Congressional Record
United States. Congress. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1873–.
United States. Congress. Congressional Globe. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1834.
United States. Congress. Register of Debates in Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1825–.
United States. Congress. Annals of Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1789-1824.
United States. Continental Congress. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968.
The Congressional Record has published the proceedings and edited debates of Congress since March 5, 1873. Before 1873, the debates were summarized in the Congressional Globe (1833-73), the Register of Debates (1824-37), the Annals of Congress (1789-1824), and the Journals of the Continental Congress. The earliest of these sources are limited by the lack of an official stenographer and by primitive transcription methods. The Journals of the Continental Congress in particular consist primarily of summaries and written documents compiled years after the fact, but by the time the Congressional Record began publication the main difference between the transcripts and the actual debates was the editorial changes made by congressmen. For example, in the Congressional Record a bullet next to a statement means that it was inserted in the record but never spoken on the floor.
Each numbered Congress has its own indexed volume or volumes of the Congressional Record, arranged in chronological order. Later volumes also have an indexed Daily Digest at the end of the Congress, and some have appendixes of various kinds. The main index refers to page numbers in any of these volumes, as well as to bill and resolution numbers which can then be pursued in the House and Senate Journals.
Sample Entry from the 76th Congress (Volume 85, November 1 to November 3, 1939):
