Congressional Committee Reports

Currier & Ives. *The first colored senator and representatives - in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States.* 1872. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Congressional Reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. Congressional Reports, along with Congressional Documents, are part of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set , commonly referred to as the Serial Set.

Three types of Congressional Committee Reports are available:

House and Senate Reports contain reports of congressional committees concerning proposed legislation and/or contain findings on matters under investigation.
Senate Executive Reports contain reports of the Committee on Foreign Relations relating to Treaties between the United States and foreign nations, which have been submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, or reports of various Senate Committees regarding nomination of individuals.
Conference Reports are agreements on legislation that is negotiated between the House and Senate via conference committees

Learn more about Congressional Committee Documents at govInfo

Subscription Databases for Finding Congressional Committee Reports

The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

American State Papers, 1789-1838 External This link opens in a new window
Contains the legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838. The American State Papers however are not a complete record of the activities of that time period because of the fire of 1814 and the lack of record keeping during the first fourteen Congresses.
Coverage: 1st Congress-25th Congress, 1789-1838
HeinOnline U.S. Congressional Documents Library External This link opens in a new window
This collection features the complete Congressional Record bound volume set from its inception in 1873 as well as the three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873). Also available are the Congressional Record Dailies from 1994-current, as well as the precedents of the House of Representatives from the 1st-94th Congresses, known as Cannon’s, Hind’s and Deschler’s Precedents.
Coverage: 18th century to present.
ProQuest Congressional External This link opens in a new window
Explore government in action with the most comprehensive web-based resource available for congressional hearings, public issues, legislation, history, and legal research.
Coverage: 18th century to present
ProQuest Legislative Insight External This link opens in a new window
ProQuest® Legislative Insight is a Federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full text publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws. These include the full text of the Public Law itself, all versions of related bills, law-specific Congressional Record excerpts, committee hearings, reports, and prints. Also included are Presidential signing statements, CRS reports, and miscellaneous congressional publications that provide background material to aid in the understanding of issues related to the making of the law.
Coverage: 18th century to present
U.S. Congressional Serial Set External This link opens in a new window
The United States Congressional Serial Set contains all the Reports, Documents, and Journals of the US Senate and House of Representatives from the 15th Congress to the 97th Congress 1817 - December 23, 1982. The database, constitutes a rich collection of full text primary source material on U.S. political, social, cultural, military and ethnic history, as well as international relations, explorations, genealogy, commerce, and industrial development. For more information on the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, visit the GPO site U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Documents before 1817 may also be found in the American State Papers provided by the Library of Congress American Memory. Also see the Library of Congress print and microform holdings of the Checklist of United States Public Documents .
Coverage:15th Congress-103rd Congress, 1817-1994
U.S. Documents Masterfile: 1774-2021 External This link opens in a new window
Public Documents Masterfile is a comprehensive index of federal, state, local, and some international public documents, spanning over 200 years of publication. The database provides searching across millions of records using: Titles; Authors; Subjects; SuDocs numbers; Publication dates; Index terms; Monthly Catalog entry numbers; and Microfilm locations.
Coverage: 18th century to 2016

Free Resources for Finding Congressional Committee Reports

A Century of Lawmaking

Beginning with the Continental Congress in 1774, America's national legislative bodies have kept records of their proceedings. The records of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the United States Congress make up a rich documentary history of the construction of the nation and the development of the federal government and its role in the national life. These documents record American history in the words of those who built our government.
Coverage: First Continental Congress-44th Congress, 1774-1875
Center for Legislative Archives

While congressional publications can be found nationwide, the [National Archives] Center's combination of publications and unpublished committee records make our holdings unique.
Coverage: varies
Congress.gov

Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.
Coverage: 104th Congress, 1995 to present
govinfo: U.S. Government Publishing Office

govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch. It provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
Coverage: 104th Congress, 1995 to present
Google Books External

"On Google Books, you can read books and magazines, download them, cite them, and translate them. Some books are provided by publishers, while others are scanned as part of the Library Project." (from the google books site)
Coverage: varies
HathitTrust External

"HathiTrust is a growing, global partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and accessible long into the future. The mission of HathiTrust is to contribute to research, scholarship, and the common good by collaboratively collecting, organizing, preserving, communicating, and sharing the record of human knowledge." (HathiTrust website)
Coverage: varies
Internet Archive External

"The Internet Archive offers over 15,000,000 freely downloadable books and texts. There is also a collection of 550,000 modern eBooks that may be borrowed by anyone with a free archive.org account." (Internet Archive website)
Coverage: varies

The Government Depository Collection at the Library of Congress

The Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room keeps the latest ten years of U.S. Government Documents in print or on microfiche as part of the U.S. Federal Government Depository Collection. A SuDoc number is necessary in order to request these. GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications can help you find the SuDoc numbers.

Visit the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room

Finding Government Documents

Congressional Committee Reports

Subscription Databases for Finding Congressional Committee Reports

Free Resources for Finding Congressional Committee Reports

The Government Depository Collection at the Library of Congress