President Obama's Weekly Address (1/5/2013)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents and Microforms
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

Washington Week (1/4/2013)

Watch Fiscal cliff fallout and the 113th Congress on PBS. See more from Washington Week.

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

President Obama's Weekly Address (11/17/2012)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

Presidential Weekly Address (10/20/2012)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

Presidential Weekly Address (10/6/2012)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

President Obama's Weekly Address (9/29/2012)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

President Obama's Weekly Address (5/12/2012)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban and Transportation Studies, Engineering

President Obama's Weekly Address (4/14/2012)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban and Transportation Studies, Engineering

Face the Nation (11/20/2011)

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban Studies, Engineering

State of the Union Address (1/27/2010)

The GOP's response to President Obama's State of the Union Address was given by Gov. Bob McDonnell (Va).





Sonnet Erin Brown
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Earth & Environmental Sciences, Engineering

President Obama's Address to Congress (9/9/2009)

For the full text of the speech, click here.


The GOP's response to President Obama's Address was given by Rep. Charles Boustany (La.)






Read Rep. Boustany's speech here.




Sonnet Erin Brown
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Earth & Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Urban Studies

Ask Congress to...Read the Bill

The Sunlight Foundation has started a petition, asking Congress to post all legislation online for 72 hours before putting it up for a vote. Here is their ad.


Read The Bill from Sunlight Foundation on Vimeo.

For more information, visit ReadtheBill.org.


(Kudos to OpenCongress for the information and video.)


Sonnet Erin Brown
Federal Documents Librarian
Subject Specialist: Political Science/Paralegal Studies

Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Outline

This morning, President Obama submitted a budget outline to Congress. This 140-page summary of the proposed budget for the next fiscal year can be found here. Or visit the Office of Management and Budget site for more information.


Sonnet Erin Brown
Federal Documents Librarian
Subject Specialist: Political Science/Paralegal Studies

State of the Union Address (2/24/2009)

For full text of the speech, click here.

The GOP's response to President Obama's State of the Union Address was given by Gov. Bobby Jindal (La).



Read Gov. Jindal's speech here.


Sonnet Erin Brown
Federal Documents Librarian
Subject Specialist: Political Science/Paralegal Studies

Public Law 111-005, the Stimulus Package

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is now officially Public Law 111-005. For an actual image of the Act with President Obama's signature, visit the OpenCongress Blog. The blog also links to a Huffington Post article discussing the possiblity of a second stimulus package, should this first one not do enough for the economy. Of course, there are no plans to introduce a second package to Congress at this time.

You can also check out the employment numbers by state or by congressional district on President Obama's blog. The blog also has individual fact sheets for energy, education, and health care.


Sonnet Erin Brown
Federal Documents Librarian
Subject Specialist: Political Science/Paralegal Studies

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Last night, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed by Congress. It passed the House earlier in the day with 246 Ayes, 183 Nays, and 4 Present/Not Voting. In the evening, it passed the Senate with 60 Ayes, 38 Nays, and 1 Present/Not Voting. Now, it awaits the President's signature. If President Obama stands by his "Sunlight before Signing" promise, he will post the act online and wait at least 5 days before signing it into law. President Obama has not done this with two earlier acts (The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the State Children's Health Insurance Program). Because of the nature of the bill and the desire for economic aid to be applied quickly, it is hard to say when the President will sign.


For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, visit GovTrack.


Sonnet Erin Brown
Federal Documents Librarian
Subject Specialist: Political Science/Paralegal Studies