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Congressional Record Index (CRI): AboutThe Congressional Record Index (CRI) is an index of the daily issues of the Congressional Record. In print, it is published biweekly by the Joint Committee on Printing when Congress is in session. However, the online CRI databases are cumulative from the beginning of each congressional session. The current year's database is updated daily, usually the day after publication of the Congressional Record. The CRI consists of two parts: the index proper, which lists individuals, organizations, and topics mentioned in the Congressional Record, and the History of Bills, which lists legislative actions reported in the Congressional Record. The History of Bills is maintained as a separate database on GPO Access.
Members of Congress are listed alphabetically by last name in the Congressional Record Index. Thus, users must search for individuals by entering the last name before the first name. Additionally, users should include all forms of an individuals first name, since Members of Congress may choose how they want their name to appear in the Congressional Record. For instance, in the 1991 Congressional Record Index , Bob Dole is listed as bothDole, Bob and Dole, Robert. GPO Access contains CRI issues from 1983 to the present. Each year of the Congressional Record Index can be searched individually, however, selecting the historical database searches all years except for the current year. All documents are available as ASCII text files. In addition, documents from the 1998 CRI are available as HTML files with links to pages in the Congressional Record. |