The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives citizens the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Over the years, that right to petition has not only included the redress of personal grievances, such as claims for pensions...
The Congressional Record is the record of proceedings and debates on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. It's published daily when one or both chambers of Congress are in session, and a permanent, bound edition is publ...
The House Committee on Un-American Activities, most commonly referred to as HUAC, was created as a permanent standing committee on January 3, 1945. Under H. Res. 5, 79th Congress, the committee was authorized to make investigations of:
(1) the exte...
Do you have a legislative research topic? Great! We’d love to help you. The Center for Legislative Archives is a small unit within the National Archives and Records Administration based in Washington, DC. We hold the official records of the U.S...
Locating Information on Historical Treaties in Senate RecordsArticle II, Section II of the U.S. Constitution grants the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent on treaties, which are agreements between the United States and other nations t...
Lobbying disclosure originated with the 1946 Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (Title III of PL 79-601), which required persons or organization that attempted to influence legislation to register and disclosure expenditures and contributions receive...
The records of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives contain a vast and relatively under-used wealth of family history and local history information. Congress is generally associated with public policy matters, budgets, and treaties. ...
By now you’ve probably worked through most of your streaming list, so for your movie-watching inspiration we’ve put together a list of movies that will bring Congress into your living room (in a slightly more glamorous fashion than C-SPAN...
Can you tell the difference between the following citations?H.R. 1234H123412 Stat. 34H.Doc.12-34H.Res. 1234Each citation maps to a different type of record -- it’s easy to get confused!H.R. 1234 is a bill originating in the U.S. House of Repres...
The records of the U.S. House of Representatives (Record Group 233) and U.S. Senate (Record Group 46), held by the Center for Legislative Archives, shed light on the history of territories of the United States. Congress played a vital role in establi...
Did you know that a significant proportion of the records of Congress during the 19th century consist of private claims submitted directly to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate from individuals and groups? Most of these claims came...
The Southern Claims Commission was established in 1871 under the Act of March 3, 1871 to settle the claims of Southerners who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, and who provided stores and supplies to the Union military. The Commission...
The Constitution of the United States, in Article II, section 2, tasks the U.S. Senate with providing advice and consent for presidential nominations to a variety of federal offices, the federal judicial courts, and diplomatic personnel. Senate recor...
How do I find the personal papers of my former Senator or Representative? Good question! Personal paper collections actually aren’t held by the National Archives -- although we’re happy to help you find them. Unlike the official records o...
Did you know that the first televised congressional hearing was in 1948? The Senate Committee on Armed Services was the first committee to broadcast a hearing, followed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (see CRS report).However, even thou...
As far as we’re aware at the Center for Legislative Archives, there is not a single, compiled list of all the unanimous votes cast by either the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives. However, there are several ways to find informati...
