Congressional Record is a printed account of what is done and said in the United States Congress daily. Each member of Congress finds on his or her desk in the morning a copy of the Record for the day before. The Congressional Record prints everything said in Congress, except during executive sessions of the Senate. Members of Congress may make changes in their speeches before they are printed in the Record, and so the Record is not a completely accurate account of what was said in Congress. They also can have material other than speeches before Congress printed in the Record.
The Congressional Record began in 1873. Three other publications record earlier events in Congress. Annals of Congress describes proceedings from 1789 to 1824. Congressional Debates covers 1824 to 1837, and the Congressional Globe records events from 1833 to 1873.
Today, anyone may subscribe to the Congressional Record or buy separate parts of it from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
