Committee reports Although the legislative process is well underway before a committee report is drafted, these reports are usually the first, and often the only, items consulted to determine legislative intent. The language may be retained in a final version, the section numbers may change. Report numbers are assigned when a report is filed.
Conference reports are in the same numerical sequence as other reports.
Since 1902 the full text of all conference reports is printed in the Congressional Record . Although both House and Senate rules require that written conference reports be filed, the Senate rule is often waived. In 1990 this file was expanded to include all committee reports. The government document collections in large public and research libraries typically include print or microfiche collections of older reports. Among the most important of these is the monumental official compilation of the numbered series of House and Senate documents and committee reports, the U.S. Congressional Serial Set , issued since 1819.