Researching Current Federal Legislation and
Regulations: A Guide to Resources for
Congressional Staff
Jerry W. Mansfield
Information Research Specialist
August 31, 2012
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RL33895
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress
Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations
Summary
This report is designed to introduce congressional staff to selected governmental and
nongovernmental sources that are useful in tracking and obtaining information federal legislation
and regulations. It includes governmental sources such as the Legislative Information System
(LIS), THOMAS, the Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys), and U.S.
Senate and House websites. Nongovernmental or commercial sources include resources such as
HeinOnline and the Congressional Quarterly (CQ) websites. It also highlights classes offered by
the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Library of Congress Law Library.
This report will be updated as new information is available.
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Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 1
Researching Current Federal Legislation ........................................................................................ 1
Governmental Sources............................................................................................................... 1
Nongovernmental Sources......................................................................................................... 5
Researching Current Federal Regulations ....................................................................................... 7
Governmental Sources............................................................................................................... 7
Nongovernmental Sources......................................................................................................... 9
Media Sources ................................................................................................................................. 9
CRS Resources .............................................................................................................................. 10
Classes at CRS......................................................................................................................... 10
Congressional Dictionary ........................................................................................................ 12
Selected CRS Reports.............................................................................................................. 12
Appendixes
Appendix. Comparison of LIS and THOMAS .............................................................................. 13
Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 14
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... 14
Congressional Research Service
Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations
Introduction
Written for congressional staff, this report identifies and provides website addresses and other
contact information for official governmental and nongovernmental sources that are useful in
researching current federal legislation and regulations. It also provides information on useful
classes offered by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Library of Congress (LOC)
Law Library.
Researching Current Federal Legislation
Researching current federal legislation includes identifying action on pending or passed
legislation and locating the relevant documents or text. Analysis, discussion, or media coverage of
pending or passed legislation also has a role in the legislative research process. These functions
may be accomplished by using governmental, congressional, or commercial services.
Governmental Sources
Congressional Record
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CREC and available via
the Legislative Information System at http://www.congress.gov
Action on legislation passed or pending in the current Congress, and its status in the legislative
process, is reported in the Congressional Record. The Record is published each day that one or
both chambers are in session, except in instances when two or more consecutive issues are printed
together. The Congressional Record contains the edited transcript of activities on the floor of the
House and Senate. It is the primary source for the text of floor debates and the official source for
recorded votes. The Record’s Daily Digest section summarizes action in each chamber and
identifies committee hearings, new public laws, official foreign travel reports, procedural
agreements, Senate unanimous consent agreements, treaties and nominations actions, and
committee meetings scheduled for the next legislative day. Indexes for the Congressional Record
are issued twice a month. The Subject Index section can be used to identify bills by topic, and the
History of Bills and Resolutions section tracks action on special bills.
Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CPD
Published by the Office of the Federal Register, the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents
(and its predecessor, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents) provides the dates on
which the President signed or vetoed legislation. It also contains transcripts of presidential
messages to Congress, executive orders, press releases, nominations submitted to the Senate,
speeches, and other material released by the White House.
Legislative Information System
http://www.congress.gov
The Legislative Information System (LIS) provides Members of Congress and their staff access
to legislative information. The legislative information available includes bill summary and status,
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bill text, the Congressional Record, and committee reports. Basic information about bills,
including the sponsor and cosponsors, committees of referral, official or long title, and bill status,
appears in the Bill Summary & Status section.1
Congressional staff may use the LIS Alert Service to obtain e-mail alerts regarding action on bills
and amendments for subjects that they identify. Once established, alerts run automatically and
generate e-mails Monday through Friday when there is new information. To subscribe, go to LIS
Alerts at http://www.congress.gov/help/about-alert.html.
A version of a bill or resolution will typically appear in LIS a day or two after it is introduced or
has had action on the floor of the House or Senate. The text of bills is prepared by the
Government Printing Office (GPO) and sent to the Library of Congress at various times
throughout the day.
For an estimate as to when GPO will publish the text, contact the
• GPO Congressional Desk for House bill versions at 202-512-0224 or
• Senate Bill Clerk for Senate bill versions at 202-224-2118.
Note that the bill number may not determine the chamber for the most recent version. For
example, H.R. 1792 RS is a Senate version (RS=Reported in Senate) of a House bill.
