Government Contracting Center

This section has been divided into three sub-sections as follows:

  1. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)
  2. Federal Contracting Sourcing Information
  3. US Code, Bills, Laws and Congressional Record
  1. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) http://www.arnet.gov/far/
  2. Federal Contracting Sourcing Information
  3. U.S. Code, Bills, Laws and Congressional Record
    The complete text of the U.S. Code, Bills, and Congressional Record are available through the web, gopher, and telnet. The GPO provides searchable web and telnet access to the following:
    1. Bills.
      All published versions of bills from the 104th (1995-1996) and 103rd Congress (1993-1994). Bills from the 104th Congress are updated by 6 a.m. daily when bills are published and approved for release.
    2. The Congressional Record.
      The Congressional Record for the 104th Congress, 1st Session from January 4, 1995 (vol. 141, number 1). It is updated between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., Eastern time each day the Congressional Record is published, depending on when Congress adjourned the previous day. The daily issues of the Congressional Record for the 103d Congress, 2d Session (1994) are also available (vol. 140).

      The Congressional Record Index. The 1995 Congressional Record Index (vol. 141) provides information about the proceedings and debates of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate during the 104th Congress, 1st Session, as published in the Congressional Record. The database is updated biweekly when the Congressional Record Index is published. Entries include actions that are reported in the Congressional Record and reference the issue date and pages where the action is reported. The 1992, 1993 and 1994 Congressional Record Index databases cover the 102d Congress, 2d Session, and the 103d Congress, 1st and 2nd Sessions, respectively. Because biweekly issues of the Congressional Record Index do not cumulate, there is no equivalent print counterpart of these databases.

    3. The U.S. Code.
      The U.S. Code is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, and contains the general and permanent laws of the U.S. in effect as of January 1994 or January 1995, depending on the title. The database is updated periodically, annotating changes to individual sections. Whole titles are superseded annually as the editing process for each title is completed. Notification of a change to a section of the U.S. Code usually occurs within five business days of the enactment of the law; the text of a revision is incorporated when the annual bound volumes are published.
    4. Public Laws.
      The Public Laws database is a collection of laws enacted during the 104th Congress (1995-1996). The header of each section indicates whether a recent Public Law affects that particular section, but the text remains unchanged until the annual revision cycle. Prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration, each law is first published as a slip law and then later compiled into a volume of the Statutes at Large. The Public Laws database contains the text of each law enacted, and is updated irregularly as the publication of a slip law is authorized by the OFR.

      The United States Code (USC) database available from the Government Printing Office (GPO). The United States Code is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. This database contains the laws of the United States in effect as of January 1996. For more recent enactments one must turn to the uncompiled statues or Public Laws in the form passed by Congress [see legislation section].

      The Government Accounting Office (GAO) Blue Book Reports. GAO "blue book" reports from October 1, 1994. The database is updated daily and reports are available within two business days after public release. The reports contain GAO's findings and recommendations to members of Congress or to congressional committees. Restricted and classified products, as well as correspondence, are not included in this database.

      These GPO databases described above can be accessed at: