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**THIS VERSION PROVIDED FOR SEARCHING/INDEXING ONLY**
A more fully navigable version is available at
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms003027

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                          House Democratic Caucus

            A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress


  Prepared by Joseph K. Brooks with the assistance of Marjorie L. Torney

                                    2002

                 Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

                              Washington, D.C.

       Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

                Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
                         Manuscript Division, 2003

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Collection Summary

Title:    Records of the House Democratic Caucus , 1913 - 1999 (bulk 1969 -
1994 )
ID No.:    MSS18242
Creator: House Democratic Caucus (U.S.)
Extent:    20,000 items ; 78 containers ; 31.2 linear feet
Repository:    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Abstract:    Organization of Democratic members of the United States House
of Representatives; established in 1796. The records include minutes of
meetings, transcripts of meetings and hearings, office files,
correspondence, legislation, caucus and House rules, reports, handbooks,
printed matter, and other records documenting the proceedings of the caucus
and its efforts to shape national public policy.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of
person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and
listed alphabetically therein.

Names:

House Democratic Caucus (U.S.)
Fazio, Victor H. (Victor Herbert), 1942- --Correspondence
Gephardt, Richard A. (Richard Andrew), 1941-- -Correspondence
Hoyer, Steny H. (Steny Hamilton), 1939- --Correspondence
Long, Gillis William, 1923-1985 --Correspondence
United States. Congress. House
Democratic Party (U.S.)
House Democratic Caucus (U.S.). Committee on Organization, Study, and
Review
House Democratic Caucus (U.S.). Committee on Party Effectiveness

Subjects:

United States--Politics and government--20th century

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The records of the House Democratic Caucus were given to the Library of
Congress by the caucus in 1964 and 2001.

Processing History:

Records of the House Democratic Caucus were first arranged ca.1964.
Additional records were received in 2001, and both accessions were combined
and processed in 2002.

Copyright Status:

Copyright in the unpublished writings of the House Democratic Caucus in
these records and in other collections of records in the custody of the
Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.

Restrictions:

Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of
items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript
Division for information concerning these restrictions.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Container number, Records of the House Democratic Caucus,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

Scope and Content Note

The records of the House Democratic Caucus span the years 1913-1999, with
the bulk of the material dating from 1969 to 1994. The caucus, which first
met in 1796, is an arm of the Democratic party comprising party members
serving as elected or appointed members of the United States House of
Representatives. It promulgates House and caucus rules, determines members'
committee assignments, and serves as the means by which the party organizes
the House and selects the speaker and committee chairmen when the Democrats
are in the majority. The records are organized in a Congresses and a
Miscellany series.

The Congresses series documents the 64th through 106th Congresses, spanning
the period 1913-1999, though there are gaps and fewer records at the
beginning and end of the span. The meetings of the earlier caucuses through
the 92d Congress are typically represented by only a journal, a short
outline of the proceedings that reported speeches and debates with little
detail. Caucus meetings of the 93d through 102d Congresses are usually
documented with full transcripts as well as with journals. Correspondents
in the Congresses series include caucus chairmen Victor H. Fazio, Richard
A. Gephardt, Steny H. Hoyer, and Gillis William Long.

The Miscellany series mainly documents the work of two committees of the
caucus, the Committee on Organization, Study, and Review and the Committee
on Party Effectiveness. The Committee on Organization, Study and Review
promulgates and amends caucus rules and the procedural rules of the House
of Representatives when the Democrats are in the majority. The caucus
formulates broad party policy on a number of public issues, such as health
care reform and the Strategic Defense Initiative, through task forces of
the Committee on Party Effectiveness. Included in the history file of the
Miscellany series are chronologies and agendas of caucus meetings from the
1960s through the 1990s and brief histories of the caucus and the Committee
on Organization, Study and Review and Committee on Party Effectiveness.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in two series:

   * Congresses, 1913-1999, n.d.
   * Miscellany, 1981-1996, n.d.

November 4, 2003