Congressional Documents

Congressional Documents, 94th Congress (1975-1976) to Present

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Congressional Documents originate from congressional committees and cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. Congressional documents, along with Congressional reports, are part of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set , commonly referred to as the Serial Set.

What is available?

• govinfo contains select House, Senate, and treaty published documents from the 104th Congress (1995-96) forward. Additional documents from previous congresses are also available. Only the Congressional documents that are printed by the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) are included.
• The system is updated irregularly for the current Congress, as digital versions of the documents are published and approved for release.
• Documents are available as ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
• Some congressional documents may be available through other govinfo collections.

Types of Congressional Documents

House and Senate Documents

House and Senate Documents contain various other materials ordered printed by both chambers of Congress. Documents can include reports of executive departments and agencies, some of which are submitted in accordance with Federal law, then later are ordered printed as documents. Sometimes committee prints are ordered printed as documents also, if the information they contain is in demand. Documents have a larger distribution than committee prints.

Senate Executive Documents

Senate Executive Documents contain the text of a Treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President of the United States. Beginning with the 97th Congress in 1981, Executive Documents became known as Treaty Documents, and they are now numbered instead of lettered alphabetically.

Senate Treaty Documents

Senate Treaty Documents contain the text of a Treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President of the United States. Numbered consecutively from the 1st Session through the 2d Session of a Congress. Prior to the 97th Congress, known as Executive (Lettered) Documents, and identified by letters of the alphabet.

General govinfo Search Tips

Search Examples

Search for Congressional Documents by Committee - These examples will search for documents with the word budget in the committee name.

• Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and committee:budget
• Using Advanced Search,
  • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In selectCommitteein the first box and enter budgetin the second box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Document Number - These examples will search for documents with the number 35 from any Congress.

• Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and docnumber:35
• Using Advanced Search,
  • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Document Number in the first box and enter 35 in the second box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Citation - These examples will search for House Document 112-23.

• Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and citation:"H. Doc. 112-23"
• Using Advanced Search,
  • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Citation in the first box and enter H. Doc. 112-23"in the second box.
• Using Citation Search, select Congressional Documents from the Select Collection box, select H. Doc. from the Select Type box, select 112^th Congress from the Select Congress box, and enter 23in the next box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Keyword and Date Range - These examples will search for documents from May 1, 2008 to May 15, 2008 with the word reform in the text or metadata.

• Using Basic Search, enter: reform and collection:cdoc and publishdate:range(2008-05-01, 2008-05-15)
• Using Advanced Search,
  • Select Date is Between under Date Range, then select or enter 05/01/2008 in the first box and 05/15/2008 in the second box.
  • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In enter reform in the second box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Document Type and Congress Number - These examples will search for Senate documents from the 109^th Congress.

• Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and doctype:sdoc and congress:109
• Using Advanced Search,
• Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Document Type in the first box and select S. Doc. in the second box.
• Click + Additional Criteria and select Congress Number in the next box and select 109 in the fourth box.

Details Page for a Congressional Document (Single Part or Volume)
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CDOC-105hdoc123/CDOC-105hdoc123

PDF File for a Congressional Document (Single Part or Volume)
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Package ID}.pdf
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-105hdoc123/pdf/CDOC-105hdoc123.pdf

HTML File for a Congressional Document (Single Part or Volume)
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Package ID}.htm
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-105hdoc123/html/CDOC-105hdoc123.htm

Details Page for a Part, Volume or Errata of a Congressional Document
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}/{Granule ID}
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CDOC-106sdoc4/CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3

PDF File for a Part, Volume or Errata of a Congressional Document
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Granule ID}.pdf
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-106sdoc4/pdf/CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3.pdf

XML File for a Part, Volume or Errata of a Congressional Document
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Granule ID}.htm
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-106sdoc4/html/CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3.htm

Congressional Documents Metadata Fields and Values

Metadata fields and values can be used to increase the relevancy of your searches. Metadata fields and values are used throughout govinfo for:

• Refining Your Search,
• Browsing Government Publications,
• Field Operators,
• Advanced Search, and
• Display on Details pages.

Metadata fields and values can be entered into the Basic Search box using field operators. The metadata fields and values available for Congressional Documents are listed in the table below, along with examples for each metadata field. Using Field Operators

Some of the metadata fields are made available for use in Advanced Search. The metadata values can be entered in the same format for the fields available on the Advanced Search Page. Using Advanced Search

Congressional Documents Related Resources

• Featured House, Senate and Joint Publications - House or Senate select documents published by Congress or jointly by the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.
• Congressional Reports - Reports of congressional committees concerning proposed legislation or findings on matters under investigation.
• Browse by Congressional Committee - Browse documents issued by individual committees, including Bills, Documents, and Hearings.
• Contact your local Federal Depository Library
• Purchase the Congressional Serial Set - From GPO's Online Bookstore