LibGuides: Federal Legislative History Materials: Hearings

About Hearings

Hearings are the testimonies of witnesses before House and Senate committees and are documented by transcripts. Hearings may be held on an individual bill or a group of bills. Not all hearings are published. There is often a lengthy delay for those hearings that are officially published. Final official versions may include other documentary evidence presented to a committee during the hearing process.

Committee Hearings

ProQuest Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Includes transcripts of hearings from 1824 - present.
BC Access: Resource is available via computers connected to the BC network. Off-campus access requires a BC username and password, and is available to the BC Community only (current students, faculty and staff.)
U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980 (READEX) This link opens in a new window
Database provides access to historic hearings documents with ongoing file expansion (PDF).
BC Access: Resource is available via computers connected to the BC network. Off-campus access requires a BC username and password, and is available to the BC Community only (current students, faculty and staff.)
Bloomberg Law (BLAW) This link opens in a new window
Selected transcripts from 104th Congress (1995) to present (PDF).
Registration Required. Register Online.

C-Span's Congressional Chronicle
Provides streaming video broadcasts of House and Senate sessions, debates, and selected hearings, some as far back as 1987.
GovInfo (GPO)
Allows for searching and browsing full-text of selective hearings documents from 1995 to present (PDF). This platform is much easier to navigate if you have a citation.
HeinOnline
Hearings will often be included in the compiled legislative histories found in the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library. Also, there is selective coverage of hearings in the U.S. Congressional Documents link from 1927-2011 (PDF).
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BC username and password required from off-campus.
Lexis Advance: Congressional Hearings
Digital collection contains abstracts, indexes and searchable texts from 1824-present. Requires personal password (restricted by our contract to currently enrolled law students and law faculty only).
Westlaw: Congressional Testimony
Covers 2004 to present. Hearings are also located in the U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories database for most public laws enacted between 1921 and 1995 and PL 104-191 (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). Westlaw requires a personal password (restricted by our contract to currently enrolled law students and law faculty only).