Understand the Sources

Overview: Congressional Record

Congressional Record and its Predecessors

The printed record of the debates and proceedings of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives exists in four separate historical series described below. Although only the most recent series, the Congressional Record, is actually a publication of the United States Government, all four series have the official sanction of the Congress of the United States.

Annals of Congress (1789-1824)

Title

This series of publications is usually known by its short title, Annals of Congress, although its full title is The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, with an Appendix, Containing Important State Papers and Public Documents and All the Laws of a Public Nature; with a Copious Index. The title is sometimes cited as History of Congress or Gales and Seaton's History of Congress, both of which forms of the title were derived from the running heads in different volumes.

Contents

The Annals do not contain a verbatim record of actual debate in the House of Representatives and the Senate but rather summaries of the important debates prepared retrospectively by the publisher-compilers, Gales & Seaton, from contemporaneous records including newspaper accounts. On the Senate side only scanty records remain for 1789-94 because the Senate usually sat in closed session up to the second session of the Third Congress. From October 1800 the summaries of the debates are taken from the Washington, D.C. newspaper the National Intelligencer. The Annals' Appendices contain the texts of important public laws and selected executive documents dealing with them, as indicated in the full form of the title. The Annals were published 1834-1856.

Time Period

1789-1824, 1st Congress through the 1st session of the 18th Congress

Organization

The proceedings of the two houses are arranged separately by house and not in a single chronological sequence by days. The record for House and for the Senate, however, are each consecutive through the entire session. Volumes vary in chronological coverage from a single session or portion of a session to occasionally an entire congress.

Size

42 volumes filmed on 536 CIS Microfiche [originally filmed by Microcard]

Indexes

Internal indexes are present and were also later cumulated and republished. Indexes, though varying somewhat in completeness from volume to volume, are overall rather unsatisfactory.

Publisher

Gales & Seaton of Washington, D.C.

Dates of Publication

1834-1856

Editions

There appear to be two editions of the volumes for the 1st Congress with apparently the same text but set from different type with different page breaks. Laurence F. Schmeckebier notes in Government Publications and Their Uses that "The volumes for the 2nd and 4th Congresses were evidently printed in more than one edition, as different imprint dates appear on the volumes covering the same period and apparently containing the same text" (p. 137).

Authorization

1145 H.rp. 113 Printing of Annals of Congress

By joint resolution of March 3, 1849 and by an act of Congress of September 30, 1850 were authorized to subscribe to 2000 copies of the Annals.

Register of Debates (1824-1837)

Title

This series of publications is usually cited by its short title, Register of Debates, although its full title is Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of each Session, together with an Appendix Containing the Most Important State Papers and Public Documents to which the Session has given Birth, to which are Added the Laws Enacted during the Session, with a Copious Index of the Whole.

Contents

Although published in close proximity to the sessions of Congress, the accounts in the Register of Debates do not pretend to constitute a verbatim record of proceedings of the House of Representatives and of the Senate. Dr. Ames characterized their coverage in this way: "No part of the proceedings of the two Houses of Congress is given except what involves debates or some incident novel or important in its character, and therefore worthy of preservation. The debates are not in all cases literally reported, but their substantial accuracy may be entirely relied upon."

Time Period

1824-1837, 2nd session of the 18th Congress through the 1st session of the 25th Congress

Organization

The first volume is organized chronologically by days, like the later Congressional Globe and the Congressional Record, but the remaining volumes follow the organization principle of the Annals, giving the record for each house consecutively in separate chronological sequences.

Size

14 volumes in 29 parts filmed on 444 CIS Microfiche [originally filmed by Microcard]

Indexes

Internal indexes for each volume, repeated in each part if the volume is issued in more than one part. The indexes were also later cumulated and republished.

Publisher

Gales & Seaton of Washington, D.C. published the full 14-volume set. A Register of Debates, Giving Speeches Delivered in Congress, during the 1st Session of the 23rd Congress from Dec. 2, 1833 to May 31, 1834, was published in two volumes by the firm of Duff Green in 1834.

Dates of Publication

1825-1837

Authorization

According to Dr. Ames, "provision for the purchase of these volumes for the use of Congress was made from time to time, either in the way of a general appropriation for books for the Library of Congress or of a special appropriation for the Register."

Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

Title

Congressional Globe. Title page title Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Congress

Contents

From the 23rd through the 31st Congress the title page title referred to "Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings" thus indicating that the contents were more like the abstracts of debates found in the Annals and Register of Debates. Beginning with the 32nd Congress the word "Sketches" was omitted from the title and more of the debates, as Schmeckebier says "are given in the first person, and gradually approach a more nearly verbatim report." The appendices contain, in addition to the full text of speeches by Senators and Representatives that for personal revision, or whatever reason, were withheld by them from the main body of the Globe, the messages of the President and the reports of Cabinet officers up to the close of the 40th Congress (1833-1868), the text of public laws from the 2nd session of the 32nd Congress up to the3rd session of 42nd Congress, and a detailed statement of appropriations up to the close of the 36th Congress (1833-1861).

Time Period

1833-1873, 1st Session of the 23rd Congress through 3rd Session of the 42nd Congress. The first five volumes' coverage overlaps with that of the Register of Debates.

Organization

Chronological by day with the proceedings of the Senate proceeding those of the House of Representatives

Size

109 books, each of about 1000 pages, in 46 volumes filmed on 1596 CIS Microfiche.

Indexes

Separate internal indexes for House and Senate, often printed at the beginning of the books. Appendices also have separate indexes. In subjects covered and consistency of terms, the indexes are far superior to those of the Annals and the Register of Debates.

Publisher

1833-1849 Blair & Rives
1849-1864 John C. Rives
1864-1867 F. & J. Rives
1867-1873 F. & J. Rives and George Bailey

Authorization

The Globe was supplied to Congress under resolutions of each house for its purchase and use by the Senators and Representatives.

Dates of Publication

1833-1873

Congressional Record (1873-present)

Title

Congressional Record

Contents

The Record contains the verbatim speeches and proceedings on the floor of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The text was originally printed from stenographic reports compiled by official reporters to the House and Senate until more recent recording methods were adopted. All extraneous matter is excluded from the Record with its contents limited to the proceedings of Congress. The appendices contain speeches, which for reasons of personal revision or whatever, were withheld by Senators and Congressmen and not inserted in their proper place in the Record. In the more recent period, it has become customary for members of Congress to append extended remarks as well as to insert into the record numerous miscellaneous articles, reports, and other communications.

Time Period

1873 through the present. CIS microfiche coverage.

Organization

One daily chronological sequence with House and Senate sections. Page numbers are consecutive across volumes throughout the year.

Size

137 volumes (volumes are in multiple parts) through 1991 filmed on 22,734 CIS Microfiche

Indexes

Separate very detailed combined subjects and names index volume for each year. The index volume is the final volume of each session. For the daily edition, indexes are issued every two weeks.

Publisher

U.S. Government Printing Office

Dates of Publication

1873-present

Editions

A daily edition is issued with separate (H) House and (S) Senate page numbers. The daily edition is superseded by the official annual edition of the Record. Since 1947 an annual one-volume abridgment of the Record, the Daily Digest, has been published.

Authorization

The Record was authorized by the Act of March 3, 1873 providing that "the debates of Congress shall be printed by the Congressional Printer under the direction of the Joint Committee on Public Printing." In 1876, cognizant of the importance of the official record of its proceedings, the Senate resolved that "the reports in the Congressional Record shall be an accurate transcript of the proceedings and debates of the two Houses of Congress; and that no speech shall be published therein which was not spoken in the Senate or in the House of Representatives."