GSU Library Research Guides: U.S. Constitution: Subject Guide: Legislative Branch

Websites: U.S. Constitution Text Related to the Legislative Branch

Article I - U.S. Constitution
From FindLaw.com. Text of Article 1 of the Constitution (which provides Congress its powers and limits).
Article 1: Legislative Branch
From the constitutioncenter.org, provides relevant text from the Constitution and interpretation.

Websites: Official Congressional Sites

Congress.gov
Website of the U.S. Congress, the official source for following congressional activity. Here you can follow legislation as it moves through the House and Senate, lookup committee and member profiles, watch video from the House and Senate floor, as well as video of committee hearings.
United States House of Representatives
Includes links to Representatives websites, and Committee websites, Congressional schedule information, vote information and information on legislation before the House.
United States Senate
Includes links to Senators and Committee websites, and information on Legislation and Records, nominations and treaties.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: 1774 - Present
Searchable index from the Congress.gov website.
Congressional Record
The official record of the proceedings and debates on the floor of Congress (1994 to the present).
Congressional Documents
Reports from the office of the President, independent agencies, international agreements, submitted to committees of Congress.
Congressional Hearings
Includes House and Senate Appropriations Hearings. Good for browsing all committees.
Congressional Committee Prints
Congressional Committee Prints are publications issued by Congressional Committees that include topics related to their legislative or research activities, as well as other matters such as memorial tributes. Some basic categories of Congressional Committee Prints are: draft reports and bills, directories, statistical materials, investigative reports, historical reports, situational studies, confidential staff reports, hearings, and legislative analyses.
Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress.

Websites: About The Legislative Process

The Legislative Branch (and Process)
From Whitehouse.gov
The Legislative Process
From the website of the U.S. House of Representatives. Explains step by step how laws are made.
Learning About the Legislative Process
From the website of the U.S. Senate.
Learn About the Legislative Process
From Congress.gov.
How Our Laws Are Made
From the website of the Library of Congress.
Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress
Congressional Research Service report for Congress prepared for members and committees of Congress. From the Congressional Research Service. Opens as a PDF.
The Legislative Process
From the website of ProQuest Congressional. Easy to follow outline of the legislative process from start to finish.
The Legislative Process
From ThisNation.com.
Learn About the Legislative Process
From the Congress.gov website. Includes information on how laws are made, the enactment of a law, a glossary, and more.

Books

The following represent just a few of the books in the University Library on the legislative branch of the U.S. government. Search the Library Catalog to find additional books.

Neither separate nor equal : Congress in the 1790s by Kenneth R. Bowling (Editor) and Donald R. Kennon (Editor)
Call Number: JK1041 .N45 2000
Located on Library North 4

ISBN: 0821413279

"Scholars today take for granted the existence of a “wall of separation” dividing the three branches of the federal government. Neither Separate nor Equal: Congress in the 1790s demonstrates that such lines of separation among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, however, were neither so clearly delineated nor observed in the first decade of the federal government's history."
On appreciating Congress : the people's branch / by Louis Fisher
Call Number: JK1041 .F57 2010
Located on Library North 5

ISBN: 0199945934

"Explains why Congress is the indispensable institution for safeguarding popular, democratic, and constitutional government."
Inventing Congress : origins and establishment of the First Federal Congress by Kenneth R. Bowling and Donald R. Kennon
Call Number: JK1041 .I58 1999
Located in the College of Law Library

ISBN: 082141271X

"Presents the latest scholarship on the interrelated intellectual, institutional, cultural, and political antecedents of the formation of the First Federal Congress."
The U.S. Congress : a very short introduction by Donald A. Ritchie
Call Number: JK1041 .R58 2010
Located in the College of Law Library

ISBN: 0195338316

Provides an analytical insight into the work of Congress.
Act of Congress : how America's essential institution works, and how it doesn't / by Robert G. Kaiser
Call Number: HG181 .K35 2013
Located on Library North 4

ISBN: 0307744515

Case study by Washington Post reporter on how Congress really works (or doesn't).

Researching Legislative Histories

Use the following resources to search for legislative histories (the documents that are produced by Congress as a bill is introduced, studied and debated).

ProQuest Congressional
Use the ProQuest Congressional database to research legislative histories (the documents that are produced by Congress as a bill is introduced, studied and debated).
Legislative Insight (ProQuest)
Legislative Insight is a Federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full text publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws. These publications can include committee reports, analysis by legislative counsel, committee hearings, floor debates, and histories of actions taken.

Legislative Branch

The legislative branch is made up of the House and Senate, known collectively as the Congress. Among other powers, the legislative branch makes all laws, declares war, regulates interstate and foreign commerce and controls taxing and spending policies.

(Text from https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government)

Research Guides

U.S. Constitution: Subject Guide

Social Science Librarian

Websites: U.S. Constitution Text Related to the Legislative Branch

Websites: Official Congressional Sites

Websites: About The Legislative Process

Books

Researching Legislative Histories

Legislative Branch

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