Finding, interpreting, and tracking bills
- Legislative Insight This link opens in a new windowSearch for legislative histories from 1929-present, which are compilations of publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of a law. Each history includes the full text of the law itself, all versions of related bills, law-specific Congressional Record excerpts, committee hearings, reports, and more. (ProQuest)
- Congressional (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch for Congressional hearings, reports, testimony, bills, laws, and regulations from the first Congress to the current Congress. (ProQuest)
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowSearch for newspaper articles and legal materials such as court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews, and more. (Lexis-Nexis)
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new windowSearch all CQ Press databases at once, including CQ Almanac, CQ Researcher Plus Archive, CQ Magazine, Politics in America, and Supreme Court Yearbook. (Sage)
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowAccess CRS reports from 2004-present. (Please note the menu in the database itself does not accurately list the years we have purchased.) These reports were established within the Library of Congress to provide members, committees, and congressional staff with nonpartisan, objective research and analysis on all public policy issues. (ProQuest)
- Congress.gov - Legislative Information from the Library of CongressGovernment database of the bills, documents, activities and votes of the U.S. Congress, with full text of legislation from 1993 - present. (Congress.gov replaced THOMAS in September 2014).
- Congressional Bills - 1993 - currentProvides text of the bills introduced in the 103rd Congress to the present Congress.
Information on lawmakers
- Senate.govOfficial site of the US Senate. Track bills, follow Senate floor activity, and find legislators and committee members. The site also provides access to historical media, Senatorial papers, etc.
- US House of RepresentativesOfficial site of the US House of Representatives. Comparable content to Senate.gov, detailed above.
- Biographical Directory of the United States CongressDescriptions of all Senators and Representatives who have been members of the US Congress (1774 - present).
- National Journal Congressional Almanac ReferenceSearchable and sortable reference guide to congressional membership. Provides extensive information and infographics on represented states, districts, etc.
- OpenSecrets"Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit. OpenSecrets is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy."
- Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP)"The nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project elevates public understanding of politics and government by organizing and presenting information in ways that are easily accessible and free of partisan bias... Our approach is grounded in verifiable facts drawn directly from government databases. Our integrated methods provide unique and valuable insights into decisions that impact your family and community. Our data visualizations turn complex data into easily digestible information."