Researching Legislative History and the Evolution of Public Policy Legislation

Guide for Political Science 306/432


Table of Contents:       
 Locate resources which chronicle and survey the creation of specific public policy legislation and identify key players using:

Legislative History
Contact information

This guide is designed to lead you to selected, appropriate sources for locating electronic and print versions of legislative history and resources that track the evolution of the public policy process. While many of the web sites included are publicly available, some may be limited to use by Lehigh students and faculty and will be indicated as such. There are many useful web sites that make this type of information available and this guide is intended to be illustrative, not comprehensive.

Several of the web sites and products described are extensive collections of legislative materials. They will be described fully initially and then simply appear as links when later mentioned.

 

Chronicles and surveys of the legislative activities of Congress and the Executive branch:


Congressional quarterly almanac  - Annual volume. Library owns 1955 to 2002. The most recent edition is in the Reference collection. back volumes are in the book stacks.  FM Library: 328.7305 C749a

Congress and the Nation  - Provides an overview of the actions of Congress during each presidential term. The most recent edition covers 1997 - 2001. The series starts in 1945. All volumes are located in the Goverment Documents reference area of FM Library.  973.92 C749c

CQ Researcher - While not entirely devoted to the workings of the legislature, this online source attends to many of the public policy issues covered by Congress and the Administration. Very useful for background information,  summaries of events and to identify key players and advocacy groups. Coverage goes back to 1991. ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

CQ Weekly Report - Library subscription to an online source for expert coverage of the U.S. Congress: status of bills, votes and amendments, floor and committee activity, backroom maneuvering, and more. Coverage extends back to October 1983. ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

News Resources

Factiva - Strong focus on business and industry, but the Factiva database does have national and regional newspaper coverage as well as access to transcripts of television and radio news programming.  Source of full text of the Wall Street Journal back to 1984, with indexing back to 1979.  Caution: although the database indicates it covers the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times as well as some other regional Tribune papers, this is misleading, as the product they provide to academic libraries does not include these papers. REQUIRES INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSER. ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

Lexis- Nexis Academic - Provides searchable full text coverage of national, regional and local newspapers.  Also covers business and general news magazines, media transcripts, public opinion polls and surveys. Good source for New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and other national newspapers. Coverage varies but may extend back to the 1980's. ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

Morning Call (Allentown, PA) - The library subscribes to full text backfiles of the Allentown Morning Call via Proquest. Coverage back to 1984. ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

New York Times Historical -  A full text image database of the New York Times from 1985 to 2000. Text is completely searchable. ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

See also the following guides:

Newspaper Resources at the Lehigh Libraries - Historical collections

Finding a Newspaper Article

Advocacy Groups

 Political Advocacy Groups: A Directory of United States Lobbists
This site offers a directory of over 200 advocacy groups arranged by name and subject. Subject listing provides address, phone number, brief description, and web link if available.

Political Issues and Debates
This section of the larger Politics1 website provides a listing of  ideologies and political and social issues with links to organizations which take a serious interest in that issue.

Legislative History

Text of Bills, tracking Bill Status and Legislative History tools

   Federal Bills
   Pennsylvania Bills

 Federal (U.S. House and Senate) Bills

    Prior to 1989 the full text of Bills is not readily available in print at Lehigh's
    library or on the Web, but indexing by subject, sponsor and Bill number can
    be found in:

    Congressional Index. Commerce Clearing House, 1953-
        location:    F-DOCR    328.73  C734c

    Searchable databases and the full text of more recent Congressional Bills are
    available in a number of Web Resources and Sites as described below:

   Lexis Nexis Congressional   - This web product, produced by Congressional
    Information Service will allow you to search for Bills by subject, sponsor and
    Bill number. Texts of bills back to 1989 are available.  Status of proposed
    legislation can be tracked by keyword, sponsor and number. Extensive
    legislative history tools available. Extremely useful tool for finding and
    tracing federal regulation.   ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

  GPO ACCESS -  This massive web site maintained by the Government
    Printing Office (GPO) provides access to most of the electronically
    available databases of Congressional legislative and information products.
    Includes Presidential , administrative and other government information.
    The Congressional Bills  section includes text of all published bill versions
    beginning with the 103rd Congress (1993-1994).

   Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet  - Created by the Library of
    Congress, Thomas contains searchable databases for the complete text
    of bills from 101st Congress (1989-90) to the present. Bill status tracking
    and legislative history of bills is available, as well as roll call voting records,
    Congressional Record text and Public Laws.

    see also CIS Index and Abstracts for Legislative History of Public Laws
    back to 1970.
 

 Pennsylvania Bill Text and Tracking

   Pennsylvania General Assembly - This site includes information concerning
    the PA House and Senate with topical and number access to the text of
    bills back to the1991- 1992 session. Some legislative history and bill tracking
    available.

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Locating Hearings

Lehigh University is a depository library for federal government publications and receives print copies of all Congressional hearings and committee prints. Use the tools mentioned below to obtain the "Superintendent of Documents number"which will allow you to find the copy of the hearing in the Government Documents Collection. Since approximately 1997 a small but growing number of hearings are being made available in electronic format.

Congressional Information Service (CIS) Index and Abstracts.  1970- 1998
    F-DOCR  015.73 C749A
    This printed index/abstract provides subject, name, title and bill number
    indexes to all Congressional publications: Hearings, Committee Prints, reports
    and documents. Provides Superintendent of  Document numbers so that
    hearings can be located in the depository library. Thorough indexing allows
    you to search for individuals  and organizations who have testified at
    Congressional hearings. Also provides legislative histories of Public Laws.
    Predecessor to Lexis Nexis Congressional  .

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. 1936-
    F-DOCR  015.73U5m
    This long-standing index to most U.S. government publications can be used to
    locate hearings on a specific topic or bill. Since 1976 this index has been
    available in electronic format and can be used to find materials published
    since that date. Lehigh users have this access through the
    Government Publications Web Monthly Catalog  database on the Lehigh Virtual Library. Users outside
    Lehigh can use the GPO Access provided Monthly Catalog.

Web sites for locating the texts of those hearings which have been made available electronically include the following:
    Lexis Nexis Congressional   ( limited to Lehigh accounts )
    GPO Access Congressional Hearings
    Congressional Hearings on the Web (U.of Michigan)
 
 

Pennsylvania Hearings

Lehigh does not receive the Committee Reports or most hearings for the Pennsylvania House or Senate  Bills; therefore, you may need to consult the following telephone sources. Occasionally copies of PA committee hearings are
received as part of our PA depository library status. Check ASA, the online catalog. Committee Hearings are sources of information concerning public sentiment expressed about proposed legislation. Many legislative proposals do not involve hearings. While transcripts of these public hearings are not readily available, the  Pennsylvania Senate Library, located in Room 157 in the Main Capitol Building, does maintain current files of legislative committee hearings. The Pennsylvania Archives,  located in Harrisburg, contain newspaper accounts of public sentiment expressed  about proposed legislation.

        PA Senate Library -  717.787.6120
        PA House Records Center - (Select/Special Committee Reports,transcripts
                       & minutes, and transcripts of Public hearings). 717.783.3866
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Debate, Remarks, Comments by Legislators and Roll Call Votes:

U.S. Congress

Congressional Record  v.1-   , 1873-
    FM-2-South  328.723 C74r  (bound);  Daily issues in Govt.Docs  x/a
    A record of the daily proceedings of the U.S. House and Senate. Includes
    Extensions of Remarks and the Daily Digest summarizing action of the day.
    Issued daily when Congress is in session with a bi-weekly index. A History of
    Bills and Resolutions appears in the index. Records of floor votes appear in
    this chronicle. Now available on the Web at the sites listed below:

    Lexis Nexis Congressional :  Has searchable full text of the Congressional Record
        from from 1985-. Voting records for individuals can be listed or searched by bill number.
                ( limited to Lehigh accounts )
    Congressional Record (Thomas):  Searchable and browsable Congressional
        Record, beginning with the101st Congress (1989-90).Searchable and
        browsable topical index to the Congressional Record beginning with
        the 103rd Congress, 2d session (1994). Roll Call voting records available
        from 1989 for the Senate and 1990 for the House.
    GPO Access (Congressional Record) : searchable full text from 1995-.
        Search full text of the Congressional Record Index (not the Congressional
        Record) beginning with 1983.

Pennsylvania General Assembly

The source for debates/remarks made in the PA House or Senate on a particular bill is the printed Legislative Journal of the House and the Senate.
    Legislative Journal. House    FM-2-DOC    PGA 98.11/8:
    Legislative Journal. Senate   FM-2-DOC    PGA 204.11/8:

Comments may be found in the Appendix volumes (not published for every  Assembly).
Search the Table of Contents by subject or by name of the act.
Roll Call voting records appear in the Legislative Journals.
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Sources of Statutory Law Texts

Federal

U.S. Statutes at Large. v.1-  1789-
    F-LAW  345.11 U58s
    Chronological compilations of the texts of public laws, private laws,
    concurrent resolutions and proclamations. Contains a subject index and a
    Table of Laws Affected which indicates prior laws amended, repealed or
    otherwise affected.  This set is issued at the end of each session of
    Congress. Prior to the publication of a bound volume of Stats at Large new
    Laws are issued in pamphlet or 'slip' form.

U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News. 1946-47,1952, 1963-
    F-DOCR  345.2 W58
    A very useful compilation of the texts of public laws, Presidential messages,
    Executive Orders, and reorganization plans. Also includes legislative histories
    of laws and reprints relevant sections of documents cited in the histories.
    Indexed by subject, title, and popular name of the act.

United States Code. 1952-
    FM-1-REF    345.2 U5
    An arrangement by subject( in 50 Titles) of the permanent, general, public
    U.S. statutes currently in force. A revised edition is published every 6 years,
    annual cumulative supplements are issued in the intervening years. Latest
    editions in reference.

Electronically accessible Federal Statutes:
    Lexis Nexis Congressional  - access to the USCS (a commercially produced and
        enhanced version of the U.S. Code as well as to Public Laws since the
        100th Congress (1988).
    GPO Access Public Laws Database  -   104th Congress (1995)-
    GPO Access U.S. Code  - 1994 ed
    Lexis-Nexis Academic   -  ( limited to Lehigh accounts )

PENNSYLVANIA STATUTES

Laws of Pennsylvania.
    FM-2-DOCS    PGA 1.2  L44:   1700 -  (with gaps)
     Laws of Pennsylvania is a chronological arrangement of the laws, arranged
     in bound volumes by year, dating back to 1700.

Purdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated.
    F- LAW    345.3 P415p  -  Also on CD Rom in Fairchild  Lib. Reference Area
    Codified arrangement of Pennsylvania statutes with annotations to case law.
    General index and indices to individual titles.

Electronic Access:
       Lexis-Nexis Academic -  Access to PA Consolidated Statutes. In Lexis, choose the Legal Research Search Form, then select State Codes, choose Pennsylvania.
                    ( limited to Lehigh accounts )
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Links to useful sites for finding additional legal materials for  United States Law, State Law, and local law.

All Law: State Law Search
FindLaw


Roseann Bowerman
Social Sciences Librarian
Lehigh University
Linderman Library
rb04@lehigh.edu
Office phone: 610-758-3053
Fairchild library consulting room hours:  Weds. 1pm to 5pm
Phone or email to arrange other consultation times.

Guide created: January  2004