Law Library James E. Beasley School of Law Temple University FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE HISTORY Legislative history refers to the Congressional process of considering a bill and the documents generated by that process. Consulting these materials can aid in understanding legislative intent or purpose. This guide describes federal legislative history documents, lists finding aids needed to access them and supplies the documents' and indexes' locations in the Law Library. The historical note sections of annotated federal codes often provide Public Law numbers, bill numbers, dates, and amendment information. These will serve as access points for the document indexes and collections and will help you retrieve the full-text materials for your research. For further assistance, consult a librarian. Documents for Legislative Histories House and Senate Bills A bill is the form in which most legislation is introduced into Congress. A bill may be permanent or temporary, general or specific, public or private. Bills may originate in the House or the Senate with the exception of revenue bills which originate in the House. Bills are designated H.R. or S. and are numbered consecutively throughout a Congress. Bills proposing public laws are published upon introduction and are usually republished when amended. Bills proposing private laws are not reprinted. When introduced in Congress, a bill is immediately referred to a committee for study and recommendations. Microfiche Floor 7A, 1979-1994 Lexis BILLS, BTXARC, 1989- Westlaw CONG-BILLTXT-ALL, 1994- Web Library E-Resources, Insight, 1989- Thomas/Library of Congress, thomas.loc.gov, 1989- American Memory/Library of Congress, memory.loc.gov, 1799-1822 Prints and Documents Materials prepared for the use of committees are published as committee prints. They provide the documents legislators consulted while considering bills. Prints carry abbreviations S. Prt. and H. Prt. and are numbered consecutively in each Congress. Results of some Congressional investigations are published as House or Senate Documents and occasionally are useful as sources of legislative history. They are abbreviated H. Doc. and S. Doc. and numbered consecutively in each Congress.
Lexis GAPPRN, RECPRN, CMTPRN, 1994- Web Library E-Resources, Insight, 1819- Congressional Prints, FDsys.gov, 1991- Congressional Documents, FDsys.gov, 1985- The to which a bill is referred will hold public hearings if the bill is important or controversial. Written testimony may be submitted by various public officials, experts and private individuals who might also be allowed to give a brief oral summary of their testimony and be interrogated by members of the committee. A transcript of the hearing is made and is often printed for public distribution. on legislation may be held during several Congresses before the legislation is passed. Lexis CURHRG, GAPHRG, RECHRG, 1970- Westlaw USTESTIMONY, 1993- CONGTMY, 2004- Web Library E-Resources, Insight, 1824- Congressional, FDsys.gov, 1985- Reports If a committee votes to report a bill favorably to the House or Senate, a written report is submitted describing the legislation and explaining the committee s action. These reports often provide sectionby-section analysis and recommended amendments. Abbreviated S. Rep. or H. Rep., they are numbered consecutively in each Congress. If the House and Senate versions of legislation differ, a conference committee is appointed to resolve the differences. This conference report is submitted to both houses and is an excellent source of legislative history. Lexis CMTRPT, 1994- Westlaw LH, 1948- Web Library E-Resources, Insight, 1817- Congressional Reports, FDsys.gov, 1995- Thomas/Library of Congress, thomas.loc.gov, 1995- Debate and Discussion The Congressional Record is a daily log of the activities of Congress. It provides discussions, debates and voting records on proposed legislation. Each session has an index giving citations to the page of the Congressional Record in which activity on a given bill took place. The Daily Digest is a summary of the Congressional Record and also provides information on debates, reports and conference committee meetings on bills. Print Desk, 1833- U.S. Congressional Documents, 1833- Lexis RECORD, 1985- Westlaw CR, 1985-
