60 Minutes (11/4/2012)

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

Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy (1932-2009)

Senator Ted Kennedy passed away last night at the age of 77 from brain cancer.  He was best known as the last surviving Kennedy son.  The brother of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Ted served as a U.S. Senator for Massachussetts for 47 years (1962-2009).  

He is also well known for a car accident on the island Chappaquiddick.  This incident on July 18, 1969 resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne (a former campaign worker for Robert Kennedy).  This was a national scandal that Sen. Kennedy was never able to fully escape.

For more information on Sen. Kennedy, visit his senator site.

For more information on his accomplishments, click here.

For Senator Kennedy's New York Times Obituary, click here.

For more information on Chappaquiddick, visit the FBI site here.

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

200 U.S. Hearings Digitized!

Today, the Earl K. Long Library hit 200 hearings in our new online collection of U.S. House and Senate Committee Hearings and Publications.  This collection is free and open to the public.  We have been working to digitize older hearings that are in our online catalog but are not available online...until now!  The hearings are fully indexed.  

Special thanks to Digital Initiatives Librarian, Keith Pickett, my partner in crime.  He's the gentleman who has been patiently scanning these documents for your enjoyment.  He's also the one who created the cool GPO/PDF logo that links to each document.

So, we beg of you...please take the time to peruse this collection and click, click, click to your heart's content.

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

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is responsible for vetting and confirming the new Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. They are currently preparing to consider the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

For more information about the Committee, visit judiciary.senate.gov.

For more information on Judge Sonia Sotomayor and the confirmation process, click here.

Members of the Committee are as follows (each name is a link that will bring you to that senator's personal site):

Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman (D-Vermont)

Jeff Sessions, Ranking Member (R-Alabama)

Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin)

Dianne Feinstein (D-California)

Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)

Russell D. Feingold (D-Wisconsin)

Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa)

Charles E. Schumer (D-New York)

Jon Kyl (R-Arizona)

Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois)

Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)

Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Maryland)

John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island)

Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma)

Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota)

Edward E. Kaufman (D-Delaware)

Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania)





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

 

Meet the Press with Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Jeff Sessions (5/31/2009)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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

Face the Nation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Jon Kyl, David Brooks, and Bob Woodward (5/31/2009)

Watch CBS Videos Online




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

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

American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan Passes

The Act passed 61 to 37.


For a breakdown of the votes, check out Govtrack.us.


(Kudos to Rebecca at McNeese for the heads up!)


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

Senate Changes to the Stimulus Package

Check out the changes proposed by the Senate.

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