journal - Under the Constitution, the Senate (and House) is required to keep a Journal of its official proceedings, such as motions agreed to and votes taken. The Journal does not contain Senate debates. Senate rules stipulate that different Journals be kept for legislative and executive (treaties and nominations) proceedings, as well as for confidential legislative proceedings and proceedings when the Senate sits as a court for impeachment of high Federal officials.
Congressional Sessions lists all Congresses and corresponding years - from 1789, when the 1st Congress met, through the current Congress.
You can access legislative information, by bill number or key words, from the THOMAS Web site. Information from the present back to the 93rd Congress (1973) is available on THOMAS.
For information on the Senate, Congress, the legislative process and the federal government, the Virtual Reference Desk is a good place to begin.