Web Library E-Resources,, 1985- Thomas/Library of Congress, thomas.loc.gov, 1989- Congressional Record, FDsys.gov, 1994- American Memory/Library of Congress, memory.loc.gov, 1789-1875 Votes In addition to being recorded in the Congressional Record, voting results can be found online. Lexis CVTARC, 1989- Web CQ Weekly, Library, E-Resources, 1991-, Library E-Resources, 1987- U.S. Senate, www.senate.gov, 1989- U.S. House of Representatives, House History, artandhistory.house.gov, 1990- Indexes and Sources for Legislative History Prepared legislative histories range from a list of documents associated with a law, to gathered reprints of those documents, to narrative commentary on the ratification process. Longer works, published as treatises, can be discovered by searching the Diamond online catalog at diamond.temple.edu. Law review articles may trace the development of a specific law. Search the standard legal literature databases in (Law Journal Library), Lexis (LGLPUB), and Westlaw (JLR) to find such articles. Works such as Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories (REF KF42.2 1979) and Federal Legislative Histories (REF KF42.2 1994) aid in locating compiled legislative histories. 's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library also has both indexes and compiled histories. Congressional Record History of House and Senate Bills This finding aid in the Congressional Record provides references to discussions and citations to the House or Senate Reports associated with a particular bill. Each session has this index. Print Desk, 1833- U.S. Congressional Documents, 1833- CCH Congressional Index This looseleaf service is useful in providing up-to-date information on the status of current bills. For past Congresses, this index provides bill status and calendar and action information that will aid in finding full documents. There are two volumes for each Congress, one for action in the Senate and one for the House. Bills are indexed by subject, summarized and linked to associated reports. Print Desk, call number KF49.C6, current Congress on reserve, 1971-1998, 2008- Library Depository, 1945-1998 Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions This is a historical index following legislation status, very much like the CCH Congressional Index. Printed each year, the set has two parts per Congress. Print Library Depository, 1936-1990
United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) West's United States Code Congressional and Administrative News reprints legislation and excerpts of associated documents beginning with the 77th Congress. The texts of laws are arranged by public law number (in chronological order). For each session of Congress there is a subject index and a legislative history table. Each legislative history provides references to bill numbers, reports, and discussion in the Congressional Record. Print Level 4 Southeast, 1941- Westlaw USCCAN, 1948- (varies by document type) Congressional Information Service (CIS) Microfiche Library / Insight This integrated electronic and microfiche collection provides extensive legislative history resources. The print indexes of the microfiche set and the Congressional database provide access to materials by keyword, Public Law number, document number, and SuDoc number. supplies full-text pdfs. The CIS microfiche set provides many documents not included in the online collection. In addition to hearings and reports, these resources contain citations to discussion in the Congressional Record and Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Presidential documents may contain information on veto actions or signing statements. Microfiche Level 7A, CIS, 1970- Web Library E-Resources, Insight, 1969- Consult the Law Library s online Legislative History Guide for more information and links to the electronic resources listed here. http://guides.temple.edu/legislativehistory
Action Document Finding Aids Index Location and Holdings Sources Full-text Location and Holdings Bill Introduced Bill House = H.R. Senate = S. Thomas/Library of Congress E-Resources, 1989- thomas.loc.gov, 1989- GPO Microfiche Lexis BILLS, BTX### (Cong.) Westlaw CONG-BILLTXT-ALL E-Resources, 1989- Floor 7A, 1979-1994 Lexis, 1989- West, 1994- Referred to Action Held Recommends to full House or Senate Debates, Vote Presidential Signature Veto or Line Veto November 10, 2011 Congressional Record Cong. Rec. Print H. Prt. S. Prt. / Conference Report H. Rep. S. Rep. Congressional Record Cong. Rec. Public Law P.L. Stat. Presidential Message Lexis CIS Index Unpublished Senate Index U.S. Code, USCS, USCA E-Resources, 1830- E-Resources, 1824- Paley, 1833-1969 Paley, 1923-1968 E-Resources, 1817- Floor 3 & 4, current E-Resources, 1988- E-Resources, 1789-1969 Congressional Record Lexis RECORD Westlaw CR CIS Prints Microfiche Lexis CMTPRN, GPRPRN, RECPRN (print) (microfiche) Lexis CURHRG, GAPHRG, RECHRG Westlaw USTESTIMONY USCCAN Lexis CMTRPT Westlaw LH Congressional Record Lexis RECORD Westlaw CR Statutes at Large Lexis PUBLAW Westlaw USCCAN-PL Weekly Compilation of Pres Docs USCCAN (selected) Lexis PRESDC Westlaw PRES Desk, 1833- E-Resources, 1833- Lexis, 1985- Westlaw, 1985- E-Resources, 1819- Paley, 1830-1969 Lexis, 1994- E-Resources, 1824- Paley, 1955-1969 Paley, 1869-1954 Lexis, 1970- Westlaw, 1993- E-Resources, 1817- Floor 4, 1941- Lexis, 1994- West, 1948- Desk, 1833- E-Resources, 1833- Lexis, 1985- Westlaw, 1985- Floor 4, 1789- E-Resources, 1988- Statutes at Large, 1789- Lexis, 1988- West, 1973- Desk, 1967-1941 E-Resources, 1789-1969 E-Resources, 1965- Lexis, 1979- West, 1984-