Legislative History

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Legislative History

• Finding Legislative History in
  Print Sources and On-line

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Why is Legislative History Important?

• Ambiguous Statutes are difficult to interpret.
• Legislative intent can be deciphered by learning
  about the legislative process.

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The Legislative Process

• 1. A bill is introduced into Congress.
• 2. After introduction, it is referred to
  committee.
• 3. The committee can hold hearings on the bill.
• 4. If the committee is not in favor of the bill,
  it usually takes no action. The bill dies in
  committee.

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The Legislative Process Continued..

• 5. If the committee is in favor of the bill, it
  will recommend passage to the full House or
  Senate.
• 6. Once it is before the full Senate or House, a
  bill is debated and probably amended.
• 7. The members vote on the bill.

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The Legislative Process Continued..

• 8. If it passes, it goes to the other chamber of
  Congress. The process is repeated.
• 9. If the House and Senate versions of the bill
  are different, it is usually sent to the
  Conference Committee to reconcile the
  differences.
• 10. If they agree, the compromise is sent back to
  both chambers of Congress to be re-approved.

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The Legislative Process Continued..

• 11. Both House and Senate vote again. If they
  both approve the bill it is sent to the
  president.
• 12. The President can sign the bill into law,
  allow the bill to become a law without his
  signature or veto the bill.
• 13. If the President signs, it becomes effective
  unless the act specifies otherwise.
• 14. If the President vetos, the bill goes back
  to Congress, where a 2/3 vote of the House and
  Senate is required to override a veto.

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Major Sources of Legislative History

• Bills introduced in Congress
• Hearings before committee or subcommittees
• Floor debates in the House or Senate
• Committee Reports

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The Legislative Process Continued..

• Committee Reports
• Most authoritative of all legislative history
  documents
• Contains the committees reason for recommending
  the bill.
• Includes a section by section analysis of the
  bill.
• Includes a report highlighting the differences
  between the House and Senate version of the bill.
• Offers an explanation of the agreed upon language
• Conference Committee Reports are designated as
  House Reports H.R. