Checking a quote

What the official record leaves out, and what it adds

Last checked 7 November 2026 · 8 sources

Short answer

An official record is not always a complete copy of what was said. India's Lok Sabha keeps secret sittings out of the public record ¹. Kenya's Speaker may exclude secret or purely personal matter ². Committees may take evidence in private or omit evidence ^3,5. The UN does not issue meeting records for all meetings ⁶. Records can include text never spoken, such as US House remarks inserted under leave to extend, which must be shown in a different typeface ⁷.

Lok Sabha secret sittings: Rules 248 to 252 ¹
Kenya excluded matter: Standing Order 249, separate report for Members only ²
Canada committee evidence: Power to print includes the right not to print ³
Australia in camera evidence: Disclosure without authority barred, s 13 ⁴
UN meetings: Meeting records are not issued for all UN meetings ⁶
US Senate undelivered remarks: Preceded by a bullet symbol ⁸

Sittings held in secret

India's Lok Sabha rules set out a procedure for secret sittings in Rules 248 to 252 ¹. A secret sitting is held on a request by the Leader of the House ¹. The Speaker may cause a report of the proceedings to be issued as the Speaker thinks fit, and no other person present may keep a note or record of the proceedings or decisions, or issue any report of them ¹. A motion to stop treating the proceedings as secret may be moved once the reason for secrecy has ended, subject to the Speaker's consent ¹.

A quote said to come from a secret sitting cannot be checked against a public verbatim record until the House releases one.

Matter excluded by the presiding officer

Kenya's National Assembly Standing Order 249 lets the Speaker direct that any matter which in the Speaker's opinion is secret or purely personal be excluded from the Journals and the verbatim report of the House and its committees ². It becomes a separate verbatim report kept by the Clerk and available only to Members ².

Excluded matter differs from expunged words. Expunged words were spoken in open debate and removed by order, and in India the place is marked in the record ¹.

Committee evidence taken in private or not printed

UK House of Commons guidance says evidence can be given in private in appropriate circumstances ⁵. Committees often refuse to accept, or accept and decline to publish, written evidence containing material it would be unlawful to publish without privilege or that is defamatory ⁵.

In Canada, a Speaker's ruling established that a committee's power to print includes the right not to print, which may extend to omitting evidence from the record ³. In Australia, section 13 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 bars disclosure of in camera evidence without the authority of a House or committee ⁴.

Meetings with no record

The UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library notes that meeting records are not issued for all UN meetings ⁶. Principal organs and selected subsidiary bodies may have either verbatim or summary records, but not both ⁶. A verbatim record carries the symbol PV and a summary record the symbol SR ⁶.

Where a body keeps only a summary record, a direct quote cannot be confirmed from it, since the summary is a condensed third-person account ⁶.

Text the record adds

Official records can contain words that were never spoken. In the US House, inserted remarks must be clearly distinguishable by different typeface from the substantially verbatim account of proceedings ⁷. Since the 106th Congress, the House has by unanimous consent authorized all Members to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material ⁷. In the Senate, a bullet symbol precedes and distinguishes undelivered remarks ⁸.

Canada's Debates do not usually include material not delivered in the Chamber, but division lists, texts ordered by the House and appendices are exceptions, and editorial notes may be inserted ³.

Situation	Body	Effect on the public record
Secret sitting	Lok Sabha ¹	Only a report the Speaker causes to be issued ¹
Secret or personal matter	Kenya National Assembly ²	Excluded, kept by the Clerk for Members ²
Evidence not printed	Canadian committees ³	May be omitted from the record ³
In camera evidence	Australian Parliament ⁴	Not to be disclosed without authority ⁴
No meeting record issued	UN bodies ⁶	No verbatim or summary text ⁶
Inserted remarks	US House and Senate ^7,8	Present in the Record, marked as not delivered ^7,8

Common questions

Does every UN meeting have an official record?

No. The UN library notes that meeting records are not issued for all UN meetings ⁶.

How can you tell inserted remarks in the Congressional Record?

House inserted remarks must be in a different typeface, and in the Senate a bullet symbol marks undelivered remarks ^7,8.

Is there a public record of a Lok Sabha secret sitting?

Only a report the Speaker causes to be issued. No one else present may keep a note or record ¹.

Can a Kenyan Hansard omit something said in the House?

The Speaker may exclude secret or purely personal matter under Standing Order 249 and keep it in a separate report ².

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Sources

Expunged and excluded remarks in official records
Who can remove spoken words from the official record in India, the US House, Kenya and Canada, on what grounds, and how the removal is shown.
Verbatim records and summary records
The difference between verbatim, substantially verbatim and summary records, and which kind of official record supports a direct quote.
The Congressional Record explained
How the US Congressional Record is made, its four parts, how members revise and extend remarks, and where committee hearing transcripts are published.
Committee hearing transcripts compared
When committee hearing transcripts are published, who can correct them and what stays private, in the US Congress, UK Commons, Canada, Kenya and Australia.
The official record of debates in India's Parliament
How the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha record their debates, the rules on expunged words and secret sittings, and the 1977 law protecting press reports.