Congressional Publications  Tags: government_information congress united_states history  

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This guide is a locator for the major publications of Congress. Many publications are not listed separately in Pegasus; to find references, go to LexisNexis Congressional.

This database indexes most congressional publications (except the Congressional Record) from 1789 to present.

On this page:

• Bills and Laws (1981 +)

• Hearings (1839 +)

• Congressional Serial Set (1817 +)

• Senate Executive Reports and Documents (1817 +)

• Committee Prints (1970 +)

• Congressional Record and its Predecessors (1789 +)

Bills and Laws

When bills are signed by the President and become law, they are compiled into the U. S. Statutes at Large: Reference KF50 A3.

They are then included by subject in the United States Code: Reference KF62 1972 .L38 or GPO Access.

The Davidson Library keeps bills in microfiche from the 97th Congress, while bills from 1989 + can be found in LexisNexisCongressional.

For earlier bills, identify through LN Congressional and order through interlibrary loan from the California State Library.

For information on the legislative process, see How a Bill Becomes a Law.

Hearings

Hearings are the official record of a committee's proceedings on pending legislation or national/international issues. They provide an opportunity for expert witnesses to present testimony and other information to members of Congress.

The Davidson Library owns most congressional hearings from 1839 to present, in print or microfiche.

Testimony from selected hearings 1993+ can be found in LexisNexis Congressional, and 1997+ in GPO Access.

Hearings are located in the Government Information Center. To identify, check LexisNexis Congressional or Pegasus, the UCSB Library catalog.

Unpublished Hearings: Thousands of congressional hearings have until recently remained unpublished for a variety of reasons: some were declared confidential because of national security, others were held in executive session to discuss matters of short-term sensitivity, or to protect the confidentiality of witnesses.

Unpublished Senate hearings, 1823-1964, and House hearings, 1833-1936, are on microfiche at UC San Diego and Hastings; they can be ordered through interlibrary loan.

Congressional Serial Set

The Serial Set is basically comprised of the numbered Senate and House Documents and Reports which are bound by session of Congress, beginning with the 1st session of the 15th Congress in 1817. Also included are annual reports and statistical publications from agencies, and House and Senate Journals and administrative reports.

House and Senate Reports contain recommendations from committees to the House or Senate as a whole. These reports concern the findings of committee hearings or outcome of committee deliberations.

House and Senate Documents can contain materials such as Congressional rules and reports of investigations; special reports of executive branch agencies and independent establishments, reports of special investigations and research authorized by the President; reports of non-governmental organizations; or reports on committee activities.

The first 14 Congresses (1789-1816) were not part of the official Serial Set; these documents can be found in print through the American State Papers: Wyles Collection (Special Collections Library): J33 U5.  The American State papers are also online through the Library of Congress.

Online: Coverage is available through the Archive of Americana (1817-1980) (UCSB login required)

Serial Set documents are also in microfiche or print in the Government Information Center. Reports from 1990 to present, and documents from 1995 to present, are full text in LexisNexis Congressional.  More information can be found on the Congressional Serial Set guide.

Senate Executive Reports and Documents

Executive Reports contain committee recommendations concerning the ratification of a proposed treaty or recommendations on a nomination. Executive Documents contain the text of a treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President. Beginning 1981, they became known as Treaty Documents.

Senate executive documents and reports were not printed in the Serial Set until 1979. They can be identified through LN Congressional, and ordered from UCLA* for the years 1817-1969; complete an interlibrary loan form.

Include the title, CIS number, and under Other Information:
“U. S. Senate Executive Documents and Reports on Microfiche, UCLA MicroServ KF 40 C55”.

Committee Prints

Committee Prints can contain draft legislation, situation reports, statistical information, historical information, or legislative analyses. They are often prepared by experts who make studies on aspects of a subject under committee investigation.

The Davidson Library owns many committee prints from the 1970s until present. Older prints are available from UC Irvine.

Recent prints are online:

• GPO Access (1998+) 
• LN Congressional (1993+)

Identify prints through LN Congressional; then search PEGASUS for our Library holdings. If they are not at UCSB, complete an interlibrary loan form. Include title, CIS number, and under Other Information: “U. S. Congressional Committee Prints on Microfiche, UC Irvine Government Publications”.

Congressional Record and its Predecessors

The official record of the activities of Congress in the House and Senate, the Record is published in daily issues, which are later cumulated into annual bound volumes. There is a biweekly index to the daily issues; pagination changes when the annual index is created.

Predecessors of the Congressional Record were the

• The Congressional Globe (1833 - 1873)
• The Register of Debates (1824 to 1837)
• The Annals of Congress (1789 to 1824)

The Davidson Library owns the entire Congressional Record and Congressional Globe. We own an abridged edition of the Register of Debates and the Annals of Congress.

The Congressional Record is online through Thomas (1989+) & GPO Access (1994+)

1977+ (95th Congress -)

• Annual cumulated volumes on microfiche: Government Information: X 1.1 [Congress/session]
• Daily issues on microfiche: X 1.1/A
  • Indexes: Congressional Record Index (1983 +)
  • Congressional Record Index, 1957 - 96: Govt. Information Reference: X1.1:
  • Fiche indexes to daily Record (1993+): biweekly, X1.1/A; filed at end of drawer

1873 – 1976 (43rd Congress - 94th)

• Microfilm, Government Information: X1.1/A:
  • Index included as last volume of each annual cumulation

CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE: 1833 – 1873

The Globe is in print in the Special Collections Library, Wyles Collection: J 11 G5.

Available online at: Congressional Globe Home Page

ANNALS OF CONGRESS (1789-1824) and REGISTER OF DEBATES (1824-1837)

• Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856: Main Library and Special Collections: J 15 B4
• Annals of Congress online
• Register of Debates online