Introduction

The legislative process is complex. The sources listed below focus on one aspect of the process: committee hearings and their resulting publications. When bills are introduced in Congress they are referred to the House and/or Senate committee(s) having jurisdiction over the bill's scope. The committee may hold public or private hearings to gather pertinent information on the merits of the bill (proposed legislation). Hearings may also be held to collect information for new or amended legislation or to investigate allegations of wrongdoing in government and private organizations. A committee print take many forms and can be considered research studies that assist the Committee in making informed decisions relevant to the legislative and oversight functions of Congress.  Transcripts of these hearings and background reports (committee prints) may or may not be published, hence the distinctions between the sources listed below.

Hearings:

Hearings from the 106th Congress to the present are available as full-text digital documents through InfoHawk by searching the appropriate title, keyword, subject, and/or date. LexisNexis Congressional (1824-present) is a digital index of published hearings with full-text testimony available for selected witness' statements from 1988 to the present. Choose 'Advanced Search' to limit search to hearings or testimony.

CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings (1833–1969)  Published transcripts of witness testimony, committee inquiries, discussions, and the records of committee business meetings, bill markup sessions, and nominations.

Full-text: In order to locate the full-text in the microfiche collection the 'accession number' must first be found through the print index volumes (Gov. Pubs. Microfiche Collection)
Index: CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings Index. This multi volume print index is organized by subject, name, title, and bill number; turn to the abstract volume to find expanded annotations and accession number. (Main Reference South fKF40 .C83 - varies by date/congress)

Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings (1823-1980) Previously unpublished transcripts of witness testimony, committee inquiries, discussions, and the records of committee business meetings, bill markup sessions, and nominations.

Full-text: In order to locate the full-text in the microfiche collection the 'accession number' must first be found through the print index volumes (Gov. Pubs. Microfiche Collection)
Index: CIS Index to Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings. (Main Reference South fKF40 .C587)

Unpublished U.S. House of Representatives Committee Hearings (1833-1972)  Previously unpublished transcripts of witness testimony, committee inquiries, discussions, and the records of committee business meetings, bill markup sessions, and nominations.

Full-text: In order to locate the full-text in the microfiche collection the 'accession number' must first be found through the print index volumes (Gov. Pubs. Microfiche Collection)
Index: CIS Index to Unpublished U.S. House of Representatives Committee Hearings. (Main Reference South fKF40 .C584)

Prints

Prints from the 106th Congress to the present are available as full-text digital documents through InfoHawk by searching the appropriate title, keyword, subject, and/or date.

LexisNexis Congressional (1830-present) is a digital index and full-text of committee prints with searchable by subject, title, date, congress, and fields within full-text. Choose 'Advanced Search' to limit search to committee prints.

CIS US Congressional Committee Prints (early 1830s to 1969) Background reports, both by committee staff and outside experts, including government departments. Analyses and drafts of bills, staff memoranda, excerpts from hearings.

Full-text: In order to locate the full-text in the microfiche collection the 'accession number' must first be found through the print index volumes (Gov. Pubs. Microfiche Collection)
Index:This multi volume print index is organized by subject and personal names, committee, bill number, SuDocs number. (Main Reference South fKF40 .C86)

Revised, M. Mason
August 2007