Research Guides
Government Sources by Subject: Congressional Record
Starting Point
- Congressional Record, HEINOnline
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1774-present. From the Journals of the Continental Congress to today, find the proceedings and debates of Congress. Includes both the daily and bound editions.
The Congressional Record (CR), known by different names over time, is the official record of proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress. There are two editions: the daily edition and the bound edition. The Daily edition is published when Congress in in session and includes a "Daily Digest" summary of floor and committee activity. The Bound is a compilation of the daily editions, re-paginated and re-indexed. The Bound is published once per session and is considered the permanent, official edition.
Additional Online Sources
- Congressional Record (Bound), govinfo1873 - 2017 [end date lags about six years behind current year]
- Congressional Record (Daily), govinfo1989 - present
- Congressional Record, Congress.gov1989/90-present. Earliest dates at https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/archive.
- Annals of Congress, A Century of Lawmaking1789-1824. Also known as The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States.
- Congressional Record, ProQuest
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1985-present. Updated daily when congress is in session. Use this advanced search to narrow results to the Congressional Record.
Indexes to the Congressional Record
- Congressional Record Index (CRI), FDsys1983-present.
- Congressional Record Index, Congress.gov1995-present. Note: default setting is for the current congress and session.
- Congressional Record Index, Daily Edition2006 - present. Paperback index to the daily edition.
Print Sources and Microfiche
- Congressional record : proceedings and debates of the ... Congress1873-present (print) bound edition, indexes in last volume of each year. Daily edition kept until replaced by bound edition, indexes shelved at end of daily issues.
1982-present (microfiche) bound edition. - Congressional Globe1833-1873
- Register of Debates in Congress1825-1837
- The debates and proceedings in the Congress of the United States : with an appendix...1789-1824. Also known as the Annals of Congress.
Congressional Record
Image credit: Alexis Jensen
Congress Year to Session Number conversion
To find the year that corresponds to a session of Congress, see the Dates of Past Sessions page on Congress.gov
Producing the CR
A behind the scenes look at the creation of the print and online versions of the Congressional Record in this five minute video.