Federal Legislative Histories

AALL Quick Start Basic Legal Reference Workshop

July 9, 2004

Why use legislative history?

To determine the meaning of an unclear statute.

Clarify questions about a statute if there are no cases interpreting or construing it.

To gain insight into legislative intent at the time the statute was enacted – how the words were intended to be understood.

Weight of Authority

A legislative history document or compilation of documents is only persuasive authority to a court of law.

What is a legislative history?

Basic DefinitionCongressional documents that contain the

information available and considered by the legislature prior to the enactment of a law or the rejection of a proposed law.

What is a legislative history?

Process-Oriented DefinitionThe results of research into the

documentary records created by the legislature in it’s formulation, consideration and passage or rejection of a proposed law.

What is a legislative history?

Identifying if a bill did or did not become the law the purpose of a law or section of a law the amendments offered to a bill the reports of the committees to which the

bill was assigneddebates on the billother documents associated with a bill the current status of pending legislation

Documents

Bills Versions as pass through legislative process Floor amendments

Committee hearings witness testimony

Committee Reports especially Conference Report

Floor debates Congressional Record

Committee Prints Staff research/good historic & background information

Presidential signing statements

Steps in the Process

Popular Name or a U.S. Code citation Identify the public law number Identify the Congress, bill number and year of

enactment Use a legislative history finding tool or source

to identify individual documents Retrieve and read the documents

Legislative History finding Tools and sources

Use a tool or source that provides a “compiled” legislative history document identification (At least!) document identification AND full text (Great!) document identification, full text AND cross

Congress searching (Yes!!!)

Sources for Compiled Histories or Information

U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.)

Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories (Johnson)

Law Review Articles

Committee Prints

Library Catalogs – for Treatises

CIS Index and Abstracts, Legislative History volume Congressional Universe

Loose Leaf services (specific subject areas)

Congressional Quarterly publications CQ Almanac CQ Weekly Report CQ.com (compilation of databases)

Public Laws

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 29 U.S.C. §2612 et seq. February 5, 1993, P.L. 103-3, 107 Stat. 6 103rd Cong., 1st Sess. H.R. 1

Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act 18 U.S.C. §922 November 30, 1993, P.L. 103-159, 107 Stat. 1536 103rd Cong., 2d Sess. H.R. 1025

CIS86:H623-9 21p.

CIS Accession No. (Used to retrieve full text from microfiche library)

Y1.1/8:99-699/pt.1

SuDoc. No.