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Federal Depository Library Program symbol Congressional Record

U.S. Senate in session


Introduction

The Congressional Record contains remarks and debates in transcript form, as well as speeches by Senators and Representatives of the U.S. Congress.  The CR is the official reporting mechanism documenting Congressional deliberations.

"Substantially a verbatim" account of proceedings, members of Congress have been allowed to correct transcription errors.  However, abuses have occurred leading to amended rules in recent years. The rules governing corrections have improved the accuracy of the transcript (see: "Laws and Rules for Publication of the Congressional Record," printed in most CR daily edition issues) and televised debates through C-SPAN have also encouraged greater accuracy of the transcript.  Familiarity with the "Laws and Rules" is also helpful in general use of the CR.

The Congressional Record is issued daily while Congress is in session. It is available online and released in print as the "Daily Edition" with biweekly indexes.  At year's end, a final "Permanent Edition" is released with extensive reorganization making the publication easier to use, but requiring a separate comprehensive index.  Since pagination differs from the Daily Edition and the Permanent Edition, the indexes are not interchangeable.  The Permanent Edition supersedes the Daily Edition in both physical format and in authority.

Arrangement

Congressional Record. Washington, D.C., GPO, 1873– . (Gov.Pubs. Collection J11 .R5)
Consists of several parts:
  • Proceedings of the Senate includes statements made on the floor of the chamber, parliamentary actions and roll call votes.  In addition, communications from the president and executive branch, memorials, petitions, and legislative information.
  • Proceedings of the House of Representatives (same content as for Senate)
  • Extensions of Remarks. Includes text not originally part of floor activity but later added at the request of members. Currently used only by representatives, however, senators' extraneous remarks are inserted in the "Additional Statements" section of the Senate pages.
  • Laws and Rules for Publication of the Congressional Record (printed in most, but not all, issues of the Daily Edition)
  • The Daily Digest. A concise summary of the day's congressional activity. Includes highlights, actions, and meetings for both chambers.

Full-Text Online

GPO Access (1994 - present)
LexisNexis Congressional  Restricted Resource - UI Access Only (1985 - present)
Thomas (1989 - present)

Historical Debates

Publications recording debates have been published since 1774 although the titles and arrangement have varied. Though none includes official records of debate they are the closest approximation of the Congressional Record for the years before 1873. These early debates were summarized in the third person and often gathered from newspaper accounts.  The following titles preceded the Congressional Record.

Journals of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) are the records of the daily proceedings of the Congress as kept by the office of its secretary, Charles Thomson.  They were printed in different editions and in several subsequent reprint editions. 34 volumes and index. (Gov.Pubs. Collection J10 .A5; Main Reference/Gov. Fiche CIS US Exec MF LC 405-1 to LC 405-15; Main Library Media Services Film 10177).

Annals of Congress (1789–1824)
Officially known as The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, cover the 1st Congress through the first session of the 18th Congress, from 1789 to 1824, were compiled between 1834 and 1856, using the best records available, primarily newspaper accounts. (Gov.Pubs. Collection J11 .A5 cong./session)

Register of Debates (1824–1837)
is a record, but not a transcript of the congressional debates of the 18th Congress, 2nd Session through the 25th Congress, 1st Session (1824-37).  (Gov.Pubs.Collection 328.73 .U51.2); also see: Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (Gov.Pubs.Collection J15 .B4)

Congressional Globe (1833–1873) The Globe is the record of debates, although by the mid-nineteenth century owing to the development of shorthand became a closer proximity to the current transcript-style record of debates. (Gov. Pubs. Collection J11 .G5)
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Revised, M. Mason
July 2007