This report, one of a series of reports on the legislative process, provides a brief list of telephone numbers, room numbers, and Internet addresses of use to new congressional staffers who work with legislative procedures and conduct legislative research. Internet access restrictions are noted. Some of the websites listed are available only to congressional offices; other sites are restricted further and are only available to House or Senate offices. This report is intended for congressional use only and will be updated annually.
House of Representatives Website
http://www.house.gov
House offices only (HouseNet): http://housenet.house.gov
Websites of Representatives, leadership offices and organizations, committees, and support offices. The restricted HouseNet website serves as a portal to the other "House Offices Only" websites described below and includes access to Dear Colleague letters and commercial database subscriptions, including ProQuest Congressional.
Clerk of the House
H-154 Capitol
[phone number scrubbed]
http://clerk.house.gov
House offices only: https://housenet.house.gov/campus/service-providers/legislative-resource-center/office-of-the-clerk
For archival assistance, Congressional Record submissions, introduction of legislation, submission of amendments, and roll call vote questions.
House Legislative Resource Center
135 Cannon House Office Building
(202) 226-5200
To order publications: [phone number scrubbed] or email [email address scrubbed]
http://clerk.house.gov/about/offices_lrc.aspx
House offices only: https://housenet.house.gov/campus/service-providers/legislative-resource-center
For current and historic House documents, directories, payroll and financial disclosure reports, and lobbyist registrations. The House Legislative Resource Center includes the House Library, http://library.clerk.house.gov/, which preserves House documents and provides legislative history assistance to offices.
House Legislative Counsel
337 Ford House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
http://www.house.gov/legcoun
House offices only: http://legcoun.house.gov/members/
For assistance with legislative drafting and preparation of conference reports.
House Library
Cannon House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
http://library.clerk.house.gov
House offices only: http://library.clerk.house.gov
Provides legislative reference assistance for House offices, including assistance in searching the Legislative Information System (LIS) and Congress.gov; offers classes on research topics, such as using the ProQuest Congressional database; has most complete collection of House publications.
House Parliamentarian
H209 Capitol
[phone number scrubbed]
http://www.house.gov/content/learn/officers_and_organizations/parliamentarian.php
For assistance with legislative rules, precedents, and practices.
House Technology Call Center
H2-694 Ford House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed] or [phone number scrubbed]
House offices only: https://housenet.house.gov/technology
For technical assistance with, and training on, office computers and wireless devices, websites, software, and databases.
Senate Website
http://www.senate.gov
Senate offices only (Webster): http://webster.senate.gov
Websites of Senators, leadership offices and organizations, committees, and support offices. The restricted Webster website is a portal to the various "Senate Offices Only" sites described below and also provides access to commercial database subscriptions, including ProQuest Congressional and LexisNexis.
Secretary of the Senate
S312 Capitol
[phone number scrubbed]
To order publications: [phone number scrubbed]
Senate offices only: http://webster.senate.gov/secretary
For current and historic Senate documents, directories, payroll and financial disclosure reports, archival assistance, and lobbyist registrations.
Note: The Senate Document Room is located at B04 Hart Senate Office Building and can be reached at [phone number scrubbed].
Senate IT/Computer Support Services
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE (Postal Square Building, 6th Floor)
[phone number scrubbed]
Senate offices only: http://webster.senate.gov/officeequipment/computers/itcomputer-support/
Provides technical assistance with, and training on, office computers and wireless devices, websites, software, and databases.
Senate Legislative Counsel
668 Dirksen Senate Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
http://slc.senate.gov
Senate offices only: http://www.slc.senate.gov
For assistance with legislative drafting and preparation of conference reports.
Senate Library
B15 Russell Senate Office Building
[phone number scrubbed] or email [email address scrubbed]
Senate offices only: http://webster.senate.gov/secretary/library
Provides reference assistance for Senate offices, including assistance in searching the LIS and Congress.gov; offers classes on research topics; has most complete collection of Senate publications.