GPO Federal Digital System
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys
The Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) is a website that enables GPO
to display and deliver information from all branches of the U.S. government. Materials available
on FDsys include the full-text of bills, the Congressional Record and the Congressional Record
Index (which includes the History of Bills and Resolutions section), congressional calendars,
public laws, selected congressional reports and documents, the Daily Compilation of Presidential
Documents, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, the Federal Register, and the
Code of Federal Regulations. Coverage for each of these publications varies.
THOMAS
http://thomas.loc.gov
LOC makes information on federal legislation freely available to the public through THOMAS.
Using THOMAS, one can track bills and resolutions, public laws and other activities of Congress,
and access the Congressional Record. Background information on and links to material
concerning the legislative process, specifically the publication “How Our Laws Are Made,”
prepared by the parliamentarian of the House of Representatives, are available at
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html#. (See Error! Reference source not found. for a
comparison of THOMAS and LIS.)
1 LIS is a product of the Congressional Research Service and is only available on Legislative branch computers. The
public equivalent of LIS is THOMAS. A new public beta website is scheduled to be released by the Library of
Congress in mid-September 2012. This website will replace both LIS and THOMAS no later than October 1, 2014.
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House of Representatives Home Page
http://www.house.gov
This website has information available from and on the House of Representatives, including the
following:
• Congressional calendars
House calendars (104th Congress, 1995-present)
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CCAL
• House and committee activities
http://www.house.gov/committees
• Legislative schedules
http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx
• Directories of Representatives by state, district, and name
http://www.house.gov/representatives
• The chamber’s leadership
http://www.house.gov/leadership
• House roll call votes starting with the 101st Congress, second session (1990)
http://clerk.house.gov/legislative/legvotes.aspx
• Brief descriptions of floor proceedings when the House is in session
http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx
House Documents
http://clerk.house.gov/legislative/housedoc.aspx
The House documents website provides links to sources for electronic copies of congressional
bills, resolutions, and committee reports via the House Library, LOC’s THOMAS, and GPO’s
FDsys. The House documents room, located in B106 of the Cannon House Office Building, can
be reached at (202) 226-5200.
A weekly compilation of bills that may be considered on the House floor is available from the
Office of the Clerk at http://docs.house.gov.
House Legislative Resource Center
http://clerk.house.gov/about/offices_Lrc.aspx
The Legislative Resource Center (LRC), located in B106 of the Cannon House Office Building,
provides centralized access to all published documents originated and produced by the House and
its committees, the historical records of the House since 1792, and legislative and legal reference
resources. Congressional staff can retrieve legislative information and records of the House for
congressional offices and the public by calling (202) 226-5200.
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Senate Home Page
http://www.senate.gov
Materials of legislative interest offered from and on the Senate include the following:
• Congressional calendars
Senate calendars (104th Congress, 1995-present)
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CCAL
• Background information on and links to materials on the legislative process,
including a “How a Bill Becomes a Law” flowchart
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/d_three_sections_with_teasers/
process.htm
• Senate roll call votes starting with the 101st Congress (1989-1990)
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/a_three_sections_with_teasers/
votes.htm
• The chamber’s leadership
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/a_three_sections_with_teasers/
leadership.htm
• Descriptions of the Senate committee system and of individual committees
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/d_three_sections_with_teasers/
committees_home.htm
• Directories of Senators by name, state, class (term expiration date), and party
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• Glossary of common legislative terms
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/b_three_sections_with_teasers/
glossary.htm
Senate Printing and Documents Service
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/generic/Doc_Room.htm
The Senate documents room provides copies of bills, reports, Senate documents, and laws.
Contact information is as follows:
B-04 Hart Senate Building Office
9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday-Friday
Phone: (202) 224-7701 (availability inquiries only)
Fax: (202) 228-2815
E-mail: orders@sec.senate.gov
Daily Schedule Information
Both parties in the Senate and the House provide recorded messages about the proceedings on the
floor of each chamber every day they are in session. Call the following numbers for cloakroom
recordings:
Senate at (202) 224-8541 (Democratic) or (202) 224-8601 (Republican)
House at (202) 225-7400 (Democratic) or (202) 225-7430 (Republican)
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Public Laws Update Service
Information on new public law numbers assigned to recently enacted laws can be obtained from a
recorded message maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of
the Federal Register at (202) 741-6043 or by subscribing to its Public Laws Electronic
Notification Service (PENS). To subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@www.gsa.gov with the text
message “SUBSCRIBE PUBLAWS-L.”
