Congressional reports are the written reports that accompany a bill from committee to consideration on the floor of the House or Senate and will explain the bill proposal and its intended effects in some detail. A House report and a Senate report may be available for each enacted law. Reports are assigned separate sequential numbers within each chamber (H.R. Rep. No. 97-8, S. Rep. No. 97-8). USCCAN (United States Code Congressional and Administrative News) contains selected reports and is an excellent source for full text of these items.
Congressional committees hold hearings, which are usually open to the public, to gather expert opinions and background information regarding legislation. Committees may choose to publish records of the hearings. The official hearing records, printed by the Government Printing Office (GPO) from two months to two years after the hearings, may contain witnesses’ oral and written testimonies, including the question-and-answer sessions, and materials submitted by interested parties or committee members. In 1983 (98th Congress), the Senate adopted a numbering system that it uses today, but the House still does not have one. The entire record, including the appendix, may provide insight into the reasons for the legislation or offer some indication of its intended application. However, the views contained in the testimonies and statements are the views of the witnesses, not members of Congress, and those witnesses may be biased.
The published hearings collected at Eckstein Law Library are on microfiche as part of the CRS service. Some are also cataloged and bibliographic information can be found through a word search on the Library catalog (Example: boxing and hearing).
Internet
GovInfo.gov: Official versions, 104th Congress (1995) to present
Congress.gov: 93rd Congress (1973) to present
Library of Congress (A Century of Lawmaking): U.S. Serial Set, selected reports, 23rd Congress (1833) to 64th congress (1917); American State Papers, selected reports, 1st Congress (1789) to 25th Congress (1839)
Subscription Databases
HeinOnline: American State Papers (under Other Related Works in the U.S. Congressional Documents Library), selected reports from 1st Congress (1789) to 25th Congress (1839). A collection of Congressional documents related to Sports Law can be browsed here as well as under this link for more Government Documents.
Lexis: 101st Congress (1990) to present (selected coverage 101st and 102nd Congresses)
ProQuest Congressional: U.S. Serial Set, selected reports, 1st Congress (1789) to present; House and Senate Reports, selected reports, 101st Congress (1989) to present
ProQuest Legislative Insight: Selected, 71st Congress (1929) to present; access Legislative Insight via the law library landing page
Westlaw: 101st Congress (1990) to present, selected committee reports from USCCAN from 80th Congress (1948) to 101st Congress (1989)
Eckstein Library
USCCAN (United States Code Congressional and Administrative News) (KF51.U45): Selected, excerpted reports in Legislative History volumes, 77th Congress (1941) to present
Microfiche
Subscription Databases
ProQuest Congressional: Selected, 18th Congress (1824) to present
ProQuest Legislative Insight: Selected, 71st Congress (1929) to present; access Legislative Insight via the law library landing page.
HeinOnline: U.S. Congressional Documents Collection, selected, 71st Congress (1927) to 103rd Congress (1994)
Lexis: 104th Congress (1995) to present
Westlaw: Selected, 103rd Congress (1993) to present
Internet
GovINfo.gov Selected, 99th Congress (1985) to present
Law Library of Congress: Selected hearings on privacy/freedom of information, immigration and the census
Microfiche