Journal of the House of Representatives

Journal of the House of Representatives, 15th (1818) Congress to Present

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About the Journal of the House of Representatives

What is the Journal of the House of Representatives?

In Article I, Section 5 of the United States Constitution, it states, "Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time-to-time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy;...". Accordingly, the Journal and not the Congressional Record, is the official record of the proceedings of the House.

The Journal is the official record of proceedings of each legislative day in the House of Representatives. The Journal records the result of every vote and states, in general terms, the subject of the vote. Therefore, the recorded votes on amendments occurring in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union are recorded in the Journal, but not the proceedings. The Journal contains no verbatim debate, but instead a rendition of all the official actions of the House, including every motion made and every vote taken.

While in session on the Floor of the House of Representatives, the proceedings are recorded in note form by a Journal Clerk at the dais in a large book called the "Journal Minute Book". Another Journal Clerk produces a manuscript of the actions in more detail by computer. The final, complete daily manuscript is proofed and presented to the Parliamentarians for review and then approved by the Speaker prior to the next legislative day. Approval of the Journal by the Speaker is the first order of business of each legislative day.

At the close of each session of a Congress, the Journal is published in bound, hard copy form, CD. The Journal has a limited distribution, pursuant to the provisions of Section 713, Title 44, United States Code, which includes all Members of Congress. It is not a document that can be purchased from the Government Publishing Office by the public.

"Sections" in the House Journal include each legislative day's recorded proceedings, which comprise Part l and Part 2, with the following Journal documents: Proceedings Subsequent to Sine Die Adjournment, Rules of the House of Representatives, Table of Indexes, Questions of Order, History of Bills and Resolutions, Index Subjects, Index, and Appendix to the Index.

What is available?

• Many of the House Journals from the 15th (1818) Congress to the 88th (1964) Congress, and all House Journals from the 102nd (1992) Congress forward, are available.
• With the digitization of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, additional historical journals may become available from that collection and incorporated into the regular House Journal collection over time. These resources are recognizable by their "SERIALSET" identifier information in the URLs.

Searching the Journal of the House of Representatives

You can find and search the Journal of the House of Representatives by:

• Using Basic Search for keyword and metadata fielded searches,
• Using Advanced Search; fields specific to the House Journal will display after you select Journal of the House of Representatives in the Refine by Collection column,
• Refining search results by clicking on links in the Refine Your Search panel on the left side of the page (the sections under Refine Your Search correspond to the metadata available for the documents), and
• Browsing the House Journal browse page.

General GovInfo Search Tips

Search Examples

Search by Congress Member – For example, documents from Congress member Kennedy or that mention Congress member Kennedy.

• Using Basic Search, enter: collection:hjournal member:kennedy
• Using Advanced Search, select Journal of the House of Representatives under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Congress Member from the first box and enter kennedy in the next box

Or for example, documents from congress member Don Young with the word defense in the full text or metadata.

• Using Basic Search, enter: defense and click Search, then Refine Your Search by selecting Journal of the House of Representatives from the Collection filter and Young, Don from the Congress Member filter.
• Using Advanced Search, select Journal of the House of Representatives under Refine by Collection, then under Search In enter defense in the text box. Select Additional Criteria and enter Young, Don click Search. On Search Results, Refine Your Search by selecting Young, Don from the Congress Member filter.

Search by Date For example, documents from November 13, 1997.

• Using Basic Search, enter collection:hjournal publishdate:1997-11-13
• Using Advanced Search, under Date Range select Date is from the first box and enter or select 11/13/1997 in the next box, then select Journal of the House of Representatives under Refine by Collection.

Search by Bill Number ; For example, documents that reference H.R. 2107.

• Using Basic Search, enter collection:hjournal billscitation:"H.R. 2107"

Sample Journal of the House of Representatives URLs

GovInfo uses two key pieces of information to construct predictable URLs to documents and Details pages.

• The Package ID is used to identify a yearly edition of the Journal of the House of Representatives.
• The Granule ID is used to identify individual documents within the yearly edition of the Journal of the House of Representatives.

Details Page for a Journal of the House of Representatives Edition (1992-1999)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/HJOURNAL-1999

 

HTML File for a Journal of the House of Representatives Edition (1992-1999)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Package ID}.htm

Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/HJOURNAL-1999/html/HJOURNAL-1999.html

 

Details Page for a Journal of the House of Representatives Granule (1992-1999)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}/{Granule ID}

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/HJOURNAL-1999/HJOURNAL-1999-02-08-para6-5/

 

Details Page for a Journal of the House of Representatives Edition (1953-1964 and 2000 forward)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-HJOURNAL-2000

 

PDF File for a Journal of the House of Representatives Granule (1992-1999)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Granule ID}.pdf

Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/HJOURNAL-1999/pdf/HJOURNAL-1999-02-08-para6-5.pdf

 

PDF File for a Journal of the House of Representatives Edition (1953-1964) and Granule (2000 forward)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Granule ID}.pdf

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-HJOURNAL-2000/GPO-HJOURNAL-2000-1

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}.pdf

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HJOURNAL-1953/pdf/GPO-HJOURNAL-1953.pdf

 

PDF File for a Journal of the House of Representatives Edition (1818-1950)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Granule ID}.pdf

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-11366_00_00-001-0000-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-11366_00_00-001-0000-0000.pdf

 

HTML File for a Journal of the House of Representatives Granule (1992-1999)

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Granule ID}.htm

Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/HJOURNAL-1999/html/HJOURNAL-1999-02-08-para6-5.htm

Journal of the House of Representatives Metadata Fields and Values

Metadata fields and values can be used to increase the relevancy of your searches. The metadata fields available for the Journal of the House of Representatives are listed in the table below. Metadata fields and values are used throughout GovInfo for

• Narrowing Your Search,
• Browsing Government Publications,
• Field Operators,
• Advanced Search, and
• Display on Details Pages.

Metadata fields and values can be entered into the Basic Searchbox using field operators. The field operators available for the Journal of the House of Representatives are listed in the table below, along with examples for each metadata field. Using Field Operators

Some of these metadata fields are made available for use in Advanced Search. The metadata values can be entered in the same format for the fields available on the Advanced Search Page. Using Advanced Search

Many of the metadata fields and values below will only work for the Journal of the House of Representatives for the 1992-1999 editions. Those that do NOT work for the 1818-1950 and 1953-1964 editions have an asterisk (*) at the front of the field name.

Journal of the House of Representatives Related Resources

• Featured House, Senate and Joint Publications - Select documents of the House or Senate, or jointly published by the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.
• Conference Reports of the U.S. Congress - website for agreements on legislation that are negotiated between the House and Senate via conference committees.
• Congressional Documents - Documents from congressional committees that cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.
• Congressional Reports - Documents from congressional committees that cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.
• Congressional Serial Set - Browse numbered Senate and House Documents and Senate and House Reports, bound by Session of Congress.
• Browse by Congressional Committee - Browse documents issued by individual committees, including Bills, Documents, Reports, and Hearings.
• Contact your local Federal Depository Library
• Search Opportunities to Purchase the Journal of the House of Representatives - From GPO's Online Bookstore