White House Executive Clerk’s Office
By way of a recorded message, the Office of the Executive Clerk at the White House provides
dates for the following information: presidential signings or vetoes of recent legislation,
presidential messages, executive orders, and other official presidential action. If the desired
information is not in the taped message, callers can stay on the line to speak with a staffer. The
recorded message is available at (202) 456-2226.
Nongovernmental Sources
Bloomberg Government
http://www.bgov.com
A fee-based subscription database that provides analysis as well as content from news sources
worldwide. Services include alerts, transcripts, searchable legislation, congressional, state, and
district profiles, and more. Coverage for most historical data begins with the 109th Congress
(2005-2006).
CQ.com
http://www.cq.com
This fee-based subscription database provides bill texts, summaries, tracking, and analysis.
Among its other features are forecasts of major pending bills; versions of bills; links to related
bills; roll-call votes; legislative histories; floor and committee schedules; detailed committee
coverage; texts of committee reports; transcripts of witnesses’ testimony; and publications such as
the CQ Weekly, CQ Today, and the Congressional Record. Time spans covered vary by the
category of information.
GovTrack
http://www.govtrack.us
GovTrack is a free service that can help to determine the status of U.S. federal legislation, voting
records for the Senate and the House of Representatives, information on Members of Congress,
congressional district maps, and the status of state legislation. State legislative information is a
new feature as of June 2012. Federal legislation may be searched and browsed back to the 93rd
Congress (1973-1974) and the text of legislation is available as far back as the 106th Congress
(1999-2000).
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HeinOnline
http://heinonline.org
HeinOnline is a searchable digital library of current and historical materials, including some
congressional documents back to 1789. The database also includes legal journals, texts, cases,
statutes, regulations, presidential materials, treaties, as well as international and foreign legal
journals, cases, and materials. Many are full text in the original page-image (PDF) format.
HeinOnline is fee-based and available only to subscribers.
National Journal
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline
The National Journal Group is a source of writings on the current political environment and
emerging policy trends. Its information products include National Journal, Congress Daily, The
Hotline, NationalJournal.com, The Capitol Source, The Almanac of American Politics,
Convention Daily, National Journal On Air, and Washington Week with Gwen Ifill. All House and
Senate offices have access to, at no cost, NationalJournal.com, National Journal Daily, and
National Journal Hotline, as well as to the print versions of National Journal Daily and the
weekly National Journal Magazine.
ProQuest Congressional
http://www.web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp
This database contains detailed abstracts and links to the full text of many congressional and
federal documents, such as the Congressional Record, congressional hearing transcripts,
committee prints, and legislative histories. Length of coverage varies depending on the category
of information. It is the enhanced web-based counterpart of the CIS/Index to Publications of the
United States Congress. This resource is fee-based and accessible only to subscribers. ProQuest
Congressional is available to all House and Senate offices.
Scout - Federal and State Legislative Alert Service
https://scout.sunlightfoundation.com
Scout is a legislative and regulatory alerts service from the Sunlight Foundation, which provides
updates on federal and state legislation as well as Congressional Record speeches and federal
regulations. Bill text is provided by GPO, and most other information on bills comes from
GovTrack, through THOMAS. Information from THOMAS and GPO is delayed by about one
day. Scout’s data covers 2009 to the present.
Information on floor votes and committee hearings comes directly from the official House and
Senate websites. This information is scheduled to be updated throughout the day and appears in
Scout immediately after publication. Notices of when a bill is scheduled for floor debate come
from the House Republican Majority Leader and the Senate Democratic Caucus. This information
is usually published a few days in advance and can change rapidly.
Information on state legislation comes from Open States, a Sunlight Foundation project that
publishes data on state legislative activity for all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of
Columbia. This data originates from the official websites of the 50 state legislatures, and it is
published at various times throughout the day, depending on the state.
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Regulatory information is provided from the Federal Register and published throughout the day.
Scout’s data covers 2009 to the present.
