Public Policy

A Selective Bibliography of Sources for Public Policy

Compiled by Deborah Hollens
Government Information Resources Coordinator

Each of you has an important law with which to become thoroughly familiar.

For background and context of the legislation use:

Summarizes and analyzes Congressional action, votes, lobby registration, presidential messages, listings of public laws, etc. This is the source to consult for actions Congress made regarding an issue during a year. Use both the volume for the year the legislation was passed and the volume or volumes for the preceding years for background. Congressional Quarterly Almanac has a great index in the back of each volume.

 

Materials Produced by Congress

1. A bill is introduced by a member or member of Congress either independently, jointly, or concurrently in the House or the Senate.

    Bills are proposals for new or amended legislation. They are numbered sequentially as they are introduced during each Congress. The first bill of any new Congress is numbered either S.1 (Senate) or H.R. 1 (House of Representatives)

    The full text of bills can be located in Congressional Universe LexisNexis.

     

2. The bill is then referred to the Committee or Committees that have jurisdiction over that kind of legislation. The Committee may choose to do nothing at this point (let the bill "die"), or may hold hearings.

 

3. Hearings are held by Congressional committees on specific legislation, proposed or existing, or they can be an overview of a subject or topical area. They contain testimony from expert witnesses, recent statistics, photos, letters, and sometimes even magazine or journal articles on the topic under discussion. Hearings are classed Y 4. and are shelved in the documents stacks (behind reference---back of Hannon Library). You will find most of the important ones cataloged in Hannon Library's online catalog. The various committees and their SUDOCS numbers are listed on the ends of the Y 4 stacks. You can find the full text of testimony in Congressional Universe LexisNexis under Testimony and also in the linked legislative histories. But these testimonies are not the same as a printed hearing. You will often find much added material in the authentic copy.

Committee prints are special background papers prepared for the use of a committee. They can be prepared by the Congressional Research Service at the request of a Committee or they can be prepared by the staff of the Committee itself. They provide fairly even-handed background and analysis of the topic under consideration. Prints are also classed Y 4. and are mixed in with the hearings in the Documents stacks.

Most of the important prints are cataloged in the Hannon Library's online catalog. You can also locate them through Congressional Universe LexisNexis. Find them under "Publications." If you are having trouble, ASK US IN GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS. WE WILL BE HAPPY TO HELP!

 

4. The Committee deliberates and "marks up" the bill (edits the language), and writes a Report if they wish to favorably recommend it back to the full House or Senate. The report contains recommendations to the entire Senate or House regarding the bill. It can contain a section by section analysis of a piece of legislation and sometimes a minority opinion of the bill.

Reports are numbered sequentially according to the Congress and House or Senate order. S.Rept. 109-10 represents the tenth Senate report issued during the 109th Congress. Reports can be found in under Reports or also in the linked legislative histories.

 

5. The bill is then referred back to the whole House or Senate for possible debate on the merits of the legislation and for a vote. Amendments may be added here. Debates are recorded in the Congressional Record (found in Congressional Universe LexisNexis in the legislative histories under "debate."

The Congressional Record is a record of the debates and activities on the floor of the House or Senate. (Not a verbatim account. Members are welcome to edit their speeches. Substantive changes are forbidden, but whole speeches can actually be inserted into the record as if they were spoken).

 

6. If the legislation passes in one chamber it goes to the other (engrossed) where the whole process takes place again. OR legislation will begin as two similar bills in both the House and the Senate. A bill must pass both the House and the Senate before it can be sent to the President for an approval or a veto. If the House and Senate versions of the bill differ, the bill is sent into conference where amendments are drafted and compromise is reached. Then a Conference Report is written.

 

7. The President either approves or vetoes the bill. The President has 10 days (Sundays excluded) to act on the legislation. If he does nothing, the bill becomes law without his signature if Congress is still in session. If Congress adjourns before the 10-day limit, the bill does not become law (a "pocket veto"). The bill becomes a Public Law or a Private Law (a private law is one that applies to one person or to a specific group). Public Law 108-25 would be the 25th law passed by the 108th Congress. Public Laws can be found in Congressional Universe LexisNexis under "Laws."

If the President vetoes the bill, it is sent back to Congress where it either passes with a 2/3 majority or fails.

 

8. After a bill has been signed into law, it is issued as a Slip law. Slip laws are shelved by their SuDoc # AE 2.110: in the Government Publications collection. Slip laws are later reprinted in the bound volumes of Statutes at Large (AE 2.111:) chronologically as they are passed, then later compiled and rearranged into the United States Code (online through GPO Access) or in volumes in the Reference collection (Ref. KF62 2000)

 

Congressional Universe LexisNexis will be extremely useful for this assignment. Once you open it, go to "Laws," then "Legislative Histories by number," then use the pull down menu "Public Law"...and search. This database will identify and provide you full text of all Congressional actions and material that goes into a law.

 

9. When the President signs a bill into law, he will often make a statement about the new law. This statement is printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (available from GPO Access). The Weekly Compilation includes messages, speeches, press conferences, executive orders, and statements make by the President.

 

Rules and Regulations

The Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations

The Executive branch agencies write the rules and regulations that implement laws enacted by Congress. Laws are written as broad policy statements with the expectation that specifics will be determined by the agencies that will administer the laws on a daily basis.

U.S. Office of the Federal Register. Federal Register. (Daily, Mon-Fri.) 1936- Available online at GPO. (Hannon Library holds the last 2 years in paper. Shelved at the beginning of the Oregon collection because we have the room there!)

The Federal Register contains regulations and proposed regulations, background information relating to regulations, announcements regarding agency actions, notices of meetings, grants, and executive order. The making of regulations is a very lengthy process:

1. Regulations are announced in the Federal Register by the Department that has purview over them.

2. Then a 60 day comment period is allowed.

3. Agency considers comments.

4. Public hearings may be held.

5. Final rule is published with effective date with summary of comments received and changes made.

 

You can find material from the Federal Register indexed in Congressional Universe LexisNexis under "Regulations."

Final Rules and regulations are organized into 50 titles in the Code of Federal Regulations (also accessible in Congressional Universe LexisNexis under "Regulations.")

We have the volumes of the Code of Federal Regulations in Government Publications:

U.S. Office of the Federal Register. Code of Federal Regulations. (annual) 1938- . We hold only the most current edition
(AE 2.106/3)
The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 broad subject areas called "Titles."

Hollens
October, 2005