Federal Legislation Federal statutes are enacted by the U.S. Congress, creating the laws of the United States. In order to read the federal laws currently in force, you will need to consult a code, specifically one of the following:  United States Code (U.S.C./Official);  United States Code Annotated (West and USCA database in Westlaw); or  United States Code Services (Lexis and USCS database in Lexis).

Session Laws While codes provide access to the law that is currently in force, session laws provide the historical or chronological arrangement of the law. Federal session laws are published in print formats in:  Statutes at Large (Stat./Official); or  United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.)

Federal Legislation Both the U.S. House and Senate maintain Internet sites. These sites provide hyper links to the United States Code. The U.S. Senate site can be found at This site provides access to the following information:  names of senators & contact information;  Senate committees, including transcripts of hearings and reports;  roll call votes;  committee actions taken; and a  calendar of activities.

Federal Legislation In addition, this site allows the researcher to search for bills of the current congressional session via bill number or keyword. Search results are hyper linked to Thomas. The search results display a citation list which then provides access to the full text of the bill.

Federal Legislation The U.S. House also maintains its own site at It too provides hyper links to the full text of the United States Code. It provides access to the following information:  names of House members and contact information;  committee hearings & reports (selected);  roll call votes; &  house calendar.

Federal Legislation Most importantly, there is Thomas at Maintained by the Library of Congress, Thomas provides access to the following information:  pending bills, including the full text, the status of the bill and the bill summary;  recently enacted public laws;  the Congressional Record (current and archived from 1989 onwards);  House & Senate Committee Reports (selected);  roll call votes; and  House & Senate directories.

Thomas The pending bills and public laws can be searched by number or keyword. The Congressional Record can be searched by date or keyword. Committee Reports and Hearings can be searched by keyword, number or date.

Federal Legislation Cornell’s Legal Information Institute also allows researchers to search the United States Codes via:  keyword;  citation; or  popular name. The full text of the Code is provided at this site as are links to applicable regulations.

Federal Legislation The full text of the United States Code (USC) can also be accessed via GPO Access at The Code can be searched by keyword or title.

Hein Online: USC

Lexis