The proceedings of Congress are recorded in the Journals of Congress. The Journals note the matters considered by the House and the Senate, and include votes and other actions taken.

Library holdings and online access

Background

From The United States Constitution, Article I, section 5:

'Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.'

More information about the journals can be found in the Library of Congress online guide.

SUDOC

You might notice the acronym SUDOC in the call numbers of the United States Government microfiche Catalogue records.

United States Government Printing Office (USGPO) microfiche was received on deposit from 1983. It is arranged by Superintendent of Documents classification, given at the top of each fiche. Collect fiche from the Newspaper & Microforms Reading Room.

You can find information about SUDOC numbers from the West Texas A & M University.

The National Library ceased receiving SUDOC fiche from June 2010, but the existing collection is retained.

A bill or resolution is introduced by a member and generally referred to a Congressional committee as part of its passage to approval. The first printing of a bill or resolution includes:

• the number and session of the Congress
• the designation
• the number of the bill
• the name of the body in which it was introduced
• date of introduction
• the name of the member who introduced it
• the Committee to which it was referred.

Library holdings and online access

See also

Congressional Information Service annual (CIS annual) (1970-2000) Held offsite

From 1970 to 1983 the CIS Annual contains two types of volumes: Index and Abstracts. A condensed 'Legislative History' section is included in the Abstracts volume. From 1984 onwards, detailed legislative histories are published in a separate volume called Legislative Histories of U.S. Public Laws. References are made to all relevant documents for every law enacted during a session of Congress.

United States code congressional and administrative news (USCCAN) (1972-2011) Controlled Access Collection

Contains a 'Table of Legislative History and Index' arranged by public law number referencing the date approved, Statutes at Large citation, bill number, House and Senate reports numbers, abbreviations for the names of the House and Senate committees reporting, dates of consideration and passage in the Congressional Record, and citations for Presidential signing documents.

Legislation, laws and Acts

House Bills and Resolutions: A bill originating in the House of Representatives is designated by the letters ‘H.R.’ followed by a number that it retains throughout all its parliamentary stages.

Senate Bills and Resolutions: A Senate bill is designated by the letter ‘S.’ followed by its number

Joint Resolutions are designated H.J. Res. or S.J. Res. and are followed by a number. They become law after approval by both houses and the President. There is no practical difference from bills, but joint resolutions generally deal with more limited matters.

Concurrent resolutions, are designated H.Con. Res. or S.Con. Res., and followed by a number. They deal with matters that affect the operations of both chambers and must have both chambers’ approval, but do not require Presidential support.

Simple resolutions are designated H.Res. and S.Res., followed by a number. A simple resolution addresses matters entirely within the prerogative of one house.

Find more detailed information at the United States Senate website.

Background

The legislative process in Congress is described in the booklet, How Our Laws Are Made by Charles W. Johnson (1998). An updated version (2007) (PDF, 355KB) is available online from the Library of Congress. From Section IV:

A bill is the form used for most legislation, whether permanent or temporary, general or special, public or private.

The form of a House bill is as follows:

The enacting clause was prescribed by law in 1871 and is identical in all bills, whether they originate in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.

House and Senate versions of the same bill often differ because each chamber amends the bill before enacting it.

Major online sources

Library of Congress

Full text and summaries of bills and resolutions, links to text of amendments in the Congressional Record, amendment summaries, full text of public laws (enrolled bills). Full text files available from 101st Congress; summary files from the 93rd. All bills and resolutions are browsable and searchable. Browsable lists of bills, sequential by bill type and number, and lists of public laws, browsable by P.L. number. Bills and resolutions are searchable by bill number, keyword, index term, sponsor, committee, stage in the legislative process and/or date.

Government Publishing Office

Full text of bills and resolutions and public laws. Amendment text searchable in the Congressional Record. Files available from the 103rd Congress. Searchable.

Due to the high volume and complexity of its work, the United States Senate divides its tasks among committees, subcommittees, and joint committees.

