US Congress

Congress.gov
Up-to-date access to legislative information. Search by name, sponsor, text, number to find out the status of any piece of legislation, passed or pending.
Senate.gov
Current activity, history and profiles for current US Senators.
US House of Representatives
Hearings, legislative schedules, and links to individual Representative profiles.
A Century of Law Making from the Library of Congress
Online records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress, including the first three volumes of the Congressional Record, 1873-75

H.R.3233 - National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act
Shown Here:
Passed House (05/19/2021)
National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act

This bill establishes in the legislative branch the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex.

The commission must (1) conduct an investigation of the relevant facts and circumstances relating to the attack on the Capitol; (2) identify, review, and evaluate the causes of and the lessons learned from this attack; and (3) submit specified reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations to improve the detection, prevention, preparedness for, and response to targeted violence and domestic terrorism and improve the security posture of the U.S. Capitol Complex.

The bill gives the commission specified powers, including the authority to hold hearings, receive evidence, and issue subpoenas. The bill also provides for the composition of the commission and the appointment of staff, and it requires the commission to hold public hearings and meetings to the extent that it is appropriate. The commission must also release public versions of its reports.

Finding Bills Online

FDsys
The Federal Digital system (FDsys) Congressional Bills (1993-) contains all House and Senate bills, resolutions, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions beginning with the 103d Congress (1993), and contains all published versions of a bill.

Finding legislative history can be a challenge. Finding a bill number is essential to legislative history research. Your first step is usually to find the U.S. Code citation, public law number, or United States Statutes at Large citation of the pertinent law. Bill numbers for more recent laws can found online.

Congress.gov
Bills, Resolutions (bill texts, 1989-; bill summary & status, 1973-); Congress.gov is the Library of Congress's new legislative website; bills can be searched by number, keywords, sponsor, and Congress. THOMAS.gov (the predecessor) remains online as well.
U. S. Senate
"Active Legislation" (1999-) The Senate website allows searches by popular title or subject of a bill; once the bill number is located, links to THOMAS allow further bill research. The website also contains legislative histories of appropriations bills from 1987 forward and records of Senate votes back to 1989.

U.S. House of Representatives
Under a "Bills and Reports" tab, links to Bills This Week, Bills Presented to the President, Bill Status, Committee Reports, and the Congressional Record. Voting records for the current Congress are also shown. The Clerk of the House of Representatives website tracks legislation, shows roll-call votes (back to 1990), and links to bill texts and status.

Finding Committee Reports

Congressional committee reports discuss the background and purpose behind bills they consider. Committee reports and conference reports are considered to be the most valuable parts of a legislative history. Congressional reports are included in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, which contains all House and Senate Reports and Documents beginning with the 15th Congress in 1817.

Conference reports are almost always printed as House reports and are numbered in sequence with other House reports. Conference reports contain the final text of a bill as reconciled by members of the House and Senate. Conference reports usually contain a joint explanatory statement or explanation of the committees process in reaching agreed language.

Selected committee reports are printed in full text in the Legislative Histories section of the U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) (in print and also on WestlawNext) beginning in 1944.

Citations to committee reports are found in the CIS Annual (1970-). Congressional reports can be found in full text from 1789 to the present in the microfiche collections of the Law Library.

Finding Committee Reports Online:

1. FDsys publishes all congressional reports in full text beginning with the 104th Congress (1995-).

The Congressional Record

About the Congressional Record

After each day that Congress is in session, the proceedings are printed in the Congressional Record (CR) and available the following morning.

Daily Congressional proceedings may include legislative activity by the chambers and their committees, Member remarks, communications from the president, and more (described below in Congressional Record Sections). Note that official records of House and Senate actions are recorded in their respective journals.

Congress.gov provides numerous ways to access the CR. Among them are:

Congressional Record specialized search form
Actions tab links to introductory remarks, consideration, and texts in CR (example)
Bill History in the Congressional Record [from Actions tab] (example)
Browse By Date (1995-present)
Archive (1989-1994)
Congressional Record Index
Member Remarks in the Congressional Record (example)
Fielded Search (all of these fields are supported)
You can subscribe to daily alerts for new CR issues
Map CR Volumes to Years
Get the app for: iPhone or iPad

Scope of Coverage

Congress.gov provides full-text access to daily CR issues dating from 1995 (beginning with the 104th Congress). New issues become available on Congress.gov shortly after they are published on GPO's FDsysusually before 10:00 am. Late availability, often due to a late night Congressional session, is announced on the Most Recent Issue page. Issues are not usually printed for days that neither the Senate nor House met.

Browsing the Congressional Record

Browse By Date browse entire issues and all sections, 1995-present
Filters facilitate limiting items by Congress, Chamber of Origin, Section, and Member Remarks, 1995-present
Congressional Record Index is topical access to remarks and activities by Members, individuals, organizations, and legislative business mentioned in the CR. Index entries feature a linked Congressional Record page number and the date.

Searching the Congressional Record

To search the full text of the CR, choose Congressional Record from the search dropdown menu on the homepage, and enter a keyword or phrase in quotes. Refine search results by using the “search within” feature, or by selecting additional criteria from the filters to the left of results.
Congressional Record - Specialized Search Forms describes additional search options.
See Congressional Record Search Tips.
See Search Tools Overview for details on using operators and fields in your search query.
Congressional Record search form field equivalents are listed here.

Finding Hearings

Senate, House, joint, or special committee congressional hearings are usually open to the public; their purpose is to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. Hearings may also be purely exploratory in nature, as members of Congress gather information in preparation for future legislation. Transcripts of hearings include texts of prepared statements submitted during the hearing, prepared remarks by committee members, exhibits, and live testimony.

Finding hearings online:

FDsys (1985-) links to full transcipts of hearings; you can also search for hearings by title or keywords in the online Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. Many of the records in the Catalog contain permanent links (PURLs) to online hearing transcripts.

The House of Representatives and Senate websites contain links to congressional committee pages, which contain hearing information. Some committees only post hearing schedules, while others provide links to transcripts of recent and archived hearings and live webcasts.

Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)