Legislative Histories

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Legislative Histories

• A Brief Guide

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How A Bill Becomes A Law The Super-Simplified
Version

• Bill is introduced in either the House of
  Representatives or the Senate.
• Bill is assigned a number in sequential order,
  for instance, H.R. 321 or S. 123
• Bill is assigned to the appropriate Committee.
• Committee may call for Hearings on the topic may
  issue a Report of their findings and conclusions.
• Bill comes out of Committee to be voted upon in
  the House where it was introduced. (It passes).

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How a Bill Becomes a Law, p.2

• Bill is sent to the other House, where it goes
  through the process again (assignment to a
  Committee, Hearings, Report, vote on the Floor).
• If there is a difference between the versions of
  the bill passed by the House and the Senate, a
  Joint Committee will review and revise the bill
  for passage in each House.

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How a Bill Becomes a Law, p.3

• When identical versions of the bill have passed
  in both the House of Representatives and the
  Senate, it is sent to the President for his
  signature.
• It is now called a Public Law, and is given a
  new number, for example, PL 108-3, where 108 is
  the Congress number and 3 indicates the third
  law signed in that Congress.

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How a Bill Becomes a Law, p.4

• Fuller explanations of the process can be found
  on the Olin Library subject pages
• http//library.wustl.edu
• Click on Research Guides
• Click on Government
• Click on Legislative Histories tab

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Helpful Hint From Your Friendly Librarian

• Choose a Public Law, then find all the supporting
  documents, rather than trying to track a bill
  forward from its introduction. Not all bills
  become laws!
• To browse a list of Public Laws, look at
  http//thomas.loc.gov. (Library of Congress
  Thomas service).

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Another Helpful Hint

• Other people may have already created Legislative
  Histories use them!
• You can find Histories by
• Searching the Library Catalog
• Using the Thomas website for a specific law or
  bill
• Using Lexis/Nexis Congressional (library
  database)
• Using the United States Code Annotated (USCA)

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Key Supporting Legislative Documents

• Congressional Record (SuDoc X or X/a)
• Introduction of a bill
• co-sponsors
• Debates on the Floor
• Votes
• Cited as 142 Cong. Rec. H498 Date 1/23/95,
  where 142 is the volume and H498 is the page
  number.

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Key Supporting Legislative Documents

• Committee Hearings, Committee Reports
• Remember, these may exist for both the House and
  the Senate!
• May be found in the Library Catalog, or online
  full-text.
• SuDocs for Hearings Y4
• SuDocs for Reports Y1.1/5 (Senate)
• Y1.1/8 (House)

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Key Supporting Legislative Documents

• Public Law (SuDocs AE 2.110)
• Cited as PL 108 -123 , where 108 is the
  Congress number and 123 is the law number.
• Statutes at Large (SuDocs AE2.111)
• Cumulation of Public Laws.
• Cited as 107 Stat 2024, where 107 is the
  volume number and 2024 is the page number.
• United States Code (SuDocs Y1.2/5)
• Public Laws arranged in a cohesive unit, around a
  topic called a Title
• Cited as 42 USC 1524, where 42 is the Title
  number and 1524 is a section number.

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And then the President signs it

• Supporting Documents
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, at
  http//access.gpo.gov
• Public Papers of the President
• See Library Catalog, (LC J 80)
• News reports (see especially the New York Times
  and the Washington Post)

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And then the Executive Agencies regulate it.

• Supporting Documents
• Federal Register
• Cited as 57 FR 18418 4/30/92, where 57 is the
  volume number and 18418 is the page number.
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Annual cumulation of Federal regulations in
  force, around a topic called a Title
• Cited as 18 CFR 157.17 (1995), where 18 is the
  Title and 157.17 is the section number.

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Two Important Resources (1)

• Lexis/Nexis Congressional
• A for-fee, value-added database of materials
  about laws and bills.
• Access from Olin Library.
• Click on Databases
• Click on A-Z list Click on L.
• Scroll down to Lexis/Nexis Congressional

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Two Important Resources (2)

• Thomas
• A FREE resource of legislative materials produced
  by the Library of Congress.
• Contains online, full-text materials from 1996
  forward
• Links to Congressional Record, Committee Hearings
  and Reports, Public Laws, U.S. Code, More!
• http//www.thomas.loc.gov

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For Additional Commentary

• CQ Weekly or CQ Researcher
• National Journal
• Think Tanks
• Lobby Groups
• PAIS (library database)
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (library
  database)

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Questions?

• Lori Siegel or Sylvia Toombs,
• GWB Social Work Library
• Barbara Rehkop, Olin Library
• 935-7465
• Tove Klovning, Law Library
• 935-6443