Free Federal Legislative History

Sources on the Web

Sue Altmeyer

Electronic Services Librarian

Cleveland Marshall College of Law

January 10, 2008

URL for this Powerpoint

• http://www.law.csuohio.edu/lawlibrary/documents/legislativehistory.ppt

What Is Legislative History?

Documents Created During Legislative Process

• Different versions of bill

• Committee reports & hearings

• Legislative debates

Why Is Legislative History Important?

Explains meaning

of a statute –

the “legislative intent”

Federal Legislative History – What Is Available On Web?

University of Michigan’s Legislative History Process chart

–

• Steps in legislative process

• Documents

• Links to free & fee document sources

Legislative Process / Publication

Legislative Process Publication

1. Bill introduced & referred to committee

Bill

2. Committee may hold hearing Hearing Print

3. Committee may recommend passage

House/Senate Report

4. House/Senate debate & vote Congressional Record

House/Senate Journal

5. If differences in version passed by House & Senate, bill(s) sent to conference committee

Conference Report

Legislative Process / Publication cont’d

Legislative Process Publication

6. House/Senate debate & vote

Congressional Record

House/Senate Journal

7. Bill becomes law Slip Law (Public Laws) > US Statutes at Large > US Code

8. Veto message Congressional Record

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

How Laws Are Published

HOUSE BILL OR SENATE BILL - S. 659, 92nd Congress 2nd Session (1972). (House bills cited as H.R. xx)

PUBLIC LAW - Slip law - P.L. 92-318, The Education

Amendments of 1972, Title IX, § 901

STATUTES AT LARGE - LexisNexis® 86 Stat. 235 ,

Title IX, § 901

U.S. CODE – LexisNexis® 20 USCS 1681

Most Important Legislative History Materials

1. Conference Committee Reports

2. Committee Reports

3. Bills

4. Sponsor Remarks

5. Presidential Statements

6. Committee Hearings & Committee Prints

Federal Legislative History On Web

• Thomas.gov

Public Laws (1973-); Bills (1989-); House, Senate & Conference Reports (1995-); Congressional Record (1989-)

• GPO Access – Legislative

Public Laws (1995-); Bills (1993-); House & Senate Reports (1995-); Conference Reports (current & a few archived); Congressional Record (1994-); History of Bills (1983-); Committee Hearings (1995-); Committee Prints (1997)

Federal Legislative History On Web

• Congressional Committees and Subcommittees pages. Committee hearings & documents.

Also Law Librarian’s Society.

• CRS Reports – several sources

• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993- )

• American Memory Project – Documents from 1774-1875

Compiling Legislative History Online

• Step 1: Find text of Public Law– Search for Act Title (Protection of Lawful

Commerce in Arms Act) or Keywords (gun manufacturers “civil liability”) in Thomas.gov or GPO Access

OR– If know US Code section (15 USC 7901),

look for Public Law number in Code section history

Compiling Legislative History Online

• Step 2: Pull Bill Summary & Status from Thomas to find House & Senate Reports, Conference Reports, etc. Find the bill number from the text of the public law.

Compiling Legislative History Online

• Step 3: Look for amendments to bill, companion bills, & different versions of bill submitted to prior Congresses.

Companion bills listed in Thomas Bill Summaries. For bills in prior Congresses, search bills database for keywords or title of Act or both.

Compiling Legislative History Online

• Step 4: Search for relevant Congressional record sections

Congressional Record Sections listed in Thomas Bill Summary.

Statements made by bill sponsor have more weight.

Compiling Legislative History Online

• Step 5: Search for Presidential Signing & Veto StatementsLinked from Thomas Bill Summary or can search Congressional Record

Compiling Legislative History Online

• Step 6: Search for Committee Hearings and Committee Prints

Use GPO Access

May be hearings from other years, if bill introduced in prior Congressional sessions

Conclusion

• Free Legislative history documents can be found on the Web, especially for recent years.

• Using commercial sources (eg, CIS Index, LexisNexis) may be easier. Also, compiled legislative histories may be available from such commercial sources.

• LexisNexis Congressional Universe available from Cleveland Public Library with CPL library card number & PIN.

• Ask for help when using commercial sources in a library or when looking for free Web sources .