USING THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

WHAT IS IT?

The Congressional Record is a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during the proceedings of the House and Senate, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections under clause 8 of Rule XVII. Essentially, the Congressional Record is a recording of all of the business that takes place on the House or Senate Floors. Anything that takes place on the Floor of the House or Senate will become a part of the Congressional Record. The Record contains four main sections: the proceedings of the House and the Senate, Extensions of Remarks, and the Daily Digest (CRS rept. 98-203).

The Congressional Record is consecutively numbered in each session of Congress with House pages of the Record marked with an “H,” Senate pages with an “S,” Daily Digest sections with a “D,” and Extensions of Remarks pages with an “E.”

HOUSE AND SENATE PROCEEDINGS

This section contains the daily opening of each house, followed by “morning business” (Senate) or “one minute speeches” (House). These are usually followed by debate on bills or resolutions. This section also contains record or voice votes on amendments, passage, or tabling of measures considered on the Floor. The House and Senate portions of the Record also contain lists of measures reported out of committees and lists of measures introduced, their original sponsors and the committee(s) to which the measure has been referred. Both the House and Senate sections also contain: lists of appointees to conference committees; messages from one House to the other; Presidential messages and petitions and memorials.

EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS

This section is located before the Daily Digest and after the proceedings of the House and Senate. It contains remarks and extraneous material that Members and Senators wish to become part of the official record of the Congress, but have not been delivered as speeches on either Floor. Undelivered speeches and other extraneous material are printed in a different type style to distinguish them from speeches actually given on the Floor. There is a list of Members who have inserted remarks in the “Extensions” section on the last page of the Congressional Record.

DAILY DIGEST

The Daily Digest section of the Congressional Record is one of the most important sections of the Record. It serves as an index to that particular edition of the Record. The Daily Digest is located at the end of each edition and contains: the times of meetings for both houses; measures reported, considered, or signed into law; messages from the President; and information on previous, current, and future committee activities and schedules. In addition, a cumulative resume of congressional activity and statistical information is published at the beginning of each month.

NOTE: The Congressional Record is also available on line at: www.congress.gov