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Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233)



Chapter 24. General Records of the House of Representatives, 1789-1968



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General Records of the House of Representatives, 1789-1968 from Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States, 1789-1988

Records described in this chapter:
General Records of the House of Representatives, 1789-1968

24.1 The documents described in this chapter include records that were generated as part of the legislative proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives; records that were maintained by the Clerk of the House of Representatives in his role as chief administrative officer of the House; and the records of impeachment proceedings in the House.

24.2 The records of the legislative proceedings consist in large part of documents that were introduced or generated on the floor of the House: minutes and journals, bills, committee reports, and documents introduced on the floor and ordered to be printed, including messages from the President. Most of these are the original documents that were ordered to be printed. Petitions and memorials and committee papers that were not referred to a standing or select committee, but were dispensed with in the Committee of the Whole are included in this category. Other petitions that were not referred to committees, but were ordered to be tabled are also described here. Finally, the election records, including the credentials of Representatives and Delegates, are described in this chapter.

24.3 The records of the Office of the Clerk include record books created by the various clerks who record floor activity and the receipt of documents on the floor; volumes of transcribed reports of committees from the period before the reports were routinely printed; and the political committee reports and lobby reports that the Clerk is required by law to maintain.

24.4 The records of impeachment proceedings have been filed in several ways during the history of the House. This chapter discusses the records of impeachment proceedings that have been maintained as a separate collection rather than filed with the records of a standing or select committee.

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-245). By Charles E. Schamel, Mary Rephlo, Rodney Ross, David Kepley, Robert W. Coren, and James Gregory Bradsher. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989.

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