Federal Legislative History

The Congressional Record contains the floor debate held in each chamber from 1873 to date. Prior to 1873, proceedings were published in the Congressional Globe (1833-1873), Register of Debates (1824-1837), and Annals of Congress (1789-1824). These earlier sets of congressional proceedings were summaries of floor speeches or newspaper stories that often printed lengthy accounts of the floor speeches. Over the years, coverage of floor debate expanded, and, by the mid-nineteenth century, the Congressional Globe contained an almost complete account of floor proceedings. In 1873, Congress established its own transcript of floor proceedings with the Congressional Record. 

Note: There are two versions of the Congressional Record: a daily edition and a permanent bound edition, each having its own pagination. The page numbers from the daily edition cannot be used to find documents in the permanent edition because the pagination is different. To locate debate in the permanent edition while having only page numbers from the daily, use the permanent edition’s Index, which is arranged by subject, or the History of Bills and Resolutions, which is arranged by bill and resolution numbers. Publication of the permanent bound edition is often delayed by several years after the end of each session of Congress. You may also try HeinOnline's Congressional Record Daily to Bound Locator, although this tool does not provide coverage for all volumes.