CONGRESSIONAL INFORMATION FOR HISTORIANS

House and Senate Journals

United States. Congress. House. Journals of the House of Representatives of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1781--.

United States. Congress. Senate. Journals of the Senate of the United States Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1781--.

The House and Senate Journals record the actions of the each body on each day they are in session, but do not contain transcripts of debates. Each volume of the Journals corresponds to a session of Congress and has its own index at the back of the volume. Index entries refer to bill or resolution numbers, which then must be looked up in lists of bills, House Resolutions, and House Concurrent Resolutions which immediately precede the index. The entry for the bill or resolution gives the dates when the matter was discussed or acted on in some way. Occasionally an index entry will give a page number if there is no bill or resolution connected to the matter, as in the annual report in the sample entry below.

Sample Entry from House Journal (89th Congress, 2nd Session, 1966):

UNITED NATIONS
Participation by the United States in, 19th annual report, 274.
Permanent peacekeeping force, provide (H.Con.Res. 683, 689,690,
691, 692, 693, 694, 899, 900, 981, 1014, 1016).
Prohibit assistance to any country which is 6 months or more in arrears
with respect to payment of its assessed share of United Nations
expenses (H.R. 15145).
Urge United States to continue opposition to admission of Red China
to the (H.Con.Res. 1015).

Sample Entry from Senate Journal (89th Congress, 2nd Session, 1966):

Page
Vietnam--
Agricultural agreements concluded with, reports... 8, 59,
118, 229, 264, 591
Armed Forces members killed in, appointment to service
academies for sons--(See S. 2880.)
Commitments in, fiscal and monetary position of United States,
investigate--(See S.Res. 221.)

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