U.S. Government Documents 

CQ Congress Collection (Princeton faculty, students and staff only)

Includes bill text (full-text 1995 forward), floor votes, bill comparison, and various customizable bill and vote reports.

FDsys

Government information currently available on GPO Access is in the process of being migrated to this web site. Migration to this site will be completed in 2009.

GPO Access

Includes bills (full-text 1993 forward), history of bills, calendars, documents & reports (full-text 1995 forward), Congressional Record and its Index, public laws (full-text 1994 forward), the U.S. Code, Congressional Directory, and a history of line item veto notices.

Legislative Sourcebook (Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.)

Includes a weekly list of newly released hearings, newly enacted public laws, a table of Congressional publication volumes and Presidential issuances, and a guide to the U.S. Serial Set.

Lexis-Nexis Congressional (Princeton faculty, students and staff only)

Includes the Congressional Record, bills and bill tracking (full-text 1989 forward), legislative histories, public laws (full-text 1988 forward), hearings (full-text of 30-40% from 1988 forward), documents (full-text 1995 forward), reports (full-text 1990 forward), committee prints (selective full-text 1995 forward), biographical, financial and voting information for members of Congress.

Project Vote Smart

Includes a wealth of facts on candidates and elected officials, voting records, campaign finances, major bills, voting records and the text of bill.

THOMAS

Find bill texts and legislative histories from 1973 to the present.

A bill can become a law in several ways: (1) if the President approves the bill, (2) if the President does not return the bill with objections within 10 days (excluding Sundays) after it has been presented, or (3) if the bill is passed by both Houses over the objections of the President. It is then assigned a public or private law number, and published in the form known as a "slip law." If it is a public law it is also paginated for the Statutes at Large volume covering that session of Congress. The Statutes at Large are a chronological arrangement of the laws exactly as they have been enacted including their legislative history. 

• Public slip laws from the current Congress are shelved beside the Statutes at Large located in the Social Science Reference Center, Law Collection.
  
• Statutes At Large, 1st Congress to present (1789- ):  in paper, located in the Social Science Reference Center, Law Collection. Also available via Lexis-Nexis Congressional.
• U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (1952- ):  in paper, located in the Social Science Reference Center, Law Collection
• U.S. Code (1940 ed.- ):  in paper, located in the Social Science Reference Center, Law Collection
• U.S. Code (1994 ed.- ):  available via GPO Access.
• U.S. Code (current ed.):  searchable via Lexis-Nexis Congressional.
  
• U.S. Code Annotated (1927- ):  in paper, located on the Social Science Reference Center, Law Collection
• U.S. Code Annotated (current ed.):  searchable via Westlaw Campus.

The general public is welcome to use depository materials free of charge. For access information and hours, please consult the the online hours (choose "Firestone Library - Depository Access" from the drop down menu), Access Information Page, and the Firestone Access Office. 

PLEASE NOTE:  While the general public is welcome to use depository materials free of charge, many of our U.S. Government resources, including many of the resources listed in this research guide, are not depository materials and may only be used by Princeton University students, faculty, and staff.  This includes most of the electronic resources such as Lexis Congressional and Hein Online.

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