How to Access Records

Rules of Access

The holdings of the Center for Legislative Archives are made available according to access policies set by the creator of the records. The Center holds both open and closed records. All unpublished U.S. House of Representative and U.S. Senate records are closed by default for 30 and 20 years respectively, and many records (e.g., investigative and nomination records) are closed for 50 years.

It is important to know the rules of access before planning your research visit to be sure the records you are interested in are available. Many open records must also be screened for privacy or other restrictions before they can be served. Screening can be a time-consuming process—it can take one business day per two boxes—so we highly encourage researchers to contact the Center by email at legislative.archives@nara.gov before a visit.

Note: the records of the legislative branch are not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Planning Your Research Visit

We encourage researchers to review our introductory guide to legislative research. This three-part series will help you narrow your research to relevant file units, and may, in the event your records are either published or closed, save you a trip!

Please contact the Center by email at legislative.archives@nara.gov before you plan your research visit. This will allow our staff to ensure the records you wish to consult are open and available for research. 

Research at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC

The Center for Legislative Archives is located in the National Archives building in downtown Washington, DC. The research room is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal Holidays. Please visit the A1 Textual Event Page to make an appointment. For directions and additional information about conducting in-person research, visit Information for Researchers at the National Archives at Washington, DC.

Legislative archivists are available for walk-in consultations Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and can pull open and previously screened legislative records from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The National Archives provides free access to several subscription databases through computers at National Archives facilities. 

Records in College Park, MD

Most of the Center's records are located at the National Archives building in Washington, DC. However, some legislative records are made available through the Research Room in College Park, Maryland, including Publications of the U.S. Government (Record Group 287), Records of the General Accounting Office (Record Group 411), and most audio-visual records, such as photographs, sound recordings, and videos.

To access these records, contact the Research Room in College Park, Maryland.