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Congressional Documents

Last updated on 09-09-2020

Congressional Documents, 94th Congress (1975-1976) to Present

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About Congressional Documents

What are Congressional Documents?

Congressional Documents originate from congressional committees and cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. Congressional documents, along with Congressional reports, are part of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set , commonly referred to as the Serial Set.

What is available?

  • govinfo contains select House, Senate, and treaty published documents from the 104th Congress (1995-96) forward. Additional documents from previous congresses are also available. Only the Congressional documents that are printed by the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) are included.
  • The system is updated irregularly for the current Congress, as digital versions of the documents are published and approved for release.
  • Documents are available as ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
  • Some congressional documents may be available through other govinfo collections.

Types of Congressional Documents

House and Senate Documents

House and Senate Documents contain various other materials ordered printed by both chambers of Congress. Documents can include reports of executive departments and agencies, some of which are submitted in accordance with Federal law, then later are ordered printed as documents. Sometimes committee prints are ordered printed as documents also, if the information they contain is in demand. Documents have a larger distribution than committee prints.

Senate Executive Documents

Senate Executive Documents contain the text of a Treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President of the United States. Beginning with the 97th Congress in 1981, Executive Documents became known as Treaty Documents, and they are now numbered instead of lettered alphabetically.

Senate Treaty Documents

Senate Treaty Documents contain the text of a Treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President of the United States. Numbered consecutively from the 1st Session through the 2d Session of a Congress. Prior to the 97th Congress, known as Executive (Lettered) Documents, and identified by letters of the alphabet.


Searching Congressional Documents

You can locate Congressional Documents by:

  • Using the Basic Search for keyword and metadata fielded searches,
  • Using the Advanced Search; fields specific to the CDOC will display after you select Congressional Documents in the Refine by Collection column,
  • Using the Citation Search to retrieve a single document in PDF format if you know the Congress number, document type, and number of the document,
  • Narrowing search results by clicking on links in the Refine Your Search panel on the left hand side of the page (the sections under Refine Your Search correspond to the metadata available for the documents), and
  • Browsing on the Congressional Documents browse page.

General govinfo Search Tips

Search Examples

Search for Congressional Documents by Committee - These examples will search for documents with the word budget in the committee name.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and committee:budget
  • Using Advanced Search,
    • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In selectCommitteein the first box and enter budgetin the second box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Document Number - These examples will search for documents with the number 35 from any Congress.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and docnumber:35
  • Using Advanced Search,
    • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Document Number in the first box and enter 35 in the second box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Citation - These examples will search for House Document 112-23.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and citation:"H. Doc. 112-23"
  • Using Advanced Search,
    • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Citation in the first box and enter H. Doc. 112-23"in the second box.
  • Using Citation Search, select Congressional Documents from the Select Collection box, select H. Doc. from the Select Type box, select 112th Congress from the Select Congress box, and enter 23in the next box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Keyword and Date Range - These examples will search for documents from May 1, 2008 to May 15, 2008 with the word reform in the text or metadata.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: reform and collection:cdoc and publishdate:range(2008-05-01, 2008-05-15)
  • Using Advanced Search,
    • Select Date is Between under Date Range, then select or enter 05/01/2008 in the first box and 05/15/2008 in the second box.
    • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In enter reform in the second box.

Search for Congressional Documents by Document Type and Congress Number - These examples will search for Senate documents from the 109th Congress.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:cdoc and doctype:sdoc and congress:109
  • Using Advanced Search,
    • Select Congressional Documents under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Document Type in the first box and select S. Doc. in the second box.
    • Click + Additional Criteria and select Congress Number in the next box and select 109 in the fourth box.

Sample Congressional Documents URLs

govinfo uses two key pieces of information to construct predictable URLs to documents and Details pages:

  • Package ID is used to identify an individual document.
  • Granule ID is used to identify volumes, parts or errata that may exist for a single document.
Identifier Structure/Metadata Field Example

Package ID

CDOC-{Congress Number}{Document Type}{Document Number}

Note: Document Type is hprt (House Document), sprt (Senate Document), or tdoc (Senate Treaty Document).

CDOC-105hdoc123

Granule ID

Multiple Parts:

{Package ID}-pt{Part Number}

Multiple Volumes:

{Package ID}-vol{Volume Number}

Volumes and Parts:

{Package ID}-vol{Volume Number}-pt{Part Number}

Errata:

{Package ID}-err{Errata Number}

Note: Errata Number is only used when there are multiple errata. The first errata will not use Errata Number, however the second errata would have 2 as the Errata Number.

Multiple Parts:

CDOC-111hdoc129-pt3

Multiple Volumes:

CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3

Volumes and Parts:

CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3-pt2

Errata:

CDOC-110tdoc5-err

Tip: You can also use the link service and API to construct predictable links.

Details Page for a Congressional Document (Single Part or Volume)
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CDOC-105hdoc123/CDOC-105hdoc123

PDF File for a Congressional Document (Single Part or Volume)
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Package ID}.pdf
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-105hdoc123/pdf/CDOC-105hdoc123.pdf

HTML File for a Congressional Document (Single Part or Volume)
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Package ID}.htm
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-105hdoc123/html/CDOC-105hdoc123.htm

Details Page for a Part, Volume or Errata of a Congressional Document
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}/{Granule ID}
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CDOC-106sdoc4/CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3

PDF File for a Part, Volume or Errata of a Congressional Document
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Granule ID}.pdf
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-106sdoc4/pdf/CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3.pdf

XML File for a Part, Volume or Errata of a Congressional Document
Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Granule ID}.htm
Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-106sdoc4/html/CDOC-106sdoc4-vol3.htm


Congressional Documents Metadata Fields and Values

Metadata fields and values can be used to increase the relevancy of your searches. Metadata fields and values are used throughout govinfo for:

  • Refining Your Search,
  • Browsing Government Publications,
  • Field Operators,
  • Advanced Search, and
  • Display on Details pages.