The following titles can be checked for committee names, new committees, or changes of names in committees:

• 1789-1982: Congressional committees, 1789-1982 : a checklist compiled by Walter Stubbs. (1985)
• 1970-2000: CIS annual
• 2001 – 2011: CIS index annual

Current committees can be found online:

• House of Representatives Committees (includes Joint Committees)
• Senate Committees (includes Special, Select, Other and Joint Committees)

Library holdings

When you have identified a Committee title, use the catalogue search to find documents published by that Committee. Example searches are:

• United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee
• Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs
• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Veterans' Affairs
• United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Communist Aggression

Search tips

• Use ‘United States’ and ‘committee’ as part of your search, along with the Committee name.
• When you have a list of results, select the ‘Author’ hyperlink to ensure you find all the documents from that Committee.
• Limit your search by year range in the right hand menu.

Congressional documents online

Congressional documents originate from congressional committees and cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organisations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organisations.

Browse documents, including committee prints, from the 94th Congress (1975-76) to the present, at the US Government Publishing Office. There are also select documents from the 8th Congress (1803-04) to 93rd Congress that have been digitised.

Background

Most of the work of Congress is done at the committee level. Committees are subsidiary organizations of the Congress established for the purpose of considering legislation, conducting hearings and investigations, or carrying out other assignments as instructed by the chamber.

‘Standing’ committees generally have legislative jurisdiction, and most operate with subcommittees that handle a committee's work in specific areas. ‘Select’ and ‘joint’ committees are chiefly for oversight or housekeeping tasks.

See Chapter VI. Consideration by Committee (PDF, 355KB) of How our Laws are Made for more information.

Committee hearings contain the transcripts of testimony given before the congressional committees. See Congressional committee publications (above) for information about current and former committees.

Library holdings

When you have identified a Committee title, an index may help to identify specific hearings and dates. You can request indexes from the Catalogue. See a list of indexes.

You can also use the catalogue search to find documents published by a Committee. Example searches are:

• Aging, Select committee hearing
• Public Works committee hearing
• Un-American Activities committee hearing

Search tips

• Use the name of the committee and the word ‘hearing’ in your search.
• Select the ‘Author’ link in the Catalogue record to open a list of other documents from the committee.

Online

Browse House of Representatives and Senate committee hearings from the 85th Congress onwards on GovInfo.

Check the record

Many United States Congressional Hearing papers are available online. To access these through the Library Catalogue, find the Catalogue record then look for ‘Online versions’. If there is an online version, you can choose a PDF or HTML link.

For example, take a look at Competitiveness and innovation on the Committee's 50th anniversary with Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft [microform] : hearing before the Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, March 12, 2008

Background

Public hearings

If the bill is of sufficient importance, the committee may set a date for a hearing. Most hearings are conducted in public, and may call upon concerned or expert witnesses to testify.

A transcript of the testimony taken at a public hearing is made available for inspection in the office of the clerk of the committee. Frequently, the complete transcript is printed and distributed widely by the committee.

See Chapter VI. Consideration by Committee (PDF, 355KB) of How our Laws are Made for more information.

Committee prints are mainly for use by the committee members themselves, so not many copies are made available to the public. However, the National Library of Australia has an almost complete set on microfiche from 1911 to 1969.

From the mid-1970’s committee prints became depository publications and were distributed more widely.

Library holdings and online access

Also see: Congressional Information Service US serial set index

Background

Congressional committees often require background information to aid their deliberations. They also need to keep informed about developments in their areas of concern. Some committees have their own research staff; others make use of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. The results of these research activities are published as Committee prints.

These publications often contain valuable statistical and historical information and legislative analysis.

Some basic categories of Congressional Committee Prints are: draft reports and bills, directories, statistical materials, investigative reports, historical reports, situational studies, confidential staff reports, hearings, and legislative analyses.

Congressional reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. Reports describe committee findings and recommendations submitted by committees to the House or Senate following the conclusion of hearings. Reports also include factual analysis and opinions of minority members. Many reports are on bills and fiscal issues.

