Legislative Support Resources: Offices and Websites for Congressional Staff

Updated January 10, 2019 (RS20120)
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Contents

Summary

This report provides a brief list of key House, Senate, legislative support agencies, and executive branch offices, as well as links to online resources of use to new congressional staff who work with legislative procedures and conduct legislative research. Some of the websites listed are available only to congressional offices; other sites are restricted by chamber and are only available to those staff working in either House or Senate offices. This report is intended for congressional use only and will be updated annually.


House Offices and Websites

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 assistance with archiving records, Congressional Record submissions, introduction of legislation, submission of amendments, and roll call vote questions.

House Legislative Resource Center
B81 Cannon House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
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 historical House documents, directories, payroll and financial disclosure reports, and lobbyist registrations. The House Legislative Resource Center is a part of the House Library (see below).

House Legislative Counsel
337 Ford House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
https://legcounsel.house.gov
House offices only: http://legcoun.house.gov/members/

For assistance with legislative drafting and preparation of conference reports.

House Library
B81 Cannon House Office Building
[phone number scrubbed]
http://library.clerk.house.gov
House offices only: http://library.house.gov

Provides legislative reference assistance for House offices, including assistance in searching Congress.gov; offers classes on research topics, such as using the ProQuest Congressional database; preserves House documents and has the most complete collection of House publications. Also provides access to various subscription databases only available onsite at the House Library.

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 Offices and Websites

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 historical 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

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/library

Provides reference assistance for Senate offices, including assistance in searching Congress.gov. Offers classes on research topics and has the 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.

Additional Legislative Support Resources

Congress.gov Website
https://www.congress.gov

For timely, accurate and complete legislative information, 93rd Congress (1973-1974)-present. (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 concerning specific bills.

Congress.gov is a public legislative website that launched in 2016. It superseded THOMAS and will replace the LIS website for legislative branch users sometime in 2019. Staff may continue to use the LIS website at http://www.lis.gov for some search capabilities that are not yet replicated on Congress.gov.

Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress, Madison Building, LM-205
La Follette Congressional Reading Room, LM-202
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: 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. As the investigative arm of Congress, GAO supports congressional oversight by reporting on federal government programs, investigating allegations of improper agency activities, and adjudicating government contract disputes.

Government Publishing Office
https://www.gpo.gov

https://www.govinfo.gov (see below)

http://twitter.com/USGPO

Congressional offices only: http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/

Govinfo (https://www.govinfo.gov) replaced GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) website in December 2018. Govinfo provides access to the same publications and search functionality as FDsys, but has a new look and new features.

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, LM-242
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 that are stored in the Center for Legislative Archives.

For Office of the Federal Register and 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]
https://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] (remain on the line after recording to reach a live person)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/

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/. For executive orders, click on the link by President, by year, to view executive orders for each year. For presidential proclamations, click on the link "view all Presidential Documents" on the top right of this website page, then click on the link by President for a list arranged in reverse chronological order (most recent first).

Author Contact Information

[author name scrubbed], Senior Research Librarian ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Research Librarian ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Acknowledgments

[author name scrubbed], senior research librarian at CRS, is a former coauthor of this report.