A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, Joint, or Special Committee of Congress, usually open to the public, to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law.
In addition, hearings may also be purely exploratory in nature, providing testimony and data about topics of current interest. Most Congressional hearings are published two months to two years after they are held. (GPO Access)
Hearings can cover:
People who testify before Congress include:
Subjects include everything that Congress funds, foreign relations, health, and safety
Use the sources listed below to locate hearings.
If you prefer using print resources or do not have access to the Congressional (Proquest) database, you can also search the same content in the following print indexes.
To locate the hearings using these indexes, note the number listed in each entry and use that to find the hearing in the CIS Hearings microfiche collection.
To locate a hearing in McKeldin Library, first find the hearing using Congressional Publications or UMD Discover (the catalog). Make a note of the call number (listed in Congressional Publications as SUDOC) and the Congress number (often listed in the title) or year the hearing was held.
Hearings are given a call number using the Superintendent of Documents Classification System, typically known as "Su Doc". The Su Doc system organizes publications by the agency that wrote the publication. Congressional hearings begin with "Y4" followed by additional letters and numbers that indicate which committee held the hearing.
