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Committee Reports and Conference Committee Reports
After a bill is introduced, it may be assigned to one or more committees. Prior to debate by the whole Congress, the committee may issue a report on their recommendations. Reports are assigned separate sequential numbers within each chamber (e.g., H. Rpt. 99-1, S. Rpt. 99-1).
A conference committee report is a particular type of committee report issued after passage in both chambers. Members from the House and Senate meet to resolve differences between two versions of the bill. The committee prepares a report which discusses only the provisions that differed and contains the agreed-upon language of the bill and an explanation of the compromise.
Note that the conference committee report is numbered in the same format as other committee reports so you often cannot tell the difference between a committee report and a conference committee report based on citation only.
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Committee Reports, unbound (print)Full text unbound print reports. Arranged by SuDoc number, Y 1.1/5 (Senate) & Y 1.1/8: (House).
Coverage: 96th Congress (1979/80) - Current (begins where Law's holdings of the Serial Set ends) -
United States Congressional Serial Set (print & microform)The Serial Set contains House & Senate Documents and House & Senate Reports.
Coverage: print = 76th Congress (1939/40) - 95th Congress (1977/78) (arranged by Serial Set vol.)
microform = 97th Congress (1981/82) - 107th Congress (2001/02) (arranged by SuDoc #, Y 1.1/5 (Senate) & Y 1.1/8: (House))
Note: Serial Set is also available through ProQuest Congressional from 1st Congress (1789) - 108th Congress (2003) and in print at WI Historical Society -
United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (print)USCCAN reprints the United States Statutes at Large along with select congressional reports, signing statements, etc.
Coverage: 77th Congress (1941) - current -
ProQuest Legislative Insight (online)Full text congressional publications including the public law, all bill versions, floor debate from the Congressional Record, committee reports, conference committee reports, hearings, and prints.
Offers a very complete legislative history, but only available for enacted legislation. For un-enacted legislation, see PQ Congressional
Coverage: 71st Congress (1929/30) - current -
ProQuest Congressional (online)Index and many full text congressional publications. Includes acts, bills and resolutions, committee reports, conference committee reports, hearings, regulations, selective legislative histories, the Congressional Record (bound & daily editions) & predecessors, the Serial Set, and more.
Note that, unlike PQ Legislative Insight, PQ Congressional includes both enacted and un-enacted legislation. However, it is not as complete.
Coverage: selected = 1st Congress (1789) - current
full = 91st Congress (1969/70) -
Westlaw (online)Westlaw's Legislative History - United States Code and U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories libraries contain the full text of committee reports.
Coverage: Legislative History - United States Code library = 101st Congress (1990) - current session
U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories library (enacted legislation only) = 67th Congress (1921/22) - 104th Congress (1995/96) -
Congress.gov (online)The Library of Congress publishes federal legislative materials including public laws, bills and bill tracking, resolutions, the Congressional Record, and committee reports.
Coverage: 1995 - current (continuously updated) -
govinfo (online)Executive, legislative and judicial materials from the United States Government Printing Office. Includes the Federal Register, Congressional Record, U.S. Code, U.S. Statutes at Large, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Budgets, Congressional bills, hearings, committee prints, and more.
Coverage: varies - current edition -
Committees in CongressA comprehensive examination of the origins, development, and current status of committees and committee systems in both the House and Senate
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An Overview of the U.S. Congressional Serial SetA guide to the contents, organization, numbering schemes of the Serial Set from Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.
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U.S. Congressional Serial Set: What It Is and Its HistoryThis very helpful guide explains the history and usage of the Serial Set. It includes numerous illustrations.
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Appropriations LegislationA chart covering appropriation legislation including links to conference reports, conference report votes, and links to the law. After 2000, also includes links to both House and Senate versions of proposed legislation, full and sub committee votes along with links to committee reports and votes on the legislation in each chamber.
Coverage: Fiscal years 1998 (Oct 1998 to Sept 1999) - current