Government Information: Congress: House and Senate
Congress: House and Senate - Introduction
The United States Congress is the "collective identity of the Senate and House of Representatives." The House and the Senate have equal status; since 1913, all bills must pass in both chambers in the process of becoming laws. However, the House and the Senate are different institutions. There are 100 senators, two from every state, and 435 representatives, with at least one from every state and apportioned otherwise according to population.
Track congressional bills or investigate the work of a Senate committee with the resources on this page.
Essential Resources for Congressional Documents
- American Memory - Century of LawmakingHistorical (1774-1875) U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates including Statutes, Letters, House and Senate Journal.
- Congress.GovFederal legislative information from 2001-present. The default is "current legislation" -- you might need to change it to "all legislation".
- CQ LibraryContains full text of CQ Researcher reports, CQ Magazine (formerly CQ Weekly, featuring bills and legislative actions) as well as reference works on politics, commerce, and the U.S. Congress.
- govinfoThe U.S. Government Printing Office's (GPO) govinfo is an advanced digital system that provides access to government information from all three branches of the U.S. Government. It replaces GPO's FDsys digital system.
- ProQuest CongressionalContains citations and full text to U.S. legislative information from 1970 to the present, with additional coverage of Congressional hearings from 1824 to 1979.
- Congressional Serial SetArchives reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from 1817-1994.
Congressional Budget Office news
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Senate Chamber
Senate chamber c. 1952, accessed from the digital collections at the Library of Congress.
Background Information
- Guide to Congress - (ebook)From CQ Press, this guide covers all aspects of Congress, including ethics of members and how Congress is elected.
- CQ's Politics in America (online)CQ's Politics in America is the definitive source for information on members of the U.S. Congress and their districts.
- US House of RepresentativesElected to a two-year term, each representative serves the people of a specific congressional district by introducing bills and serving on committees, among other duties.
- US SenateElected to six year terms, two senators are elected per state—regardless of size or population of the state.
- Congressional Research Service ReportsCRS, a division of the Library of Congress, provides high-quality research and analysis for members of Congress. The reports created by CRS staff are succinct and well-researched. Links provided by Gallagher Law Library, University Of Washington
- The Almanac of American Politics (online)The Almanac of American Politics analyzes elected political figures in the House and Senate, among others.