Legislative Research for GOVT 452

Your goal is to find out about the law that established your agency. The steps below use the example of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Step 1: Locate the name, year, and U.S. Code citation of the law that created your agency

A. You will find a profile of your agency in the United States Government Manual 

• Tip: some agencies are inside departments--check Wikipedia or agency website to figure out where to look for your agency.

• Tip: the agency's profile in the US Government Manual also includes head of agency, agency type, and overview of agency function.

• Link: https://www.usgovernmentmanual.gov

B. Check the agency's website to confirm that the law & year you found are plausible. Look for a link to "about" or "history".

Example: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5801)

Step 2: Get from your law's Popular Name to its US Code, Stat, & PL citations

Where to look:

• OPTION A: Use the "Citation Checker" in Proquest Legislative Insight:
  • Enter the popular name of the law (the search box will guess & autofill the law of interest)
  • Open the legislative history for that law to obtain basic citation information. The citations you need appear in the first lines of the legislative history.
  • Follow along with this quick step-by-step guide.
• OPTION B: Use the Table of Popular Names in the Cornell Legal Information Institute
  • ​Open the Table of Popular Names
  • Select the first letter of your law's name
  • Scroll down (or use control + F [command +F for macs] and enter the beginning of the law's name)
  • Record the various citations provided under your law's name ***you will need to click on the Public Law citation to view a document showing the Bill #.

Example: The legal citations for the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 are

U.S. Code citation: 42 U.S.C. 5801

Public law number:  P.L. 93-438

Statutes at Large citation: 88 Stat. 1233

Enacted Bill 93 H.R. 11510

Law Enacted date: Oct. 11, 1974

Note: The Legislative History in Proquest Legislative Insight contains far more information than you need for Assignment 2.