Congressional Record: Law Or Not?

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session and has been since 1873. The Congressional Record is available on both Congress.gov and GPO's govInfo, in some libraries, or can be purchased from the Government Publishing Office. It is divided into four sections: the House section, the Senate section, the Extensions of Remarks, and the Daily Digest. The Extensions of Remarks section contains speeches, tributes, and other extraneous words that were not uttered during open proceedings of the full Senate or House of Representatives. The Congressional Record is not a law, but it does provide an official record of the proceedings and debates of Congress.

What is the Congressional Record?

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session and has been since 1873. The Congressional Record is publicly available for records before 1875 via the Library of Congress' American Memory Century of Lawmaking website and since 1989 via Congress.gov. The Record is also available on GPO's govInfo, in some libraries, or can be purchased from the Government Publishing Office.

The Congressional Record consists of four sections: the House section, the Senate section, the Extensions of Remarks, and, since the 1940s, the Daily Digest. The House and Senate sections contain proceedings for the separate chambers of Congress. The Daily Digest, at the back of each issue, summarises the day's floor and committee activities and serves as a table of contents for each issue. The Extensions of Remarks section contains speeches, tributes and other extraneous words that were not uttered during open proceedings of the full Senate or of the full House of Representatives.

At the end of each session of Congress, the daily editions are collected, re-paginated, and re-indexed into a permanent, bound edition. This permanent edition, referred to as the Congressional Record (Bound Edition), is made up of one volume per session of Congress, with each volume published in multiple parts, each part containing approximately 10 to 20 days of Congressional proceedings.

When did the Congressional Record begin?

The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Before this, records of congressional proceedings were kept under various titles, including:

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

The full text of these earlier publications is available on the Library of Congress' website.

Where can you find the Congressional Record?

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session and has been since 1873. The Congressional Record is available in a few places.

Online

The Congressional Record is available online on both Congress.gov and GPO's govInfo. On Congress.gov, you can browse the Record or do a fielded search back to the 104th Congress (1995-96). On the GPO website, you can do fielded searches or retrieve a page (if you know the specific page number you are looking for) back to the 104th Congress (1995-96). The Congressional Record Index is also available on govinfo, back to 1983.

Libraries

The Congressional Record and its index may be available in large library systems or college libraries, frequently as part of their participation in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). Over 1,100 libraries participate in the FDLP, collecting and/or providing public access to government documents. A list of depository libraries is available on GPO's website.

Purchase

GPO sells single issues of and subscriptions to the Congressional Record. More information is available from GPO by calling 202-512-1800 or 1-866-512-1800 or by visiting the online U.S. Government Bookstore. You may also fax or mail an order form.

Archives

The U.S. National Archives has a Center for Legislative Archives that has created a Research Portal to help users find records and digital content in the Center's holdings. The search box located on the research portal page will find holdings from the Center by searching the National Archives Catalog.

What are the sections of the Congressional Record?

The Congressional Record is a daily account of the business conducted by each chamber of the United States Congress and their committees. It is published daily when Congress is in session and is available the following morning. The Congressional Record consists of four sections:

Daily Digest

The default view of the Congressional Record, the Daily Digest summarises the previous day's legislative activity. It includes the following subsections:

• Highlights
• Senate Chamber Action
• Senate Committee Meetings
• House Chamber Action
• House Committee Meetings
• Congressional Program Ahead
• Résumé of Congressional Activity

Senate Section

This section contains business conducted in the Senate chamber and committees. It may include the following subsections:

• Pledge of Allegiance
• Morning Business
• Introduction of Bills and Joint Resolutions
• Amendments Submitted and Proposed
• Texts of Amendments
• Vote Explanation
• Executive and Other Communications
• Petitions and Memorials
• Presidential Message
• Additional Statements
• Nominations
• Messages from the House

House Section

This section contains business conducted in the House chamber and committees. It may include the following subsections:

• Pledge of Allegiance
• Morning Business
• Additional Sponsors
• Constitutional Authority Statement
• Petitions, Etc.
• Executive Communications
• Bills and Joint Resolutions Presented to the President
• Joint Meeting to Hear an Address
• Adjournment

Extensions of Remarks

Used only by House of Representatives members, this section contains additional statements not actually delivered on the House floor.

How is the Congressional Record compiled?

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session and is available the following morning. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873 and is still published today.

The Congressional Record is divided into four sections:

• Daily Digest: This section summarises the previous day's legislative activity and serves as a table of contents for the issue. It includes highlights of the day's action, followed by summaries of the Senate and House proceedings.
• House Section: This section contains the public proceedings and debates of the U.S. House of Representatives, including words spoken on the floor and inserted or appended by Members of Congress.
• Senate Section: This section contains the public proceedings and debates of the U.S. Senate, including words spoken on the floor and inserted or appended by Senators.
• Extensions of Remarks: This section includes tributes, statements, and other information that supplements statements made by Members on the floor of the House or Senate.

The Congressional Record is compiled by Official Reporters who record the proceedings of each House of Congress. The Record is printed pursuant to directions of the Joint Committee on Printing as authorised by appropriate provisions of Title 44, United States Code.

At the end of each session of Congress, all the daily editions are collected, re-paginated, and re-indexed into a permanent, bound edition. This bound edition differs from the daily edition in terms of pagination, editing, and rearrangement of text, as well as the dropping of prefixes before page numbers.

Frequently asked questions