Citing Congressional Documents (Printed or Microfiche)
Database Information
Committee documents function as a major historical record of each Congress by providing texts of Presidential messages to Congress, veto messages, agency annual or special reports to Congress, reports on committee activities, and the texts of committee-sponsored special studies and background information compilations. Documents are issued by either the House or Senate as a "committee of the whole". Documents are available in libraries in either paper format or in microfiche.
For each citation, include:
- "U.S." and the Chamber (House or Senate) issuing the document
- The title of the publication; shortened with an ellipsis (...) if the title is too long
- If there is a date as part of the title, include it
- Extremely lengthy documents may be published in multiple volumes or parts. Include all part or volume numbers in the citation.
- House or Senate document numbers, if given
- If citing GPO microfiche, include a statement of format
- The place of publication, publisher, and date of the original publication
- The library classification number assigned to the publication
- If citing a CIS microfiche version of the document, include the CIS year and fiche number in a note. If citing a government microfiche, include the word "Microfiche" after the title.
Printed committee document
Example:
U.S. Senate. Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, 126th Anniversary, 1867-1993. (S. Doc. 103-17). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1995. (Y1.1/3:103-17).
CIS microfiche committee document
Example:
U.S. House. Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Bridge Replacement at Great Bridge, Chesapeake, Virginia: Communication from the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army (H. Doc. 103-308). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1994. (1995 CIS microfiche H640-1).
GPO microfiche committee document
Example:
U.S. House. Disabled American Veterans, 73d National Convention, Communication from the National Adjutant, Disabled American Veterans. (H. Doc. 103-339). (Microfiche). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1994. (Y1.1/7:103-339).