On Monday I wrote about the excellent material available from the House of Commons Library. The US equivalent is the Congressional Research Service. I am in awe of their output. It would be possible to become a high level expert on the workings of Congress, or many policy matters - just by reading CRS publications.
Like the House of Commons Library and British MPs - CRS exists to provide research material - and supply answers to questions posed by members of Congress. It doesn't directly publish its material to the public - but many of the publications find their way online. Individual members may publish the material on their official websites - and the House & Senate use CRS material on theirs. I find OpenCRS a useful site to visit. Many CRS publications are available there. The FAS (Federation of American Scientists) site is another useful place to look. The Annual Report of CRS gives an insight to the extent of work that they have undertaken. It is available here.
Do note that the material is regularly updated by CRS - so make sure that you use the latest version.
