LibGuides: Legislative History: Congressional Debates

Why are Congressional debates important to the legislative history process?

Congressional debates are important to legislative history research because unlike committee hearings, the statements made come directly from legislators. This means the researcher can more easily ascertain the intent of the Congress when passing legislation. Also, Congresspeople are allowed to submit prepared statements to make their views on legislation clear. However, researchers should be aware that Congresspeople can amend or supplement their statements, so while debates are an excellent source for determining legislative intent, they are not definitive sources.

Print Resources

Congressional Record: The Congressional Record provides researchers with a transcript of the happenings on both Senate and House floors from 1873 to present. There are two different versions of this publication - the daily and the permanent bound versions. In order to locate the text of a Congressional debate, the researcher will need to know when a bill was debated. To locate this information, the researcher will want to first consult USCCAN or the History of Bills and Resolutions table in annual volumes of the Congressional Record. The Congressional Record can be found on the 2nd floor of the Law Library or in microfiche. Please see a Reference Librarian or Circulation Assistant if you wish to access microfiche materials.

Electronic Resources

American Memory: Century of Lawmaking
(Free): This resource provides researchers with access to the predecessors of the Congressional Record - the Congressional Globe, the Annuls of Congress, and Register of Debates.
C-SPAN
C-SPAN offers researchers various access points to Congressional debates. Researchers can watch the C-SPAN television channel, visit C-SPAN's website, or access audio recordings of congressional debates from one of C-SPAN's partner websites like http://www.capitolhearings.org/.
Govinfo.gov
(Free): Govinfo.gov grants researchers multiple ways to access to the Congressional Record. Govinfo.gov allows for access to the bound version of the Congressional Record from 1999-2001 and the Congressional Record (Daily) from 1994 to Present. Researchers can also access the index to the Congressional Record (Daily) from 1983 to Present.
Congress.gov
(Free): Congress.gov provides researchers with access to the Congressional Record from 1989 to Present. Researchers can search Congress.gov's Congressional Record database by an individual member of Congress, by date, or by word search.
HeinOnline
(Subscription Access only):HeinOnline provides electronic access to the Congressional Record and its predecessors. To access these resources, researchers should use the U.S. Congressional Documents library. From there, researchers can access the bound volumes of the Congressional Record (1873 - 2007), the daily edition of the Congressional Record (1980 - Present), the Congressional Globe (1833 - 1873), the Register of Debates in Congress (1825-1837) and the Annuls of the Congress of the United States (1789-1824).
Lexis+
(Subscription Access only): Lexis Advance allows researchers to access the Congressional Record from 1985 to the Present. To locate the Congressional Record on Lexis Advance, type Congressional Record into the search box and select the proper title from the drop down menu.
Proquest Congressional
(Subscription Access only): ProQuest Congressional allows researchers to access the Congressional Record and its predecessor publications. Researchers can search for materials by word searching, by publication, by date, and by citation.
Westlaw Edge
(Subscription Access only): To locate the Congressional Record in Westlaw, researchers must log in - click on Statutes & Court Rules from the All Content box - Legislative History from the menu on the right hand side - Congressional Record OR type Congressional Record into the main search box. Coverage spans from 1985 to Present.

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Legislative History

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Why are Congressional debates important to the legislative history process?

Print Resources

Electronic Resources