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Topic: Federal Legislative History and Analysis — Record of Votes on Bills

Tools and resources for researching the evolution of a law using the primary documents - the bill, committee reports, hearings, etc. - and secondary analysis of the legislation and federal policy.

Record of Voting on Bills

The Roll Call of Yeas and Nays when the House or Senate votes on a bill is recorded in the Congressional Record. For legislation voted on in the past fifty years, various online tools make finding the roll call a simple process. In the case of roll call votes prior to 1969, in many cases searching for the vote in the published Congressional Record (as in this example) is the only option. (This can still be done online with a few extra steps - see below).

Tips on Locating Record of Voting on Bills

  • Locating recording of votes on bills prior to 1945:

    1789-1924: See subject entry for Yeas and Nays in Register of Debates in Congress  and Annals of Congress (1789-1824) (in Hein Online (See Debates tab above for tips on searching Congressional Publications in Hein Online

Example image of index page in Congressional Record