FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES

Foreign relations of the United States, published by the Department of State, contains all essential documents on United States foreign policy.

Documents are usually not released to the public until 30 years after their initial publication. Bound volumes issued during the 1980s and 1990s contain material from the 1950s.

These volumes are no longer being issued as part of the CDS set, but they are available online.

Congressional Document Set

Congressional documents are known in the National Library as CDS or the Congressional Document Set. In the United States they are more commonly referred to as the Congressional Serial Set, which is the official bound compilation of Congressional documents.

Congressional documents include:

  • primary historical material about the United States
  • US relations with other countries
  • US presence in the Pacific, e.g. the Philippines
  • information about many contemporary questions.

Many documents which are part of this set do not have their origin in Congress, but having been presented to Congress are then ordered to be printed.

The Congressional Document Set also includes many historic census reports.

The Set contains:

  • House and Senate reports which consist of the reports of congressional committees on proposed legislation and other matters under investigation (see Congressional Committee Reports).
  • House and Senate documents which include all the other papers ordered to be printed by either House of Congress (i.e. the House of Representatives and the Senate) and include many reports of executive departments and like establishments.

Library holdings and online access

Time Period

Format and Links

1789 - 1838

(known as American State Papers)



1817 - 2001 (imperfect)

United States congressional serial set

Microcard

Online from the Library of Congress

Paper

Portions of the set also available online

(15th Congress (1817 - 1819) - 103rd Congress (1993 - 1994)

1981+ 

House and Senate Reports and Documents

Narrow the search results by date or subject area in the right menu of the Catalogue

House Reports

Senate Reports

SUDOC Microfiche for:

House Documents

Senate Documents

Senate Executive Reports

Senate Executive Documents

1995+

(104th Congress+)

Committee Reports only

Online from Congress.gov

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE REPORTS

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. CRS, which is a department of the Library of Congress, works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress.

Reports from the CRS are available online from the University of North Texas.

Users can browse the reports by name, number, or subject, or conduct a keyword search. Subject areas include: Environment/Natural Resources, Economic Policy, Education, Government and Law, Foreign and Defense Policy, Health, and Science and Technology.

CHECK THE DATES

Documents are in different formats, depending on the date required. Print, microfiche or online documents may be available. Check the time period and format of the item you need in the list on this page.

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Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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