ONLINE

Committee Reports from 1995 onwards (104th Congress+) are available at congress.gov. Select Committee Materials from the drop-down list and search by keyword or Report number.

Congressional reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. Reports describe committee findings and recommendations submitted by committees to the House or Senate following the conclusion of hearings. Reports also include factual analysis and opinions of minority members. Many reports are on bills and fiscal issues.

Committee reports are uniquely identified by the following pieces of information:

  • the numbers of the Congress and session,
  • the chamber (House or Senate),
  • the report number,
  • the bill or resolution number being reported on,
  • the committee, title, and date.

Library holdings and online access

Time Period

Format and links

1817 - 2001
House and Senate reports are contained in the Congressional Document Set

See also the index for 1789-1969 in the CIS US serial set index. This lists publication numbers, titles and serial and volume numbers.     

Microcard and Paper

Paper

1982 - 2000
(97th Congress - 106th Congress)

Browse reports 1970 - 2000 in the CIS Annual. The SUDOC microfiche numbers are included in each entry.

Microfiche

House Reports

Senate Reports

Senate Executive Reports

1995+
(104th Congress + - select House, Senate, executive, and conference reports from the 104th Congress (1995-96) forward. Additional documents from previous congresses are also available.

See also CIS index annual 2000-2011

Online

Paper

BACKGROUND

If a committee votes out or "reports favourably" a bill back to the House or Senate, it is then "calendared" or scheduled for floor debate and vote in the full chamber. Each measure sent to the full chamber by the committee is accompanied by a committee report.

The report will include a section by section analysis of the proposed bill and an explanation of why the committee recommended passage of the bill. 

See How our laws are made Chapter VII Reported Bills for more information about what is contained in a Committee Report.

When it is filed, the report is assigned a report number and is sent to the Government Printing Office for printing.

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