C-Spawn

C-Span press release: Today C-SPAN officially launches the C-SPAN Video Library, a free, searchable online collection of every C-SPAN program aired since 1987. ... Over 160,000 hours of searchable and watchable digital C-SPAN video ... All C-SPAN videos dating back to 1987, and certain older videos from C-SPAN's earliest years ... The C-SPAN Video Library's Congressional Chronicle feature is an index to the C-SPAN video recordings of the House and Senate floor proceedings - organized by speaker - with full-text and full-video search and an extensive Congressional database going back to 1993.

NYT's Brian Stelter queries both sides of the political media aisle:  Having free online access to the more than 160,000 hours of C-Span footage is “like being able to Google political history using the ‘I Feel Lucky’ button every time,” said Rachel Maddow, the liberal MSNBC host. Ed Morrissey, a senior correspondent for the conservative blog Hot Air (hotair.com), said, “The geek in me wants to find an excuse to start digging.”