Federal Legislative History Research

Courts are frequently called upon to decide between conflicting interpretations of statutory language, and to do so, they examine the various documents that were created during the congressional deliberations that led to the law's passage.  Researching the legislative history of a statute involves tracing the law from its first draft, through the legislative process, until its enactment as a law.  There are often, though not always, many documents produced as a bill makes its way through Congress, including one or more amendments to the bill's text, committee reports, prints, and transcripts of hearings and debates, before it reaches the final version that becomes a federal law.  All of these documents are studied  to interpret a law's meaning: what issues was the law intended to address, and what law did Congress intend to change with the new legislation?

In order to compile a legislative history, you must first be familiar with the federal lawmaking process.  Then you must know where to find all the legislative documents that comprise the historical record of the law.  This research guide is designed to assist you, as well as to help you find the legislative histories of important laws that have already been compiled by others.

Click here to download the complete guide to compiling federal legislative histories.