The Congressional Record publishes Congressional Debates, many bills and joint resolutions, presidential messages and treaties. The Record also published notices saying that each bill has been introduced and that simple resolutions and concurrent resolutions have been passed. The Record began publishing in 1873.
The daily edition of the Congressional Record is posted on FDsys back to 1994, and the bound edition is available back to December 1998. Thomas has the Record back to the 101st Congress (1989-90). Lexis (LEGIS;RECORD) and Westlaw (CR) have the Record back to January 3, 1985. Hein Online's U.S. Congressional Documents Collection includes back issues of the bound and daily Congressional Record.
Most large law libraries have the Record in paper or microfilm going way back. To get copies, though, you have to have a cite. To get sites, see the following sections on Citations and Pagination.
Research: To find something in the Congressional Record (i.e., get a cite), you can (a) search Lexis (LEGIS;RECORD) or Westlaw (CR), back through 1985 or (b) use the Congressional Record Index. The Congressional Record Index is published annually in hard copy. It's posted on GPO Access back to 1983 and on Thomas back to 1994. You can also search it on Lexis, either from 1970 to the present (LEGIS;CISINX) or from 1789 to 1980 (LEGIS;CISHST).
All academic law libraries and many other large law libraries have the Index, and if you provide the right information (e.g., the sponsor's name or the right subject heading), their document delivery services will probably be willing to look up what you need and send you copies.
Pagination: The Congressional Record has TWO pagination systems -- one for the daily edition and one for the bound. Although the content is generally the same, Congressmen can revise their remarks for the bound version. There is no cross-reference table between the pagination systems - if you don't have the page for the edition available to you, you have to figure it out.
If you subscribe, HeinOnline has a "Congressional Record Daily to Bound Locator." Otherwise, you can try looking up the agency/title/subject/date in the Congressional Record Index or do key word searches in a database. Alternatively, if you have the date the item was published, you can go the hard copy version for that date and turn pages. If you don't have the date, you may be able to look it up in the CCH Congressional Index.
Locating Debates: The "Legislative Histories" section of the CIS/Index gives you cites to the debates on bills that became Public Laws. The CIS/Index is available in most large law libraries and on Lexis (LEGIS;INX).
More Information: For more information about the Congressional Register and its predecessors -- the Annals of Congress, the Register of Debates in Congress and the Congressional Globe -- see "An Overview of the Congressional Record and its Predecessor Publications" by Richard J. McKinney, 46(2) Law Library Lights 16 (Winter 2002), posted at http://llsdc.org/lightspast/. See also A Research Guide to the Federal Register
and the Code of Federal Regulations.
