The Congressional Record is a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during the proceedings of the House and Senate, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections. Essentially, the Congressional Record is a recording of all of the business that takes place on the Floor of the House and Senate. However, it should be noted that the House Journal, and not the Congressional Record, is the official record of the House.

The Congressional Record contains four main sections: the proceedings of the House, the proceedings of the Senate, Extensions of Remarks, and the Daily Digest (CRS rept. 98-203). The Congressional Record is consecutively numbered in each session of Congress with House pages of the Record marked with an "H," Senate pages with an "S," Daily Digest sections with a "D," and Extensions of Remarks pages with an "E."

HOUSE AND SENATE PROCEEDINGS - The Congressional Record follows the order of business on the Floor, beginning with the daily opening of each house, followed by "morning business" (Senate) or "one minute speeches" (House). [One minutes postponed in the morning will appear in the Record at the time they are given.] These sections also include, among other things: debate on bills or resolutions; record or voice votes on amendments, passage, or tabling of measures considered on the Floor; measures reported by committees; measures introduced, their original sponsors and the committee(s) to which the measures have been referred; appointees to conference committees; messages from one House to the other; Presidential messages; executive communications; and petitions and memorials. Requests for official leave are usually contained near the end of these sections because leave is usually requested by unanimous consent at the end of the day. Clause 1 of Rule III allows Members to be absent and excused on grounds of necessity which can include a death in the family, illness or official business. Requests for leaves of absence should be made through the Cloakroom and are signed by the appropriate party Leader. It should be noted that requesting official leave is important since Federal statutes require docking the pay of Members who are absent without leave -- although the law has not been enforced in recent history.

EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS - This section is located before the Daily Digest and after the proceedings of the House and Senate. It contains remarks and extraneous material that Members and Senators wish to become part of the official record of the Congress, but have not been delivered as speeches on either Floor. In the House section of the Congressional Record, undelivered speeches and other extraneous material are printed in a different type style to distinguish them from speeches actually given on the Floor. In the Senate section, statements or insertions that are not spoken by a Senator from the Floor are preceded by a "bullet" (.). In the Senate, with unanimous consent, remarks are printed as if spoken. There is a list of Members who have inserted remarks in the "Extension of Remarks" section on the last page of the Congressional Record. While vote explanations given by unanimous consent will appear directly after the vote to which the explanation pertains, vote explanations that are submitted in writing will appear in the "Extensions of Remarks" section.

Members may insert comments in the section of the Congressional Record entitled "Extension of Remarks" by simply turning such remarks in to the Cloakroom with the Member's original signature. It is no longer necessary to obtain "permission" to include extensions in the Congressional Record.

Things to remember:

• All material submitted must bear an original Member's signature in the upper right-hand corner of the front page (facsimiles are not permitted), and the Member's typed name to be sure of identification;

• Members must be sure to give each extension a title or the Congressional Record clerks will title the extension themselves.

• If the extraneous material to be inserted will exceed two pages of the Congressional Record, it must be submitted to the Government Printing Office in advance for a cost estimate. When the estimate is received the Member must ask leave of the House in person that, notwithstanding the cost, the material be printed. At the beginning or the end of the day the Member must stand and seek recognition. The Chair will inquire, "For what purpose does the gentleman/gentlewoman from _________ rise?" The Member will respond by saying, "I ask unanimous consent to extend my remarks in the Congressional Record and to include therein extraneous material notwithstanding the fact that it exceeds two pages and is estimated by the GPO to cost $ ." (As of February 2001, it is estimated to cost $260.00 to print each page of the Record.)

Extensions should be delivered to the Cloakroom, handed to the Congressional Record clerks who sit at the bottom tier of the rostrum during session, or delivered to the Office of the Official Reporters of Debates in Room HT-60 of the Capitol no later than 5 p.m. or 15 minutes after the House adjourns, whichever is later.

DAILY DIGEST - The Daily Digest section of the Congressional Record serves as an index to that particular edition of the Record. The Daily Digest is located at the end of each edition and contains the times of meetings for both houses; measures reported, considered, or signed into law; messages from the President; and information on previous, current, and future committee activities and schedules. In addition, a cumulative resume of congressional activity and statistical information is published at the beginning of each month.

Key Parliamentary Term