Topic: Federal Legislative History and Analysis — Committee Documents & Reports

Common citation conventions for committee documents related to proposed legislation include the abbreviation of the document type, followed by the session number of Congress, and the specific document's number (documents are numbered consecutively throughout each session). If the citation doesn't include include the session number, use this table to determine the Congress number, based on the date the document was produced. These are the most common document & report types and citations:

 House and Senate Reports accompany proposed legislation, outlining the purpose of the law, the need for the legislation, constitutionality, and analysis of the effect the legislation would have. The reports can include subcommittee reports, and minority views, on the law. For more information see About Congressional Reports (Government Printing Office web site).

Locating references to House and Senate Reports:

• Congress.gov provides report numbers for bills from 1973-present (and includes links to the PDF of reports from 1995-present. For reports prior to 1995, use links to Govinfo or  ProQuest Congressional Publications above to find full text.)
• References to House and Senate Reports on specific legislation are included in CIS Congressional Index and U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, and are indexed in Congressional Index KF 49 .C6 (1947-1996)
• The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (Babbidge Federal Documents Reading Room - Level B:   J 83 .M 66) in the final edition for each year provides a cumulative list of all reports, prints, and hearings published by each House and Senate committee.
• WorldCat can also be used to locate committee reports, prints, and hearings.

House and Senate Documents:

House and Senate Documents can include reports of executive agencies and documents related to treaties. For more information see About Congressional Documents (Government Printing Office web site).

Options for full-text access to House and Senate Documents:

• 1817 - present reports are available in full text through ProQuest Congressional Publications
• 1995/96 to present (104th Congress)  House and Senate Documents are available through Congress.gov and GovInfo.gov

Locating references to House and Senate Documents:

• Congress.gov provides document numbers for bills from 1973-present (and includes links to the PDF of reports from 1995-present. For House and Senate Documents prior to 1995, use ProQuest Congressional Publications to find full text.)
• References to House and Senate Documents are included in CIS Congressional Index and U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, and are indexed in Congressional Index KF 49 .C6 (1947-1996)
• The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (Babbidge Federal Documents Reading Room - Level B:   J 83 .M 66) in the final edition for each year provides a cumulative list of all reports, prints, and hearings published by each House and Senate committee.
• WorldCat can also be used to locate committee reports, prints, and hearings.

Committee Prints can include reference materials prepared for the members of a committee considering a bill.

Locating references to House and Senate Committee Prints:

• Congress.gov provides Prints numbers for bills from 1973-present (and includes links to the PDF of reports from 1995-present. For House and Senate Prints prior to 1995, use ProQuest Congressional Publications to find full text.)
• References to House and Senate Documents are included in CIS Congressional Index and U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, and are indexed in Congressional Index KF 49 .C6 (1947-1996)
• The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (Babbidge Federal Documents Reading Room - Level B:   J 83 .M 66) in the final edition for each year provides a cumulative list of all reports, prints, and hearings published by each House and Senate committee
• WorldCat can also be used to locate committee reports, prints, and hearings.