Large citation , e.g., 120 Stat. 648, includes the volume and page number on which a law can be found.
5. The public law finally becomes part of the United States Code. This is arranged by subject, so provisions in the public law can be codified in several different titles (subjects.)
The Timeline of Printing a Federal Law 