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Category: Congress

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The Congress.gov Top 14 in 2014

Posted by: Andrew Weber

I love end of the year lists.  It is nice to take a step back from the day to day or month to month and look at trends over time.  Last year I surveyed the top 13 in 2013 and decided to add another item to the list this year. This has been an eventful …

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Apportionment and the First Presidential Veto

Posted by: Margaret Wood

I love history and recently I have been researching congressional apportionment.  But what you ask, is apportionment?  According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, one of the definitions is to “divide and share out according to a plan.”   I can see how this might apply to pizza and pie but what does this have to …

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Budget Resolutions and Authorizing Legislation

Posted by: Margaret Wood

I have previously written about the budget process and appropriations.  Now, I am turning to authorization legislation. In theory, process for funding the government is an orderly one in which each year the President proposes a budget; the U.S. Congress passes appropriations legislation; the enrolled bills are sent to the President for signing; and voila, government agencies …

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Establishing the Smithsonian Institution

Posted by: Donna Sokol

The sight of construction cranes in Washington DC is nothing new; the city is constantly changing and renewing.  The cranes and I-beams peeking above the trees near the Washington Monument hearken the arrival of the newest Smithsonian museum: the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NAAHC).  In the 15 years I’ve been in …

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Congress.gov: Removing the Beta Label and New Enhancements

Posted by: Andrew Weber

The Library of Congress launched Congress.gov in beta two years ago.  Today, I’m happy to announce we officially removed the beta label. That’s roughly three years quicker than Gmail took to remove its beta label, but we won’t give you the option of putting it back on Congress.gov.  URLs that include beta.Congress.gov will be redirected …

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Recent Law Library of Congress Report on National Funding of Road Infrastructure

Posted by: Ruth Levush

According to a June 2014 report by the United States Congressional Budget Office (CBO), most of the annual spending by the federal government on surface transportation programs is in the form of grants to state and local governments. These grants are primarily financed through the federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF). After decades of stable balances to …

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Making Legislative Information Accessible, Discoverable and Usable

Posted by: Andrew Weber

The following is a guest post by Noriko Ohtaki, who was a research fellow at the Law Library of Congress.  She previously blogged about Searching for Current Japanese Laws and Regulations. G8 leaders signed the Open Data Charter on June 18, 2013.  Open Data is intended to make information resources accessible, discoverable, and usable electronically to the public, increase …

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Top 10 for the First 6 Months of 2014

Posted by: Andrew Weber

This year seems to be flying by.  Our team of bloggers has posted over 100 times to In Custodia Legis so far this year.  Of those 100 posts, two of the top ten most viewed have to do with time.  There is also significant interest in tracing legislation and Congress.gov. Advanced Search, Browse, and Appropriations …

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150th Anniversary of Yo-Semite Valley Land Grant

Posted by: Margaret Wood

If Memorial Day marked the beginning of summer when I was young, then summer marked the time when the family would visit our local national parks and monuments such as Bandelier and Carlsbad Caverns.  Indeed, summer marks the time when millions of Americans visit state and national parks, forests and monuments.  June 30 of this …