It's no longer necessary to travel great distances to read the Congressional Record. [The US equivalent of 'Hansard'].
The British Library holds a large collection (for full details of the British Library's holding of US documents download the PDF from http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/offpubs/guides/usgov/unitedstates.pdf. ) - and it is available in many libraries in the USA. However the costs of talking a train to London have just gone up again - and flying to Washington DC - is a little expensive (however much I would love to do that on a more frequent basis!)
There is now an app for your iPad (the link to iTunes is here), which allows access to the full Congressional Record from January 1995 - the 104th Congress onwards. Also, PDFs are available online at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CREC
The 19th Century "Congressional Globe" can also be accessed online at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwcglink.html
There is still a need for a comprehensive online archive of the Congressional Record to cover the period prior to 1994. However a google search can occasionally bring up a specific date or debate.
