Setting the Agenda
The following resources can help you understand the context in which a bill was enacted. A description of what to look for follows each source.
Congressional Resources
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CQ Electronic Library This link opens in a new window
- CQ Almanac. Browse by Congress and session to read about major policy areas or browse by topic for a broad overview. Use the search function to see if your policy issue was mentioned in other areas.
- CQ Researcher: Explore in-depth analysis of major social and political issues.
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Proquest Congressional This link opens in a new windowCheck out the "Congress in Context" section to learn more about each session of Congress.
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CRS ReportsCongressional Research Service Reports clearly define issues in a legislative context
Scholarly Articles
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PAIS International This link opens in a new windowIndex to articles, books, conference proceedings, etc. about public affairs.
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Social Science Database This link opens in a new windowCovers topics in anthropology, communication, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology and sociology.
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Research Library This link opens in a new windowCovers a broad range of subject areas, providing access to more than 4,000 periodicals from 1971 to present.
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Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides more than 7,000 multidisciplinary full-text periodicals, nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed journals, and more than 11,600 monographs, reports, conference proceedings, dating back as far as 1887.
News Resources
Look for news coverage of your issue in some of the following news resources. Set your date range to a few years before your bill was passed.
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Newspaper Source This link opens in a new windowFull text for 159 regional U.S. newspapers, 18 international newspapers, six newswires, and nine newspaper columns, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Los Angeles Times
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Gale Onefile: News This link opens in a new windowProvides quick access to the indexing of America's top five newspapers in one seamless search: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.
Formerly Known As National Newspaper Index (NNI). -
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowOffers full page and article images with searchable full text of the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and Atlanta Constitution. (See coverage dates below.)
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Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowFeatures more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources
from LexisNexis®—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to
1790—with an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all
content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved
searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and
annotated documents.
National Policy Debate Resources
- CQ : Congressional Quarterly Researcher
Provides snapshots of current affairs. Single-themed reports are researched and written by experienced observers from a range of viewpoints. From 1923 to present.
- Congressional Record
Official record of the proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress. From 1994 to present. Updated daily when Congress is in session.
- CRS Reports from Congress
CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress
- EveryCRSreport.com
EveryCRSReport.com is a project of Demand Progress in collaboration with the Congressional Data Coalition — a bipartisan coalition founded by Demand Progress and the R Street Institute to promote open legislative information.
- Gov Track
GovTrack.us is an independent website tracking the status of legislation in the United States Congress and helping you participate in your national legislature. Here are some tips to get started.
Harvard U.'s Think Tank Search and Evaluation Site.
