Congressional Record
The Publication Manual of the APA does not specifically address citing the Congressional Record.
For materials not covered in the Publication Manual, the APA refers users to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. The recommendations below are based on the 21st edition of The Bluebook:
The Congressional Record is issued in two editions -- the Daily Edition and the Permanent Edition. Writers should "use the Daily Edition only for matters not yet appearing in the permanent collection." (The Bluebook, 2020)
Citing to the Permanent Bound Edition:
In text citation:
Following the general APA and Bluebook principles for citing legislative materials, the in-text citation would look like this:
- (142 Cong. Rec. 14979, 1996)
Reference list:
Cite to the volume and page number of the permanent edition of the Congressional Record:
- 142 Cong. Rec. 14979 (1996)
- 142 Cong. Rec 14982 (1996) (statement of Sen. John McCain).
In the example, above, 142 is the volume, 14979 is the page number.
For proceedings that have not yet appeared in the Permanent Edition of the Congressional Record:
*If the text is not yet published in the permanent edition, you will need to cite to the Daily Edition. The Daily Edition includes the prefixes H, S and E.* before page numbers. (The Bluebook, 2020, p. 140).
In text:
Citing this in text is not specifically addressed in either The Bluebook or the APA Publication Manual. Following general APA and Bluebook principles for citing legislative materials:
- (159 Cong. Rec. H227, 2013)
Reference list:
- 159 Cong. Rec. H227 (daily ed. Jan. 23, 2013) (statement of Rep. Yarmuth)
These abbreviations refer to sections of the Daily Edition: H=House; S=Senate; E=Extension of Remarks