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Category: Congress

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Congress – The Second Session

Posted by: Margaret Wood

We have written a number of posts about Lame Duck congresses and what happens at the beginning of a new Congress, but we thought this year we would take a moment to talk about what happens during the second session of a Congress. Before the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, Congress began on …

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First Legislative Data Challenge Winner Announced

Posted by: Tina Gheen

Today we have the great pleasure of announcing Jim Mangiafico as the winner of our first legislative data challenge, Markup of US Legislation in Akoma Ntoso and the $5,000 prize. The challenge, which was open from July 16 to October 31, invited participants to create XML versions of US bill text using the Akoma Ntoso standard. We …

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Congress.gov: Coming to NCSS with Information That Will Amaze Your Students

Posted by: Andrew Weber

The following is a guest post by Tammie Nelson, project manager of Congress.gov and an Information Technology Specialist at the Library of Congress.  It is cross posted on Teaching with the Library of Congress. As part of my job, I read all of the comments that come to the Library about our online legislative information.  My favorite comment is this …

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Armistice Day/Veterans Day

Posted by: Margaret Wood

As a student of history, I often wonder how many people understand the significance of the date of Veterans Day and why it is always celebrated on the day of the holiday and not, like Labor Day or Memorial Day, observed on a Monday.  The holiday began originally as a commemoration associated with World War I …

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The Congress.gov September 2013 Update

Posted by: Andrew Weber

In addition to adding the Constitution Annotated (and app) to Congress.gov and prepping for redirecting THOMAS.gov and THOMAS.loc.gov to the new system, we are launching a new set of enhancements today. Several of the changes in this release come from our user feedback. Many people asked to have the current Congress set as the default …

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The Transition from THOMAS.gov to Congress.gov

Posted by: Andrew Weber

We are hard at work preparing for the day that THOMAS will be retired and Congress.gov will be the system for everyone. We are really proud of Congress.gov.  So proud that starting in November, when someone types in the URL THOMAS.gov they will be redirected to Congress.gov.  THOMAS.gov will remain accessible from the Congress.gov homepage …

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A Helpful Finding Aid: Appropriation Bills

Posted by: Margaret Wood

Every year in September, school begins, the weather cools down, and the federal fiscal year comes to an end.  Congress must pass legislation before October 1 to continue funding the government for the next fiscal year.  Congress has a number of legislative vehicles they can use to fund the government, including appropriation bills, or omnibus …

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Centennial Edition of “Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation” Now Available In A Variety of Formats

Posted by: Andrew Weber

The following is a guest post by Kenneth R. Thomas, Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service. The “Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation” (popularly known as the Constitution Annotated or “CONAN”), contains an analysis of virtually all Supreme Court case law relevant to interpreting the Constitution. The Centennial Edition of this Senate Document is …