Home: PS 502

Bills

Hearings

Reports

Floor Deliberation

Conferences

Enactment

Codes

PS 502: Federal Legislative Process
PS 301: President and Congress

Course Instructors: Andrew Taylor, Amanda Ross Edwards
Librarian: Matt Sumner

The route a Congressional bill travels on its way to become a Public Law can be convoluted, but there is a defined series of steps to the process.  If you remember the steps in the table of contents at the left margin, you'll be able to track what has happened to a particular bill.

This resource describes tools you can use to locate documents produced along the path as a bill becomes a law.

Here first are two links to sites that describe the legislative process in great detail:

Enactment of a Law (from the Senate)

|

How our Laws are Made (from the House)

These two resources are both from the THOMAS (as in Thomas Jefferson) site at the Library of Congress.  It is an important resource for persons interested in the legislative process.

If you'd like a musical introduction to how a bill becomes a law, listen to the School House Rock version.

A similar resource describing the North Carolina Legislative Process is also available.

Librarian Contact Information