Coverage Dates for Legislative Information

Current congress information is usually updated the morning after House or Senate chamber sessions adjourn. The table below notes estimated availability times. About Congress.gov provides more information about the content of each collection.

Legislation

Data Set Estimated Update Time Start Year Congresses Covered
Amendment Status (metadata) 8:00 a.m. 1981 97th - present
Amendments (full text) 10:00 a.m. 1995 104th - present
Bill Status (metadata) 8:00 a.m. 1973 93rd - present
Bill Summaries varies 1973 93rd - present
Bill Text (full text) varies1 1989 101st - present
Law (full text) varies 1995 104th - present
Bill History in the Congressional Record varies 1995 104th - present
Legislative Indexing Vocabulary (LIV) not updated 1973 93rd – 110th (2008)
Legislative Subject terms varies 2009 111th - present
Policy Area terms varies 1973 93rd - present

Committee

Data Set Estimated Update Time Start Year Congresses Covered
Committee Hearings and Meetings (House video) varies 2012 113th - present
Committee Reports varies 1995 104th - present
Committee profiles 8:00 a.m. 2015 current only

Congressional Record

Data Set Estimated Update Time2 Start Year Congresses Covered
Congressional Record Index varies 1995 104th - present
Daily edition (full text) 10:00 a.m. 19953 104th - present
Member's Remarks in the Congressional Record varies 2005 109th - present

Executive and Other Communications

Data Set Estimated Update Time Start Year Congresses Covered
Executive and Other Communications (Senate) 8 a.m. 1979 96th - present

Members

Data Set Estimated Update Time Start Year Congresses Covered
Member profiles 8 a.m. 19734 93rd - present

Nominations

Data Set Estimated Update Time Start Year Congresses Covered
Nominations 8:00 a.m. 1981 97th - present

Treaty Documents

Data Set Estimated Update Time Start Year Congresses Covered
Treaty Document Status (metadata) 8:00 a.m. 19755 94th - present
Treaty Document (full text) varies 1995 104th - present
Treaty Document Resolution of Ratification (full text) 8:00 a.m. 1985 99th - present

  1. Bill Text (full text) - House bills are generally available a day or two after they are introduced. Delays can occur when there are a large number of bills to prepare or when a very large bill has to be printed. Texts not yet published by GPO may be available from Bills to Be Considered or committee web sites.

    Senate bills usually take at least 5 business days. Please note that Senate bills are not made available before GPO has completed printing them. Online copies and printed copies are usually made available at the same time. Texts not yet published by GPO may be available from committee web sites. (Return to text)

  2. New daily issues, reporting business from the previous day if either the House or Senate or both met, are usually available by 10:00 am. Late availability, often due to a late night Congressional session, is announced on the Most Recent Issue page. (Return to text)

  3. Daily editions of the Congressional Record from 1989-1994 (101st to 103rd Congresses) can be browsed from the Congressional Record Archive. This archived set predates authenticated digital publishing. Among the documents known to be missing from the set are:

    • November 13, 1989 - entire issue
    • Conference reports from 101st Congress for: H.R.7, H.R.1465, H.R.996, H.R.2939, H.R.3072, H.R.3614, H.R.5114, H.R.5399, H.R.5769, S.580, S.1939, S.2740
    • Conference reports from 102nd Congress for: H.Con.Res.287, H.R.2038, H.R.2508, H.R.2519, H.R.2608, H.R.5006, H.R.5487
      (Return to text)

  4. Includes Members from 71st to 92nd Congresses (1929 to 1972) who were serving still in 1973. (Return to text)

  5. Includes Treaty Documents submitted since 1949 (81st Congress) that were pending in 1975. (Return to text)