Congressional hearings can be excellent sources for information, data, and perspective on public policy-related issues. Examples:
Testimony on condition of Potomac River front of Washington, 1882
Hearing on the Bill (H.R. 14798) To Establish a Laboratory for the Study of the Criminal, Pauper, and Defective Classes, 1902, includes "Bibliography of Genius, Insanity, Idiocy, Feeblemindedness, Alcoholism, Pauperism, and Crime".
City planning. Hearing before the Committee on the District of Columbia, United States Senate, on the subject of city planning, 1909.
Papers, opinions, and letters relating to establishment of Department of Public Health, 1910.
Regulation of diethylstilbestrol (DES), 1972
Lyme Disease: A Diagnostic and Treatment Dilemma, 1993
Health effects of smokeless tobacco, including Green Tobacco Sickness, 1995
U.S. Congressional Serial Set. The single most significant primary source for American history. Includes both congressional and executive branch agency publications--reports of exploration, technology, finance, immigration, scientific discovery, culture, commerce and warfare, along with maps and illustrations. Examples:
The Air of the New York Subway Prior to 1906, George A. Soper, 1907 Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 5365 H.doc.847, 60-1, 647-667. (See also Bubonic Plague in the Subway System? Don’t Worry About It, New York Times, 6 February 2015.)
"Copy of proceedings of the American Medical Association, respecting the cholera", 835 S.Misc.Doc. 76, 1856.
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online. Dates of Coverage: 1976-present, with older publications regularly being added. For earlier documents, use HathiTrust and/or WorldCat.
