Political Science: Congressional Documents

Please be aware that ProQuest, HeinOnline and Readex resources are available remotely only to the UCSD community. Anyone may use these resources within the library, however. The UCSD Library also has print copies of many of these documents; use the library catalog to find call numbers and locations.

* Plus citations/abstracts and selected testimony transcripts 2004-current.

The CIS microfiche collection (1970-2010) includes Committee and Subcommittee hearings and prints, House and Senate reports, documents, and special publications, Senate executive reports and documents, and public laws.

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation presents published congressional records from 1774-1875. It includes the Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-89); the Letters of Delegates to Congress (1774-89); the Journals of the House of Representatives (1789-1875) and the Senate (1789-1875); debates of Congress as published in the Annals of Congress (1789-1824), the Register of Debates (1824-37), Congressional Globe (1833-73), and Congressional Record (1873-75); the Statutes at Large (1789-1875); the American State Papers (1789-1838); and congressional bills and resolutions for selected sessions beginning with 1799 in the House of Representatives and 1819 in the Senate. A select number of documents and reports from the monumental U.S. Congressional Serial Set are available as well.

These resources will help track current legislation by topics, bills, and/or members of Congress.

Research reports prepared for the Congress generally provide excellent background information on the topic covered. Examples of these include Congressional Budget Office reports, Government Accountability Office reports, and Congressional committee prints.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are non-partisan, high-quality research on timely issues. These reports were not historically released beyond Congress, but several organizations worked to make access to the documents more widely available. Legislation enacted in 2018 now requires the Library of Congress to make CRS reports available directly to the public.

UCSD users should start with the ProQuest Congressional collection for CRS reports, which covers 1916-present.  Additional sources are listed below.