Researching Current Federal Regulations
Regulations are issued by federal departments and agencies under the authority delegated to them
by federal law.2 Final rules are printed in the Federal Register (FR) and later codified by subject
in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Governmental Sources
Code of Federal Regulations
http://gpo.gov/fdsys
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) codifies final rules having general applicability and legal
effect that first appeared in the FR. The CFR’s 50 titles are arranged by subject. The CFR is
revised annually (one-quarter of the titles at a time) in January, April, July, and October. Because
the annual revision incorporates new regulations and drops superseded ones, the CFR reflects
regulations in effect at the time of printing. An index volume that includes tables accompanies the
set. By using the FR and CFR sources, with their many finding aids, it is possible to identify
existing regulations in a subject area or those that pertain to a specific title and section of the
United States Code, identify regulations issued pursuant to a specific public law, and find
proposed regulations that are not yet final.3
The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, http://ecfr.gpo.gov (e-CFR), is the current, updated
version of the CFR. However, it is not an official legal edition of the CFR, but an unofficial
editorial compilation of CFR material and FR amendments produced by the National Archives
and Records Administration’s Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and GPO. The OFR updates
the e-CFR on a daily basis.
Federal Register
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR
The Federal Register (FR) contains the official announcement of regulations and legal notices
issued by federal departments and agencies. It includes proposed and final federal regulations
having general applicability and legal effect; executive orders and presidential proclamations;
documents required to be published by act of Congress; and other federal documents of public
interest. Daily and monthly indexes, and an accompanying publication, List of CFR Sections
Affected, aid in its use.
The FR also publishes the “Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions”
twice yearly (usually in April and October). This document provides advance notice of proposed
2 For more information, see CRS Report RL32240, The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview, by Maeve P.
Carey.
3 For more information, see CRS Report RL30812, Federal Statutes: What They Are and Where to Find Them, by
Cassandra L. Foley.
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rulemaking by listing all rules and proposed rules that more than 60 federal departments,
agencies, and commissions expect to issue during the next six months. Regulations that concern
the military or foreign affairs, or that deal only with agency personnel, organization, or
management matters, are excluded. The agenda is available online from 1994 through the present.
GPO Federal Digital System
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys
The Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) is a website that enables GPO
to display and deliver information from all branches of the U.S. government. Materials available
on FDsys include the full-text of bills, the Congressional Record and the Congressional Record
Index (which includes the History of Bills and Resolutions section), congressional calendars,
public laws, selected congressional reports and documents, the Daily Compilation of Presidential
Documents, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, the Federal Register, and the
Code of Federal Regulations. Coverage varies by title.
RegInfo.gov
http://www.reginfo.gov
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA)
produce this website. RegInfo.gov provides a list of all rules undergoing Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) E.O. 12866 regulatory review. Updated daily, it also provides a
list of all rules on which review has been concluded in the past 30 days; lists and statistics on
regulatory reviews dating back to 1981; and letters to agencies regarding regulatory actions.
Regulations.gov
http://www.regulations.gov
This website was launched in 2003 to enhance public participation in federal regulatory activities.
Users can search and view proposed regulations from more than 176 federal departments and
agencies. Many proposed regulations include a link to a comment form that readers can complete
and submit to the appropriate department or agency. There are 127 non-participating agencies that
may receive comments through this site. Regulations.gov is updated each business day with
proposed new regulations. Among the database’s search options are keyword or subject;
department or agency name; regulations published today; comments due today; open regulations
or comments by publication dates; and Code of Federal Regulations citation.
White House Executive Clerk’s Office
The Office of the Executive Clerk at the White House provides a recorded message with
information on the dates that executive orders and presidential proclamations appeared in the
Federal Register. If the desired information is not included in the taped message, callers can also
be connected to a staff member. The recorded message is available at (202) 456-2226.
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Nongovernmental Sources
BNA’s Daily Report for Executives
http://dailyreport.bna.com
This online report covers a broad spectrum of issues, providing news reports and links to the full
text of key documents, such as proposed and final legislation, regulations, testimony, and fact
sheets summarizing major issues. Available in electronic and print formats only to subscribers.
Federal Regulatory Directory
http://www.cqpress.com/product/Federal-Regulatory-Directory-15th.html
This link leads to a product description and purchase information for the Federal Regulatory
Directory. This publication may be purchased in print or electronic format. The Federal
Regulatory Directory provides profiles of the mandates and operations of more than 100 federal
regulatory agencies and is published every two years. Each profile gives a brief history and
description of the agency and its regulatory oversight responsibilities, and lists key staff,
information sources, legislation, and regional offices. It also provides an overview of the federal
regulatory process. Other aids are the full texts of key regulatory acts and executive orders, a
guide to using the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations, and subject and name
indexes.