Senate Parliamentarian
S133 Capitol
[phone number scrubbed]
Senate offices only: http://webster.senate.gov/secretary/departments/Parliamentarian
For assistance with legislative rules, precedents, and practices.
Congress.gov Website
https://www.congress.gov
For timely, accurate and complete legislative information, going back to the 93rd Congress (1973-1974). Content includes legislation, floor votes, schedules, the Congressional Record, and committee publications. The site is also a portal to a variety of government, commercial, and academic legislative sources.
Legislative branch users have additional access to restricted content on the site, such as CQ Markup Reports and CRS reports about specific bills.
Congress.gov is still in development and will eventually replace both THOMAS (the public legislative website) and the LIS website for legislative branch users. Staff may still need to use the LIS website at http://www.lis.gov for some content and search capabilities that are not yet replicated on Congress.gov.
Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress, Madison Building, LM205
La Follette Congressional Reading Room, LM202
Main number to place requests: [phone number scrubbed]
Hotline for "ready reference" questions: [phone number scrubbed]
Congressional offices only: http://www.crs.gov
To register for Twitter feed, go to http://www.crs.gov/Resources/Twitter
For confidential, authoritative, and objective research and analysis on legislative and oversight issues before Congress, as well as programs designed to help staffers learn about such topics as budget and appropriations, legal research, and legislative process and procedure.
Congressional Budget Office
H2-410 Ford House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
To order publications: [phone number scrubbed] or email [email address scrubbed]
http://www.cbo.gov
https://twitter.com/uscbo
For budget projections, budget information, and cost estimates for bills reported out of committee.
Government Accountability Office
441 G Street, NW
[phone number scrubbed]
To order publications: [phone number scrubbed]
http://www.gao.gov
http://twitter.com/USGAO
Congressional offices only: http://watchdog.gao.gov
For independent, nonpartisan reports on agency audits, policy analysis, and program evaluations. GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, supports congressional oversight by reporting on federal government programs, investigating allegations of improper agency activities, and adjudicating government contract disputes.
Government Publishing Office Federal Digital System (FDsys) Website
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys
Congressional offices only: http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/
For congressional and executive branch documents, such as the Federal Register and the U.S. Government Manual.
Law Library of Congress
Law Library Reading Room, LM201
Library of Congress
[phone number scrubbed]
Congressional offices only: [phone number scrubbed]
http://www.loc.gov/law
http://twitter.com/lawlibcongress
Congressional offices only: http://www.loc.gov/law/congress
For legal research and reference; offers special services to congressional offices, including reports, briefings, and training on legal topics.
National Archives and Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
[phone number scrubbed]
Congressional offices only: http://www.archives.gov/congress
Listings of newly enacted laws and law numbers: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/current.html
http://twitter.com/usnatarchives
For newly enacted laws, older Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations, and access to congressional committee records, which are stored in the Center for Legislative Archives.
Office of the Federal Register and to speak with someone for information about newly assigned public law numbers: [phone number scrubbed].
PUBLAWS-L, an email list about newly enacted laws. To sign up: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/updates.html.
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW (New Executive Office Building)
[phone number scrubbed]
http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB
https://twitter.com/OMBPress
For copies of the President's federal budget proposals, proposed legislation, testimony, reports, PAYGO scorecards, and other documents associated with the administration's agenda. OMB serves as the implementation and enforcement arm of presidential policy government-wide.
White House Executive Clerk's Office
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
[phone number scrubbed] (a recording)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation
To find out if the President has received, signed, or vetoed recent legislation.
White House Website
http://www.whitehouse.gov
http://twitter.com/whitehouse
For current presidential administration documents, such as executive orders and presidential proclamations.
Note: Older, as well as archived, executive orders are available through the National Archives' Executive Orders webpage at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/.
Author Contact Information
Acknowledgments
Carla Y. Davis-Castro, CRS information research specialist, and Nancy Kervin, Senate Library senior reference librarian, provided research assistance on this report.