It contains:
♦ a verbatim record of what is said on the floor of the House and Senate
(however, members can revise and “extend” their remarks, i.e., submit additional material).
♦ a record of votes reprints of major bills and some committee reports (including all conference committee reports)
♦ veto messages
♦ a Daily Digest of floor action and committee meetings.
It does not have committee hearings or deliberations.
The Congressional Record is published every day Congress is in session and the daily issues are cumulated into annual volumes. Pagination changes when the daily issues are cumulated. An index to the daily Congressional Record is issued every two weeks, and the annual Congressional Record has its own cumulative index.
The Congressional Record has been published since 1873 (43rd Congress, 2nd session). Predecessors of the Congressional Record were the Congressional Globe (1833 -1873), the Register of Debates (1824 - 1837), and the Annals of Congress (1789 - 1824).
Congressional Record via govinfo.gov
• Congressional Record (Daily) 1994 on (103rd Congress, 2nd Session- )
• History of Bills 1983-1984 on (98th Congress, 1st Session- )
• Congressional Record Index (Daily) 1983 on (98th Congress, 1st Session- )
• Congressional Record (Bound), March 1873 on (43rd Congress, Special Session- )
"At the end of each session of Congress, all of the daily editions are collected, re-paginated, and re-indexed into a permanent, bound edition."
Congressional Record 1917-1919 on (56th Congress, 1st Session- ) via Congress.gov Library of Congress
The full-text of the predecessors to the Congressional Record is available through the Library of Congress' A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation collection.
• Annals of Congress 1774-1824 (1st Congress - 18th Congress, 1st Session)
• Register of Debates 1824-1837 (18th Congress, 2nd Session - 25th Congress, 1st Session )
• Congressional Globe 1833-1873 (23rd - 42nd Congresses)
1873 – 1911 Annual cumulated volumes are on microfilm.
1st floor, Government Information, media cabinets
Microfilm reels include indexes for each volume.
1911 -- 1992 Annual cumulated volumes are on microfiche
1st floor, Government Information, media cabinets
Annual print indexes: 1st floor, Government Information Reference KF 35 .C6
and on microfiche, filed by year with the corresponding CR volumes
1993 -- Daily Congressional Record issues are on microfiche
Biweekly indexes are filed by year with the corresponding Daily Congressional Record.
Daily Digest
March 1947- (80th Congress- ) Cumulated volumes are issued with the annual and biweekly indexes.
1st floor, Government Information Reference KF35.C6. Also on microfiche (Government Information media cabinets)
The Library has a complete set of each of these titles on microfilm.
1st floor, Government Information, media cabinets.
Microfilm reels include indexes for each volume.
• Annals of Congress 1774-1824 (1st Congress - 18th Congress, 1st Session)
• Register of Debates 1824-1837 (18th Congress, 2nd Session - 25th Congress, 1st Session )
• Congressional Globe 1833-1873 (23rd - 42nd Congresses)
Indexes have a subject and name section, and a “History of Bills and Resolutions” section which is arranged by bill number.
Elements in brackets (e.g., [15DE] ) after the page number refer to the date of the Congressional Record on which the pages may be found.
From 1978 on, a black dot ( • ) next to an item in the index indicates material not actually spoken on the floor.
Pagination in the Congressional Record changes when the daily issues are cumulated. Page numbers in the biweekly indexes correspond to the daily issues, and page numbers in the annual index correspond to the annual cumulation.
Biweekly Index The daily Congressional Record is divided into sections, so the biweekly index gives the section
(H=House, S=Senate, E=Extensions of Remarks, D=Daily Digest) and page number (e.g., H4962).
Annual Cumulative Index Leads to page numbers in the annual Congressional Record. Page numbers beginning with "A" are in the Appendix.
Cumulated Daily Digest volumes are published with biweekly and annual index cumulations from 1947 on