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Congressional Publications

:

CBO, CRS, and GAO

Introduction and guide to publications and records of the U.S. Congress, including legislation, Congressional Record, Committee Hearings and Reports and more.

About the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

CBO's mandate is to provide the Congress with objective, nonpartisan, and timely analyses to aid in economic and budgetary decisions on the wide array of programs covered by the federal budget and the information and estimates required for the Congressional budget process.

Source: About CBO  See also the CBO Factsheet.

Finding CBO Reports

CBO makes many of its reports public.


Many CBO Reports can be found by searching the Library Catalog.

  • Go to the Advanced Search
  • Search for "Congressional Budget Office" in the first box (Anywhere in record as the field)
  • AND Search for a keyword you are interested in, for example "health" in the second box
  • The catalog will link you to available online files

About the Congressional Research Service (CRS)

CRS is the public policy research arm at the Library of Congress. Unlike GAO and CBO, however, it is not authorized to release its reports to the public. Any member of Congress can release CRS reports (unless they contain classified information) but CRS will not do so of its own volition. This makes finding CRS reports somewhat difficult.

Sources: About CRS

Finding CRS Reports

New legislation passed in 2018 directed the CRS to make CRS Reports available to the public. Several organizations and universities collect CRS reports that have been placed in the public domain. Try searching Google by report title if you cannot find what you are looking for at the sites linked to below.


Major Studies and Issue Briefs of the CRS

O'Neill Microfilm JK1108.M3x suppl.

  • 1916 - present

O'Neill Index Area JK1108.M3 suppl.

  • Cumulative Index (2 vol.); 1916-1989
  • Bibliography and Indexes (1 vol./year); 1990-2007
    • Missing years 2000-2001

About the Government Accountability Office (GAO)

"The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the 'congressional watchdog,' GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars."  GAO investigates how efficiently federal funds are being spent and engages in broad-based policy analyses.

Source: About GAO

Finding GAO Publications

GAO makes many of its reports public.


Many GAO Reports can be found through the Library Catalog:

  • Go to Advanced Search
  • Search for "Government Accountability Office" in the first box (Anywhere in record as the field)
  • AND Search for a keyword you are interested in, for example "health" in the second box 
  • Where the electronic file is available, the catalog will link to it

ProQuest Congressional (BC Community Only)

  • Abstracts and indexing, with links to PDFs: 1985 - present
  • To search for GAO Reports
    • Go to Advanced Search
    • Un-check all boxes except Committee Prints
    • Enter GAO in first search box and additional relevant keywords in second search box