Metadata fields and values can be entered into the Basic Search box using field operators. The metadata fields and values available for Congressional Documents are listed in the table below, along with examples for each metadata field. Using Field Operators

Some of the metadata fields are made available for use in Advanced Search. The metadata values can be entered in the same format for the fields available on the Advanced Search Page. Using Advanced Search

Metadata Field Display Name Metadata Field Definition Field Operator Field Operator Example

Collection

The collection to which the document belongs. Typically the same as the publication or series.

collection:

collection:cdoc

Government Author

The names of the Government organizations responsible for authoring or assembling the document.

governmentauthor:

governmentauthor:senate

Publication Date

The date the document was first made available to the public.

publishdate:

publishdate:2017-12-22

Date format is YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD

Language

The language code of the original document, from the ISO639-2b standard.

language:

language:eng

Former Package ID

The document ID of the "package" as originally specified on GPO Access

mods:identifier:(@type:"former package identifier":______)

mods:identifier:(@type:"former package identifier":"f:hd080.110")

SuDoc Class Number

The SuDoc class number from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents which classifies Government publications by publishing agency.

sudocclass:

sudocclass:"Y 1.1/3:"

Note: The SuDoc Class Numbers in FDsys are typically at the class stem level, not the book number level.

Ingestion Date

The date the document was ingested into the FDsys preservation repository.

ingestdate:

ingestdate:2010-08-06

Note: Date format is YYYY-MM-DD

Electronic Location (URL)

The URL where the document or the document in context (the content detail page) is located.

url:

url:"/pkg/CDOC-107hdoc119/pdf/CDOC-107hdoc119.pdf"

Publisher

The government organization who publishes the document or publication. Not typically the Government Publishing Office (who serves as the printer and distributor), except in the case of Congressional publications.

publisher:

publisher:"u.s. government publishing office"

Branch

The branch of Government responsible for the document's contents.

branch:

branch:legislative

Possible Values: Executive, Legislative, Judicial

Type of Resource

The media type for the document, typically "text". Defined as part of the Library of Congress MODS standard.

typeofresource:

typeofresource:text

WAIS Database Name

The name of the WAIS database to which the document belonged in the former GPO Access system.

waisdbname:

waisdbname:111_cong_docs

Record Origin

How the record was originally generated. Typically "machine generated."

recordorigin:

recordorigin:"machine generated"

Title

The title of the publication.

title:

title:"emergency funding"

Summary

A longer form of the title that provides a summary of the document. Not all documents have a summary.

summary:

summary:iran

Congress Number

The number of the Congress responsible for the document. Congresses last for two years, so for example, the 110th Congress was in session from 2007 through 2008.

congress:

congress:110

Congress Session

Session of Congress. Each Congress is typically divided into two yearly sessions.

session:

session:2

Possible Values: 1, 2

Chamber of Congress

The chamber in which the bill is being considered. This may not be the same as the chamber of origin.

chamber:

chamber:senate

Possible Values: house, senate

Document Type

The type of Congressional document which includes House Documents, Senate Documents, and Treaty Documents.

doctype:

doctype:hdoc

Possible Values: hdoc, sdoc, tdoc

Document Number

Number for the document. Documents are sequentially numbered per Congress.

docnumber:

docnumber:35

Action Text

The text of the legislative action taken on the document, for example, referred to committee and ordered to be printed.

legislativehistory:

legislativehistory:"referred to the committee"

Committee

Congressional committee names listed in the action text or title of the document.

committee:

committee:"committee on armed services"

Heading

Search for the hearing part heading, for example "part 2", "volume I", or "errata".

heading:

heading:"volume 2"

President

The full and official name of the president who issued the document, for example William J. Clinton or George W. Bush.

president:

president:clinton

Executive Communication

True if the document is a communication from the President of the United States.

execcomm:

execcomm:true

Possible Values: true or false

Jacket ID

The Jacket ID of the document. This is usually a five digit number that is printed on the front page of the document.

jacketid:

jacketid:89-011

Citation

The GPO standard method for searching citation references from the selected publication.

citation:

citation:"H. Doc. 107-119"

Congressional Document Citation

A reference to some other congressional document in the body of the document.

cdoccitation:

cdoccitation:"h. doc. 107-123"

Senate Hearing Citation

Reference to a Senate Hearing within the text of the document.

chrgcitation:

chrgcitation:111-691

Bill Number

Reference to a bill number within the text of the document.

billscitation:

billscitation:"h.r. 4613"

Report Number

Reference to a congressional report within the text of the document.

crptcitation:

crptcitation:"h. rept. 93-1305"

Public and Private Law References

A referenced public or private law.

plawcitation:

plawcitation:"public law 107-38"

United States Code Citation

Reference to a United States Code citation within the text of the document. This citation may only include the United States Code Title and Section, chapter, or appendix numbers.

uscodecitation:

uscodecitation:"50 U.S.C. 1631"

Statutes at Large Citation

Reference to a Statutes at Large citation within the text of the document.

statutecitation:

statutecitation:"17 stat. 91"

Reference Citation

Reference to another document within the text of a document.

refcitation:

refcitation:"H.R. 1"

Congressional Documents Related Resources