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Congressional Documents

About Committee Hearings

A hearing is a meeting of the House, Senate, or a committee to discuss proposed legislation, research, data, investigations, or government activities. Hearings are generally open to the public, and transcripts may be published two months to two years after the meeting. Congressional hearing documents may record testimony from members of Congress, the Executive branch, experts, interest groups, and the general public. Speakers may discuss a wide variety of topics, but not all proposed legislation is discussed in hearings.

Hearings may be organized by committee, title, or number depending on the resource or type of hearing.

Finding Committee Hearings

Congressional Hearings govinfo (GPO)
Select hearings beginning with the 85th Congress (1957-1958). Can Browse by Congress and Committee. To search Congressional Hearings, click the orange "Search" button, select "Advanced", then under "Refine by Collection" select "Congressional Hearings". Search results can be further refined by using the side panel on the search results screen. For additional information and tips, see the About Congressional Hearings page.

House Committee Hearings and Meetings Video Library of Congress - Congress.gov
Watch recordings and live streams of House committee hearings and meetings. Coverage varies by committee.

Congressional Hearings
Available on HeinOnline. Select hearings beginning with the 50th Congress (1887-1889). Material added regularly. Check for updates. Once in HeinOnline, select U.S. Congressional Documents > Congressional Hearings.
HeinOnline's U.S. Federal History Library may include links to Congressional Hearings in its compiled legislative histories. See the Federal Legislative History guide for more information.

Congressional Publications - Hearings
Available on ProQuest Congressional. Coverage begins with 1824. Select unpublished hearings (1973-1992) also available. Full text may not be available for all hearings.

  • To search by Sudoc or Accession Number (Hearing Id number or CIS number), select Search By Number then click the tab for "All citation searches." Enter the number in the appropriate field and click Search.
  • To search by Senate Hearing number, select Search By Number, then click the tab for "All citation searches." Under "Publication Number," select the Type and Congress, then enter the number and click Search.
  • To search by title, select Advanced Search, then limit to only "Hearings" using the check boxes on the left side. Enter your search terms and select "Title" from the drop-down menu next to the search box. Can also limit by date or search by Witness/Panelist.
  • See the Using ProQuest Congressional page of this guide for more information.

Congressional Hearings (1824 - Current)
Available on the library's Lexis computers. 

House Committee Transcripts
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. Coverage begins with the 104th Congress (1995-1996). Includes transcripts of select hearings before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Senate Committee Transcripts
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. Coverage begins with the 104th Congress (1995-1996). Includes transcripts of select hearings before committees of the U.S. Senate.

Jenkins has access to select Congressional Committee hearings on microfiche and in print. The hearings on microfiche are part of our CIS collection, which covers the years 1970-2010. Contact Research Services at 215.574.1505 or research@jenkinslaw.org for more information.