Subject & Course Guides: Congressional Hearings Hot Topics: What is a Hearing?

"A meeting or session of a committee of Congress -- usually open to the public -- to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, to conduct an investigation, or oversee a program." (Our American Government, 2003, p. 80)

Why do Congressional Committees conduct hearing?

There are four basic reasons for conducting hearings:

consider new legislation -- "Legislative" hearings consider "measures or policy issues that may become public law."
review current laws -- "Oversight" heairngs "review or study a law, issue, or an activity, often focusing on the quality of federal programs and the performance of government officials."
examine event/situation -- "Investigative" hearings are conducted "when there is a suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of public officials acting in their official capacity, or private citizens whose activities suggest the need for a legislative remedy" and "often lead to legislation to address the problems uncovered."
confirm nominations -- "Confirmation" hearings "advise and consent" on "nominations to executive and judicial positions."

When are hearings held in the legislative process?

When bills are proposed the bill can be referred to a specific committee for study. The committee in-turn may decide to hold hearings. There resources below explain the legislative process.

How a Bill Becomes a Law
This short summary followings the process in the House of Representatives. Special terminology within the text is linked to a glossary providing a more details.
Legislative Process: How a Senate Bill Becomes a Law
"This flow chart provides a visualization of the legislative process within the United States Senate." The detailed table illustrates "one way a bill becomes a law" by describing the process through three columns: bill status, people involved, and where.
How to . . .
"The following guides explain how to find materials related to the legislative process and the Senate. You may also wish to contact your Senator's office if you have additional questions."
How Our Laws Are Made
This House Documents, prepared by the Office of the Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate, describes the legislative process in detail.
Ben's Guide - How Laws Are Made.
Fun step by step simple explanation.
How a Bill Become Law - Lexis Nexis
This is a useful flow chart with link to definitions.

What is included as part of a hearing?

There are five content elements that make up the body of a Congressional Committee Hearing:

Opening statements by chair and ranking minority member
Written witness testimony
Oral remarks summarizing testimony
Examination/questioning of witnesses
Exhibits (articles, letters, reports)

Who testifies at a hearing?

Who testifies at a Congressional Committee hearing?

The Committee members and staff orchestrate the event to include a variety of experts from various perspectives. Invited witnesses fall into five basic categories:

Celebrities
Academics/Scholars
Government Officials
Advocates for Interest Groups
Private Citizens and Other Individuals

Methods of Distribution and Access to Hearings

There are severals sources for Congress to distribute hearing content and several sources for the public to gain access. These include the following:

Congressional Committee Websites
FDsys.gov for digital official transcripts
Federal Depository Libraries for paper and microfiche copies of official transcripts
Licensed full text databases and indexing such as ProQuest Congressional
C-Span Video Library

This Congressional Hearings Hot Topic guide is a tool to improve access to the hearing content available on Committee Webpages.

Want to learn more about hearings?

Below is a sampling of reports written the Congressional Research Service (CRS) that help to define Congressional Committee "hearings" and also explain some of the procedures. Similar reports can be found at Open CRS