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Government Information

Research Guide for Government Information resources

Representatives and Senators from Georgia

Congress.gov lists members (note: not in order by District)

2022 - new Congressional District maps - metro Atlanta close-up (jpg; from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
 

To find what Congressional District you are in - My Voter Page, from the Georgia Secretary of State.

2022 news -

Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux - 7th Dist. - first elected 2020. Served 1 term.

2021 news - draft of Congressional districts map for GA - released 9/27/21. Metro Atlanta - major changes to 4th and 6th district boundaries. For details on other districts, US News has a summary.

2020 news --

Rep. John Lewis, 5th Dist. -  passed away on 7/17/20. Biography from Britannica ; legislation/member activity from Congress.gov

Jan. 2021 - Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler did not win runoff election held Jan. 2021. Runoff election results (linked from the GA Secretary of State's website) -- https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/107556/web.264614/#/summary

Sen. Perdue's term expired in early Jan. 2021.

Kelly Loeffler was sworn in, Jan. 2020 - appointed by Gov. Kemp. She replaced Sen. Johnny Isakson. who resigned at the end of 2019.   Per Roll Call, the reason for the resignation: due to Parkinson’s disease and other medical challenges. Sen. Isakson's term was to expire in 2023, so the General Election winner in 2020 will serve out the remainder of the term. She remains a Senator until her replacement is sworn in, later in Jan. 2021.

Special election 2017, 6th Congressional District

Special election to fill vacant seat for 6th Congressional District (former Rep. Tom Price had been appointed the HHS Secretary).

6th District  --  map, 115th Cong. (released Apr. 2017, from the Census Bureau); earlier map, 113th Cong.

18 candidates qualified -- Election dates:  April 18th, 2017. 

    Runoff -- was on June 20th, between:  Jon Ossoff (D) and Karen Handel (R).

    Campaign Finance -- New York Times graphic, of the most expensive Congressional election.

For official ballot for each County, see the 6th Congressional District Special Election Information page from the GA Secretary of State.

 

Profiles of the candidates -- from the Dunwoody Crier

Summary of the election forum on 4/9/17, featuring all candidates. Sponsored by the Dunwoody Homeowners Association. also from the Dunwoody Crier

Election results:  

       official results, Special Election, from the GA Secretary of State  -- April 18, 2017 :

               Ossoff = 92,673 ; Handel = 38,071

    For precinct totals - click on the District race, select county, then precinct

      official results, Special Selection Runoff, from the GA Secretary of State -- June 20, 2017:

               Handel =  134,799 ; Ossoff = 125,517

        New York Times has interactive map for the results for the top 3 in each precinct.

WSB-TV - Live real-time election results

 

What happened since?  Karen Handel did not win re-election; in Jan. 2020, the AJC reported that Jon Ossoff is preparing for a Senate bid in 2020.

Congress

For detailed tips and strategies, see "Congressional Information Demystified" as well as the accompanying handout "Sources for Congressional Information" - presented at the 2010 COMO conference.

Keeping Current about Congressional activities in general:

     CQ Weekly (subscription; highlights key bills)

     Browse national newspapers' Politics sections - New York Times ; Washington Post (within the section, select "Congress")

Keeping Current -

voting by Members of Congress

    Roll Call Votes by the U.S. Congress -- via Congres.gov.  Starting from 1989 to the present.

What is Congress Doing Now?  - LibGuide from librarian Christopher Brown, Univ. of Denver.

Start your search with:

     Congress.gov - database -  (FREE - from the Library of Congress)

          Especially useful for: Bill Summary & Status ; Congressional Record searching

     GovInfo - database (FREE - from the Government Publishing Office - replaces FDsys, fall 2018)  

          Comprehensive Congressional coverage plus some Executive Branch databases and laws

          Includes the Congressional Record ( DAILY ed.), 1994 to present

     CQ Weekly (subscription; highlights key bills)

     ProQuest Congressional (subscription database) - formerly LexisNexis Congressional

 

Don't know where to start your research?  Peruse the LLSDC Legislative Sourcebook, from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC.

