Congressional Record Index

A previous tip described the Congressional Record. The Congressional Record Index (CRI) is another resource on GPO Access covering 1983-present. CRI is an index of the daily issues of the Congressional Record. While the print version of the CRI contains the History of Bills as well as the index proper, the online resource separates these two parts. CRI online contains the index proper that lists individuals, organizations and topics mentioned in the Congressional Record.

Each volume of the online CRI is cumulative from the beginning of each congressional session and the current year is updated daily (usually the day after publication of the Congressional Record). From 1998-forward, entries in the CRI are available in HTML format and each reference to a Congressional Record page contains a hyperlink to that page.

Since members of Congress are listed alphabetically by their last name in the CRI, you should search for them by entering their last name before their first name. Also, you should use all forms of an individual's first name. For example, Bob Dole is listed as both "Dole, Bob" and "Dole, Robert" in the 1991 CRI.