• Catalog
• Subjects
• Databases
• Reserves
• Journals
• News
• eBooks
• Reference

U.S. Legislative Process
& Related Publications

Page Contents:

• U.S. Congress: Typical Legislative Process
• Bills
• Public Laws
• Federal Regulations
• Indexes and Finding Aids to Congressional Bills & Public Laws
• Congressional Documents, Committee Hearings & Reports
• Background Information on Legislation & Activities of the Congress
• Connecting to Databases Linked From This Page
   

U.S. Congress: Typical Legislative Process

1. A BILL or RESOLUTION may be introduced in either house of Congress (in the House of Representatives or the Senate) by one or more of its respective members.
   
   NOTE: Bills for raising revenue or appropriating funds must originate in the House of Representatives.
2. The bill is referred to an appropriate congressional committee for study. The committee may hold HEARINGS, calling on experts and other concerned persons to offer their viewpoints on the proposed law.
3. After studying the bill, the committee may REPORT it back to the full house of Congress. The printed report summarizes the findings of the congressional committee, including a recommendation if the bill should be passed or not.
4. The whole house of Congress (either the House or Senate) votes on the bill.
5. If passed, the bill is then sent to the other house of Congress, where steps 1-4 above are repeated. If important differences between House and Senate legislation arise, a conference committee is established to resolve these. Another REPORT may be issued.
6. If passed by both houses of Congress, the bill (now referred to as an ACT of Congress) is sent to the President, who may sign the bill into law (i.e. PUBLIC LAW or P.L.) or veto it.
7. If the President vetoes the act, it will not become law unless the veto is overridden by a two-thirds vote of a quorum in each house of Congress.
8. A new law usually gives rulemaking authority to one or more federal agencies (such as the departments of Agriculture, Defense, or Education), which are responsible for carrying out the provisions of the law. These executive agencies develop and administer new RULES, REGULATIONS, and programs to bring the law into effect. New and proposed rules and regulations of the federal government are published each business day in the Federal Register, as a means of informing the public and inviting input. Announcements of the availability of grants and other types of federal assistance also appear in the Federal Register.

More information on the federal legislative process is available in:

How Our Laws Are Made. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1997.
BGIC Reference shelf, Y 1.1/7:101-139 (1990 edition).

Top

U.S. Legislative & Regulatory Information Available on the World Wide Web & in the UNR Libraries:

The Internet-based GPO Access service provides Congressional Bills (all versions), Public Laws, History of Bills, the Congressional Record, Congressional Record Index, Congressional Documents and Reports, the House and Senate Calendars, and the Federal Register, from 1994 to the present. The United States Code is also searchable on GPO Access.

Top

Bills:

GPO Access includes the full text of Congressional bills and public laws from 1994 to the present. The UNR Libraries has Congressional bills from 1933 to the present in microfiche format. Bills are located in the Business and Government Information Center, 2nd floor.

Top

Public Laws:

Public Laws
GPO Access, 1994-present

Statutes at Large
BGIC Legal Alcove AE 2.111:

• Chronological record of all federal laws, public and private. Laws passed from 1994 to the present are included in GPO Access (i.e., Public Laws and Congressional Bills databases).

United States Code
GPO Access or BGIC Legal Alcove Y 1.2/5:

• The U.S. Code is a compilation of all current federal statutory law, arranged by subject. Revisions or other changes in federal laws are identified in the U.S. Code.

Top

Federal Regulations:

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
BGIC Legal Alcove AE 2.106/3:

• Compilation of current rules and regulations issued by federal executive agencies.

Federal Register
GPO Access (1995-present) & BGIC Legal Alcove AE 2.106:

• Daily record of new and proposed regulations, announcements of availability of federal funds, scheduled meetings, presidential proclamations and executive orders. Rules and regulations first appearing in the Federal Register, if made permanent, are published in the Code of Federal Regulations. Available via GPO Access from 1994 to the present.

Top

Indexes & Finding Aids to Congressional Bills & Public Laws:

Congressional Record
GPO Access (1995-present) & BGIC Legal Alcove X/A

• Daily verbatim record of activity of the U.S. Congress (excluding committees).

Congressional Record Index
GPO Access (1993-present) & BGIC Legal Alcove X/A

CIS Index & LexisNexis Congressional
BGIC Legal Alcove & Library Web

• Gives legislative histories for all bills passed into law. Bill numbers are also given in abstracts of congressional committee hearings and reports.

History of Bills
GPO Access, 1983-present

Public Laws
GPO Access, 1995-present

Top

Congressional Documents, Committee Hearings & Reports:

Congressional Documents (Senate, House & Treaty Documents)
GPO Access, 1995-present

Congressional Hearings
A limited number of hearings from 1997 to the present are available
on GPO Access.

Congressional Reports (Senate, House & Executive Reports)
GPO Access, 1995-present

• Print and microfiche copies of Congressional documents, hearings and reports are held by the library. To find these, use the following:

CIS Index & LexisNexis Congressional
BGIC Legal Alcove & Library Web

GPO Access. Federal Locator Services .

• Records from the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications from 1994 to the present, linked to selection profiles of federal depository libraries.

GPO Monthly Catalog
Library Web

• Web equivalent of the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, covering 1976 to the present.

Top

Background Information on Legislation and Activities of the Congress:

Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report
Library Web & BGIC Legal Alcove JK1.C15 1989-present

Top

Connecting to Databases Linked From This Page:

GPO Access databases are freely available on the World Wide Web and do not require user login or authentication. You may connect to these databases from any Web-enabled computer workstation.

Congressional Quarterly Library, GPO Monthly Catalog, and LexisNexis Congressional are accessed via subscriptions from commercial database providers. These services are available at Web-enabled computer workstations on the University of Nevada, Reno campus and off-campus to UNR students, faculty & staff with a current library card. Off-campus users with commercial Internet access should click here to use these and other subscription databases. To use the subscription databases, return to this page (or any UNR Libraries web page) after completing your authentication.