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Hearings
Hearings, which are usually open to the public, are held to enable committees to gather opinions and information on proposed legislation. Note that they include testimony both for and against the legislation from individuals with opposing views attempting to persuade Congress to act in a particular way. Therefore, caution is required when using to determine Congressional intent.
- Congressional Hearings (print & microform)Full text hearings.
Coverage: print = 94th Congress (1975/1976) - Current
microform = 97th Congress (1981/1982) - Current
For older hearings, see the Wisconsin Historical Society - 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) - 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 - Westlaw (online)Westlaw's Congressional Testimony and U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories libraries contain the full text of hearing testimony.
Coverage: Congressional Testimony library = 108th Congress (2004) - current session
U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories library (enacted legislation only) = 67th Congress (1921/22) - 104th Congress (1995/96) - LexisNexis (online)Lexis' CQ Congressional Testimony library contains the full text of hearings.
Coverage: 103rd Congress (1993) - current - C-SPAN Video Library (online)Videos and transcripts of C-Span programs. Includes public affairs programming, Congressional floor debate, hearings, news conferences, and more.
Coverage: 1987 - current - Congressional Hearings, Zimmerman's Research GuideThis guide covers the types of hearings, hearing schedules, and how to locate hearing testimony.
- Guide to Congressional HearingsThis book provides a guide to conducting Congressional hearings. It covers formal procedures and rules, and common committee practices. It discusses hearings preparation, such as scheduling, invitations to witnesses, and publicity and media considerations; and procedural elements, such as quorums for taking testimony, oaths and questioning witnesses.
- Types of Committee Hearings (CRS Report)This Congressional Research Service Report from Nov 2018 describes four types of committee hearings: legislative, oversight, investigative, and confirmation.