HeinOnline
http://heinonline.org
HeinOnline is a searchable digital library of current and historical materials, including some U.S.
congressional documents back to 1789. The United States Codes, Code of Federal Regulations,
and U.S. Statutes at Large are accessible through HeinOnline. Users can browse CFR indexes,
determine if a federal regulation is current, find a presidential proclamation or an executive order.
HeinOnline is available only to subscribers.
Media Sources
Print and web-based media sources provide useful background information on the status of
federal legislation and regulations through their reporting, political analysis, and editorial
perspectives. None of the sources listed are endorsed by CRS.
CQ.com
http://www.cq.com
In addition to the legislative analysis and tracking role of this fee-based subscription service,
CQ.com also provides a daily news feature, full-text of CQ Weekly, Budget Tracker for articles on
appropriations bills and continuing resolutions, and a variety of CQ specialty news sources such
as CQ Healthbeat, CQ Homeland Security, CQ Financial Transcripts, and CQ Hot Docs. RSS
news feeds are also provided as news occurs.
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C-SPAN.org
http://www.c-span.org
C-SPAN is a private, nonprofit company, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a
public service. Its mission is to provide public access to the political process.
The Hill
http://www.thehill.com
The Hill is a weekly newspaper covering Congress and its members.
Politico
http://www.politico.com
Politico.com covers political news with a focus on national politics, Congress, Capitol Hill, the
presidential race, lobbying, and advocacy.
Politico Pro
https://www.politicopro.com
This premium subscription service goes beyond the standard political news coverage of its sister
publication, Politico. According to its website, Politico Pro was launched in June 2010 to provide
“access to intense Politico-style coverage of Washington’s most important policy issues.” At
present, six issue areas are covered—Defense, Energy, Finance, Health Care, Technology, and
Transportation.
Roll Call
http://www.rollcall.com
Roll Call, a daily newspaper, has been covering Capitol Hill news since 1955. Roll Call is free to
congressional staff, both online and in print.
CRS Resources
Classes at CRS
Introduction to Legislative Research: Using Books and the Internet to Locate Laws,
Regulations, and Court Decisions
A two and a half hour seminar offered six times a year by the Library of Congress Law Library
and CRS. This seminar outlines the fundamentals of legal research and focuses on sources of
federal legal materials: Congress, the executive branch, and the federal courts. It covers print and
electronic sources and examines the basic legal documents each branch generates and the types of
information contained in them. The documents include the U.S. Code, the Federal Register, the
Code of Federal Regulations, the U.S. Reports, the Federal Reporter, and the Federal
Supplement. The seminar is intended for staff with limited or no experience with federal legal
research techniques. To register, go to http://www.crs.gov/programs/Pages/eventcal_legal.aspx
and select class from the Events Calendar, then select “Register” tab.
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Federal Legislative History Research: Using Print and Electronic Resources
This two and a half hour seminar is offered four times a year. A Library of Congress Law Library
specialist will discuss various electronic and print chronological and topical publications
containing federal laws and how to research the legislative history of those laws. Participants will
be shown where and how to locate electronic and print versions of congressional documents,
including bills, resolutions, committee reports and prints, and floor debates that are generated in
the legislative process constituting the legislative history of those laws. Sources of compiled
legislative histories and methods of compiling legislative histories will be covered. Internet
sources that will be discussed include THOMAS and other Library of Congress sites, GPO’s
FDsys, and various congressional sites. To register, go to http://www.crs.gov/programs/Pages/
eventcal_legal.aspx and select class from the Events Calendar, then select “Register” tab.
Federal Statutory Research: Using Print and Electronic Resources
This two and a half hour seminar is offered two times a year. Content coverage includes
organizational principles and features facilitating research, the historical development of federal
statutory publications, and an explanation as to the significance of enactment of titles of the
United States Code into positive law. Internet sources that will be discussed include THOMAS
and other Library of Congress sites, various congressional sites, GPO’s FDsys, and Cornell’s
Legal Information Institute site. To register, go to http://www.crs.gov/programs/Pages/
eventcal_legal.aspx and select class from the Events Calendar, then select “Register” tab.
