United States

General Information

• USA.gov - The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal
• United States Government Manual - Annual handbook of the federal government (1935 to present).
• The Oxford Guide to the United States Government

Executive Branch Information

• White House Website
• Executive Branch Websites
• Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (PPPUS) - Text of presidential speeches and statements (1929-).
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents - Papers released since the most recent edition of PPPUS.

Congressional Information

• House of Representatives Website
• Senate Website
• Debates - What was said in Congress.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress - Biographies of members of Congress from 1774 to the present.

Laws

• U.S. Code - Consolidated legislation, organized by subject.
• Statutes at Large - Annual collection of all laws passed during a given session, from 1789 to the present. Contains treaties prior to 1945.
• Public and Private Laws - Text of laws are added here as they are enacted (1995-). Good source for laws not yet integrated into the U.S. Code or Statutes at Large.
• Code of Federal Regulations - Consolidation of regulations, organized by subject.

Statistics

• Data and Statistics - Business, trade, and economic statistics.
• Fedstats - Portal for locating statistics from over 100 federal agencies.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States - Yearly publication covering a wide range of current and recent statistics (1878-). Recommended as a starting point.
• Historical Statistics of the United States - Contains data from colonial times through the twentieth century.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics - Gateway to labour and economic statistics.
• Census
  • 1990-2000
  • 1790-2000 (PDFs of the census print publications)
  • 1790-1960 (state and county level database)
• American Community Survey - Replaces the long form of the decennial census, providing population figures on a more frequent basis.
  • Using the American Community Survey: Benefits and Challenges - Useful descriptive guide to ACS data.

Indexes and Full Text Documents

• U.S. Congressional Serial Set - Reports and documents submitted to Congress from 1817-1980. Collection to be completed in 2009..
• Catalogue of U.S. Government Publications - U.S. federal publications since 1976, with links to online content.
• LexisNexis Congressional - Full text of several congressional publications. Coverage years vary.
• HeinOnline - Archives several government publications, mostly legal in nature.
• Thomas - Full text congressional documents from the late 1980s to the present.
• A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation - Congressional documents and debates from 1774-1875.
• Primary Documents in American History (Library of Congress) - Access to pivotal government documents from 1763-1877.
• Digital National Security Archive - Declassified intelligence documents.
• Google U.S. Government Search
• Economic Report of the President - Annual report on the state of the U.S. economy, with useful statistical tables. Includes all reports back to 1947.
• RAND Documents and Reports - Publications of the RAND Corporation, sometimes commissioned by the government.
• Budget

Related Guides

• Finding U.S. Congressional Reports/Documents/Hearings in the McGill University
• Foreign Relations of the United States series at McGill University
• Federal Legislative History - Comprehensive guide to researching the legislative history of a bill.