 

BILLS and RESOLUTIONS

   1989 to date -- Congress.gov   (click on "Legislation"; may need to know bill #)

   1993 to date --  govinfo 

   1799 - 1873 - House bills (part of Library of Congress  project - A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation)

    1819 - 1873 - Senate bills (also part of A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation)

COMMITTEE HEARINGS

     GovInfo (use Advanced Search to select Hearings and enter search terms in drop-down boxes. Has "Witness" search field.)

     How to Find Committee Hearings - tips from the Senate website

    within Nexis Uni database - CQ Congressional Testimony - is a source.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

DIRECTORIES

Congressional Directory

Congressional Pictorial Directory, released 2015.

Congressional Yellow Book (offsite, at Library Service Center - Core Reference - JK 1083.B55 -- fall 2016)

New Member Pictorial Directory: 113th Congress, released Nov. 2012.

New Member Pictorial Directory: 114th Congress, released Nov. 2014

Women in Congress, 1917 to 2017 - EPUB format

Almanac of American Politics (offsite, at Library Services Center - JK 1012.A44 - 1972-2016)

CRS, CBO, and GAO Reports

These agencies submit reports to Congress - these reports summarize key legislation or analyze issues, or provide cost analyses.

CRS Reports - update, Sept. 2018 -- Congress website -- going forward, all new or updated reports will be added to website as they are made available to Congress.

   Search CRS Reports - official new website

    many are available through third party sources, especially:

     Federation of American Scientists - focus is on national security, foreign policy and related topics.

     University of North Texas 

     Thurgood Marshall Law Library (Univ. of Maryland) - focus is on CRS reports in homeland security/terrorism and health law and policy.

CBO - Congressional Budget Office - select "Publications" (availale from 1975 onward) or "Cost Estimates".

   Recent publications: Selected CBO Publications Related to Health Care Legislation, 2009-2010 (released Dec. 2010) - In-depth analyses (364 pages)

                 Preliminary Analysis of H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act (released Jan. 6, 2011)

GAO - Government Accountability Office (until 2004 the Government Accounting Office) - website has full-text to more than 50,000 reports from 1970 onward (select "Reports & Testimonies"). Can also browse a hot topics current list of reports by selecting "Topic Collections".

Historical    

U.S. Serial Set Digital Collection (GT database) - 1789-1969--  One-stop source; broad breadth of coverage. More info. is on a ProQuest guide from the vendor.

    Many annual reports and bulletins of agencies and departments are included in this online set. Excellent browsing list of these is on the U. S. Congressional Serial Set Finding Lists (https://guides.ucf.edu/serialsetlists  -- from UCF, noting that the compilation by Wooster College is temporarily unavailable)

Congressional Record (via HeinOnline, GT database) - includes the historical as well as current Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754,

Congressional Record - BOUND edition - digitized (most issues), 1939-2001, 2005-2007.  

Landmark Legislation 1774-2012: Major U.S. Acts & Treaties - online - 2nd ed.; from CQ Press, 2014 

Congress and the Nation (KF 49.C65 - offsite, at Library Services Center) - 1945-2009. Key legislation is summarized; also includes legal actions. From Congressional Quarterly.

A Century of Lawmaking (Library of Congress - FREE ) - part of LC's American Memory project, it spans 1774-1875, and contains the "American State Papers" (1789-1838), on these 10 topics:  Claims ; Commerce and Navigation ; Finance ; Foreign Affairs ; Indian Affairs ; Military Affairs ; Naval Affairs ; Post Office ; Public Lands ; Miscellaneous.  Also includes the House Journal and Senate Journal ("the minutes of floor action") from 1789-1875, and predecessors to the Congressional Record (Annals of Congress (1789-1824) ; Register of Debates (1824-37) ; Congressional Globe (1833-73)), as well as the Journal of the Confederate Congress.

 The LLSDC Legislative Sourcebook provides in-depth listings of legal and other databases, in its Finding or Compiling Federal Legislative Histories Electronically .

Special note for non-Tech users :  our subscription databases listed above may be accessed at our visitor terminals inside our library.

 

 

 

 

US House of Representatives

Impeachment of Pres. Trump, fall 2019 - Feb. 2020 and Jan. 2021

Please see the Hot Topics page for links about the impeachment of Pres. Trump.

Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol