HEARINGS, COMMITTEE PRINTS, REPORTS, AND DOCUMENTS

Hearings

“A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, Joint, or Special Committee of Congress, usually open to the public, to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. In addition, hearings may also be purely exploratory in nature, providing testimony and data about topics of current interest. Most Congressional hearings are published two months to two years after they are held. Only hearings released to GPO from the committees are made available on GPO Access.”

Committee Prints

“Congressional committee prints are publications issued by congressional committees on topics related to their legislative or research activities. The subjects of the committee prints vary greatly, due to the different concerns and actions of each individual committee. Some basic varieties of committee prints include: draft reports and bills, directories, statistical materials, investigative reports, historical reports, situational studies, confidential staff reports, hearings, and legislative analyses.”

Congressional Reports

“Congressional reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. There are two types of reports House and Senate Reports and Senate Executive Reports. The database for the current Congress is updated irregularly, as electronic versions of the documents become available.”

Congressional Documents

“Congressional documents originate from congressional committees and cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. There are three types of documents: House and Senate Documents; Senate Executive Documents; and Senate Treaty Documents.”

Above quotes taken from GPO Access.

Any of the above types of publications owned at Langsam Library can be found by searching the online catalog.  Indexes (some may include full-text) are listed below.

GPO Access – Hearings, reports, and documents are available online since 104th (1995-96) Congress.  Hearings and committee prints are online since 105th (1997-98) Congress.

Congressional Universe – Provides an index to committee hearings, prints and reports from 1789.  Has some full text to hearings testimony from 1988, reports since 1989, and committee prints since 1993.  Titles indexed in the “Historical Indexes” (1789-1969) portion include:

CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, 1817–1969, includes the American State Papers, 1789–1830s  (to locate volumes owned, search the online catalog)

CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearing Index  (microfiche of the hearings for the 41st-73rd (1869-1934) is owned at Langsam Library microfiche #10)

CIS Indexes to Unpublished Congressional Committee Hearings

CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Prints Index

CIS Index to U.S. Senate Executive Documents and Reports

The State Library of  Ohio owns the microfiche for the above titles and copies can be requested from their library.  A listing is available on their web site.

Thomas (Library of Congress) – Provides the full text of House and Senate committee reports from the 104th (1995-96) Congress.  Searchable by word/phrase, report number, bill number, or committee.

U.S. Congressional Bibliographies (North Carolina State University Libraries) – Lists Senate hearings, committee prints, and publications since 1983 by committee, Senate number, and by title.  Lists House hearings since 1985.

Legislative Archives (NARA) – Provides information and guides on historical records of the House and Senate.

Web site content: Lorna Newman