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Archives of the United States Senate


Senators' Papers and Archives

The records created and maintained within a senator's office are the property of the senator. Most senators donate their collections to a research repository in their home state when they leave office. At the repository, those collections are made available to researchers after an appropriate amount of time has passed.

Senate Committee and Administrative Archives

Senate committee and administrative archival collections document floor activities, committee activities, and general Senate administration. They include legislative files, treaty files, presidential nominations files, government oversight files, committee investigative records, and records relating to impeachment proceedings. The collections also includes records of the Secretary's office, bills, resolutions, amendments, reports and executive communications—the same kinds of material that have been preserved among the Senate's archives since 1789.

Center for Legislative Archives

Committee and administrative records of the United States Senate are the legal property of the Senate and are preserved and made available by the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives and Records Administration. Other records from legislative branch support organizations, including the publications of the U.S. government from the Government Publishing Office and records of congressional commissions, are also preserved at the Center.

Senate Rules and Statutes Governing Senate Records

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Reports of the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress

Public Law 101-509 (November 5, 1990) created the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress. The committee's function is to advise Congress and the Archivist of the United States on the management and preservation of the records of Congress. Minutes and reports are available at: https://www.archives.gov/legislative/cla/advisory-committee.

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