Introduction to Congress Courses
CRS staff regularly provide classroom instruction to congressional staff on legislative process and
procedure. Two such courses available to House and Senate staff are
• Congress: An Introduction to Resources and Procedure. This is an all-day
program that is designed for those seeking a better understanding of the
legislative process and the resources available to monitor it. This program is not
open to interns. Registration information is available at http://crs.gov/programs.
• Legislative Concepts. CRS also offers a monthly introductory “Legislative
Concepts” class to House staff and interns in the House Learning Center.
Information is available on HouseNet at http://housenet.house.gov under “House
Learning Center.”
Advanced Legislative Process Institute
This Institute builds on the basic procedures and resources provided in “Congress: An
Introduction to Resources and Procedure.” In depth sessions describe processes and procedural
strategy that are specific to each chamber. Additional information on this class and others can be
found at http://crs.gov/programs.
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Congressional Dictionary
Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional Dictionary
This online dictionary provides a quick reference to definitions and brief explanations of many
terms and expressions currently used in Congress. Updated as necessary by CRS specialists and
analysts. Available at http://crs.gov/pages/glossary_a.aspx.
Selected CRS Reports
Additional information on researching legislation and regulations is provided in the following
CRS reports:
CRS Report 98-673, Publications of Congressional Committees: A Summary, by Matthew Eric
Glassman.
CRS Report RS20120, Legislative Support: Useful Telephone Numbers and Internet Addresses,
by Jennifer E. Manning.
CRS Report RS20991, Legislative Planning: Considerations for Congressional Staff, by Judy
Schneider.
CRS Report RS21363, Legislative Procedure in Congress: Basic Sources for Congressional Staff,
by Jennifer E. Manning.
CRS Report RL30812, Federal Statutes: What They Are and Where to Find Them, by Cassandra
L. Foley.
CRS Report RL32240, The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview, by Maeve P. Carey.
CRS Report R41865, Legislative History Research: A Basic Guide, by Julia Taylor.
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Appendix. Comparison of LIS and THOMAS
LIS THOMAS
Address
http://www.congress.gov
http://thomas.loc.gov
(automatically goes to THOMAS if user is
outside Legislative Branch)
Who Can Use It
Congress, including state and district offices,
Available to the public.
and legislative support agencies only.
Availability
24 hours a day, 365 days a year
24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Best Used For
Finding the most complete legislative
Working with constituents; making links
information for Members and congressional
from Member or committee home pages;
staff; obtaining information using databases;
making printouts that are to be sent to
and linking to pages that are not available to
constituents.
the public on THOMAS.
Should not be used for making links from
Member or committee home pages since the
public cannot access LIS.
Commercial
Links to databases that have been licensed for
No links to commercial databases.
Databases
use by House and Senate staff, such as
National Journal and CQ.com.
CRS Reports
Links from Bill Summary & Status display to
No CRS reports are available to the
CRS reports related to a bill. Ability to search
public.
all CRS reports via the CRS Home Page;
these products can be searched, displayed,
and printed.
Restricted Links
Links to restricted Capitol Hill websites such
No links to restricted Capitol Hil
as the HouseNet, and Senate amendment
websites.
tracking system.
Floor & Committee
Links to Capitol Hill and selected outside
Minimal links to floor and committee
Schedule Information sources of floor and committee schedule
schedule information.
information.
Advanced Search
Special advanced search capabilities in all
Advanced search capabilities only in Bill
Capabilities
databases, providing Boolean searching (and,
Summary & Status database. Basic search
or, not), word proximity searching (quotes to
capabilities in full-text databases.
indicate phrases, adj/1, near/2), and other
features.
Saved Searches and
The ability to save searches and to request
No ability to save searches or request
E-mail Alerts
daily e-mail alerts of new items added to
email alerts.
databases that meet the search criteria.
Instructions available at
http://www.congress.gov/help/about-
alert.html.
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Note: For assistance using LIS or THOMAS, contact
CRS La Follette Congressional Reading Room 707-7100 | CRS Senate Center 707-5978
LIS Team lismail@crs.loc.gov | Senate Library 224-5978 | House Cal Center 225-6002
Congressional Research Service
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Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations
Author Contact Information
Jerry W. Mansfield
Information Research Specialist
Acknowledgments
Christina M. Bailey, information research specialist, assisted in the research for this report.
Congressional Research Service
14