Congressional Research Report on Tracking Federal Legislation
It may be seem, well ... counter-intuitive that a comprehensive report on how to obtain information on public issues in the public records would not be a public document. But this is a report prepared by The Congressional Research Service and their studies are not released to the public. This report, "Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources" was obtained by the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy.
The U.S. Code contains the general and permanent laws of the United States. It’s organized alphabetically by subject matter: agriculture to war and national defense.
Cornell University Law School posts a U.S. Code search engine. Lists Title Number and Department/Agency, and lets you search by section within a title.
Every law enacted by the Congress in chronological order.
The official record of the proceedings and debates of Congress. Published daily when Congress is in session.
All laws adopted since the 104th Congress (1995).
The federal government’s legal notices, daily. It presents agency regulations; proposed rules, notices, and executive orders.
The codification of all rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies. Regulations are listed by one of 50 titles, sorted according to the issuing agency. Each title is updated once a year on a staggered schedule.
The Library of Congress’s Internet guide to legislative information. It provides bill summaries, status search, complete text of legislation, committee reports, votes,and search by bill number or key word.
OpenCongress is a new bill tracker from the Sunlight Foundation that many find easier to use than the government’s tracker, Thomas. It’s particularly helpful if you want to follow a particular issue or issues.
The federal government’s official homepage, maintained by the General Services Administration. Links to departments and agencies, Congress, etc.
Brief descriptions of, and links to, online resources posted by the Office of the Federal Register
Federal, state, county and city website links.
A non-profit firm that provides training on government advocacy. Its website has a comprehensive list of links to government, and to research and reference sites.
Wired Magazine Guide to Online Searching for Government Information
Noting that government is providing less and less information, often in the name of security, Wired Magazine offers a browsers’ guide to finding what you are looking for using a growing number of websites and data crunchers. It includes Google’s little known, government specific search engine. An Inter Press Service article on open government websites reviews a number of the same sites.