Committee reports are uniquely identified by the following pieces of information:

• the numbers of the Congress and session,
• the chamber (House or Senate),
• the report number,
• the bill or resolution number being reported on,
• the committee, title, and date.

Library holdings and online access

Online

Committee Reports from 1995 onwards (104th Congress+) are available at congress.gov. Select Committee Materials from the drop-down list and search by keyword or Report number.

Background

If a committee votes out or "reports favourably" a bill back to the House or Senate, it is then "calendared" or scheduled for floor debate and vote in the full chamber. Each measure sent to the full chamber by the committee is accompanied by a committee report.

The report will include a section by section analysis of the proposed bill and an explanation of why the committee recommended passage of the bill.

See How our laws are made Chapter VII Reported Bills (PDF, 355KB) for more information about what is contained in a Committee Report.

When it is filed, the report is assigned a report number and is sent to the Government Printing Office for printing.

House of Representatives and Senate agendas are in each Calendar for every day that Congress is in session.

• The House Calendar has weekly and sessional cumulations, and is useful for the history of Bills and Resolutions.
• The Senate Calendar is not cumulated.

Library holdings and online access

Check the dates

Documents are in different formats, depending on the date required. Print, microfiche or online documents may be available. Check the time period and format of the item you need in the list on this page.

Related resources

• Congressional Staff Directory - Request from the Main Reading Room.
• Congressional Quarterly's Washington Information Directory.

Debates are recorded in the Congressional Record. This is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress. For every day Congress is in session, an issue of the Congressional Record is printed by the Government Publishing Office. Each issue summarises the day's floor and committee actions and records all remarks delivered in the House and Senate (from GovInfo).

Library holdings and online access

Check the dates

Documents are in different formats, depending on the date required. Print, microfiche or online documents may be available. Check the time period and format of the item you need in the list on this page.

Background

Debates of Congress are recorded in the Congressional record, which has been published under that name since the 1st session of the 43rd Congress in 1873. It succeeded

• Annals of Congress (1776-1834)
• Register of Debates (1834-7)
• Congressional Globe (1833-5 to 1872-3)

Online access

Congress.gov has the full text of the Congressional Record from 1983 to the present. Use the drop-down list to find the Congressional Record, and search by keyword.

You can also go directly to the latest record.

Congressional Document Set

Congressional documents are known in the National Library as CDS or the Congressional Document Set. In the United States they are more commonly referred to as the Congressional Serial Set, which is the official bound compilation of Congressional documents.

Congressional documents include:

• primary historical material about the United States
• US relations with other countries
• US presence in the Pacific, e.g. the Philippines
• information about many contemporary questions.

Many documents which are part of this set do not have their origin in Congress, but having been presented to Congress are then ordered to be printed.

The Congressional Document Set also includes many historic census reports.

The Set contains:

• House and Senate reports which consist of the reports of congressional committees on proposed legislation and other matters under investigation (see Congressional Committee Reports above).
• House and Senate documents which include all the other papers ordered to be printed by either House of Congress (i.e. the House of Representatives and the Senate) and include many reports of executive departments and like establishments.

Library holdings and online access

Foreign relations of the United States

Foreign relations of the United States, published by the Department of State, contains all essential documents on United States foreign policy.

Documents are usually not released to the public until 30 years after their initial publication. Bound volumes issued during the 1980s and 1990s contain material from the 1950s.

These volumes are no longer being issued as part of the CDS set, but they are available online.

Congressional research service reports

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. CRS, which is a department of the Library of Congress, works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress.

Reports from the CRS are available online from the University of North Texas.

Users can browse the reports by name, number, or subject, or conduct a keyword search. Subject areas include: Environment/Natural Resources, Economic Policy, Education, Government and Law, Foreign and Defense Policy, Health, and Science and Technology.

Check the dates

Documents are in different formats, depending on the date required. Print, microfiche or online documents may be available. Check the time period and format of the item you need in the list on this page.