About the Congressional Record

Online sources ~ Print holdings

"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. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873 and is still published today. It was preceded by the Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, and Congressional Globe.

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. 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. The primary ways in which the bound edition differs from the daily edition are continuous pagination; somewhat edited, revised, and rearranged text; and the dropping of the prefixes H, S, and E before page numbers."

The bound edition usually takes several years to be published after a Congressional session ends. (GPO: About the Congressional Record)

Congressional Record : Online Sources

1789 -- current
In Proquest Congressional, select the Advanced Search:
Unselect all, and select only Congressional Record Bound edition. There are options in the search pull-down menus to search by subject, bills or laws, Member of Congress, section, and roll-call votes.
Use the facets on the left to restrict by date.
Note: The bound edition usually takes several years to be published after a Congressional session ends. Select the Daily Edition for more recent proceedings. Unfortunately, search options in the Daily Edition are more limited.

Congressional Record : Print Holdings

1774-1789

Journals of the Continental Congress

1789-1850

Abridgement of the Debates of Congress
Note: The title reads: Abridgment of the Debates of Congress: 1789-1856, however our holdings end in 1850.

1833 --1873

Congressional Globe

1873 - 2010

Congressional Record : Proceedings and Debates of the .... Congress.
Note: The list of holdings in the catalog record is confusing as catalogers must attempt to resolve any volume number/date/session anomalies. We have from 1873 - 2010, but there may be a few missing sessions.