LibGuides: Free Legislative History: Introduction

Purpose and Scope

Black's Law Dictionary defines legislaive history as "the background and events leading to the enactment of a statute, including hearings, committee reports, and floor debates."

Among other uses, researhers compile legislative histories when performing statutory interpretation.

Useful Websites

Congress.gov
Maintained by the Library of Congress, Congress.gov contains legislation from the 103rd Congress (1993) to the present, member profiles from the 93rd Congress (1973) to the present, and some member profiles from the 80th through the 92nd Congresses (1947 to 1972).

GPO FDsys
GPO FDsys provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. Users can access public and private laws, bills, calendars, committee reports, committee prints, congressional documents, hearings, and the daily and bound editions of the Congressional Record.
GovTrack.us
GovTrack.us, a project of Civic Impulse, LLC now in its 10th year, is one of the worldʼs most visited government transparency websites. The site helps ordinary citizens find and track bills in the U.S. Congress and understand their representatives’ legislative record.
Senate - Years of Congress
Provides the session of Congress along with the corresponding dates.

Types of Documents

The following are documents that you will want to find when compiling a legislative history. The definitions provided were taken from the United State Government Printing Officie Federal Digitial System (GPO FDsys).

See Congress.gov's Glossary for brief explanations of legislative terms.

Bills
House bills (H.R.) and Senate bills (S.) require the approval of both chambers (ie House and Senate) and the signature of the President to become law. An engrossed bill is one passed by one house of congress, while an enrolled bill is one that has been passed by both houses of congress.
Joint Resolutions
House Joint Resolutions (H.J. Res.) and Senate Joint Resolutions (S.J. Res.) require the approval of both chambers and the signature of the President. Joint resolutions generally are used for limited matters, such as a single appropriation for a specific purpose and to propose amendments to the Constitution.
Concurrent Resolutions
House Concurrent Resolutions (H. Con. Res.) and Senate Concurrent Resolutions (S. Con. Res.) require the approval of both chambers but do not require the signature of the President and do not have the force of law. Concurrent resolutions generally are used to make or amend rules that apply to both chambers.
Simple Resolutions
House Simple Resolutions (H. Res.) and Senate Simple Resolutions (S. Res.) address matters entirely within the prerogative of one chamber or the other. They do not require the approval of the other chamber or the signature of the President, and they do not have the force of law.
Congressional Reports
Congressional reports originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. There are three types of reports: (1) House (H.Rept.) and Senate Reports (S.Rept.), (2) Senate Executive Reports, and (3) Conference Reports.
Congressional Documents
Congressional documents originate from congressional committees and cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. Congressional documents typically take the form of House Documents (H.Doc.), Senate Documents (S.Doc.), and Senate Treaty Documents (Treaty Doc.).
Hearings
A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, joint, or special committee of Congress, usually open to the public, to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. In addition, hearings may also be purely exploratory in nature, providing testimony and data about topics of current interest.
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The record consists of 4 sections: (1) Daily Digest, (2) House section, (3) Senate section, and (4) Extension of Remarks. Following each session of Congress, the daily Congressional Record is revised, printed, permanently bound and sold by the Superintendent of Documents in individual parts or by sets. The daily Congressional Record follows the following citation format: 142 Cong. Rec. 15466. The bound Congressional Record follows the following citation format: 158 Cong. Rec. H5618.
Committee Prints
Congressional Committee Prints are publications issued by Congressional Committees that include topics related to their legislative or research activities, as well as other matters such as memorial tributes. The prints are an excellent resource for statistical and historical information, and for legislative analysis. The subjects of the Committee Prints vary greatly due to the different concerns and actions of each committee. Some basic categories of Congressional Committee Prints are: draft reports and bills, directories, statistical materials, investigative reports, historical reports, situational studies, confidential staff reports, hearings, and legislative analyses. An example of a citation is S. Prt. 109-88.
Presidential Signing Statements
Presidents will occasionally issue written statements expressing their views on a bill they sign into law. While these signing statements have no legal effect, presidents do use them at time to convey their interpretation of the legislation and their intention to not enforce some aspects of the legislation.

Strategy for Compiling a Legislative History

Locate PL or Stat Citation
Locate the Public Law number of the Statutes at Large citation. This can typically be found in the history section at the end of a statute.
Locate the Bill Number
Locate the bill number that corresponds to your Public Law or Statutes at Large citation. This can be found if you access these through a paid service, Congress.gov, or by using the Public Laws section of the House Calendar on FDsys.
Locate Other Versions
Use Congress.gov to locate other versions of a bill. This is especially useful when the House and Senate have taken up their own initial versions of a bill that eventually becomes one that will pass both chambers.
Locate the History of the Bill
You can locate the history of a bill using the History of Bills located in the biweekly Congressional Record Index. The history of a bill will also be available using the House Calendar. The history of a bill provides information on when it was introduced, referred to committee, citations to the committee report, when it was debated, and when it was signed into law.
Locate Related Documents
Once you have the history and the different versions of bills, you can now locate hearings, committee prints and reports, records of congressional floor debates, and any presidential documents, such as signing statements.
Locate Bills from Previous Sessions
If similar bills from previous sessions contributed to the researched legislation, you may need to compile a legislative history of those bills as well.
Analyze Resources
After gathering your resources, consider the weight you should give each resource. Generally, the committee report is seen to have the most value in regards to statutory interpretation, with floor debates located in the Congressional Record coming second.

Other Helpful Guides

How to Trace Federal Legislation
Law Library of Congress
Federal Legislative History
Law Library of Congress
Legislative History Research Guide
Georgetown Law Library
Legislative History Research Tutorial
Georgetown Law Library
Legislative History Resources Reference Chart
Georgetown Law Library

Developing a Research Strategy

Before diving into a research project, it's essential to have a strategy for how you will conduct your research.

At the Law Library, we've developed a research worksheet that you can use to help organize the information you've been given and develop a plan for your research. Feel free to make copies and use it as you're given research assignments.

GSU Law Library Legal Research Worksheet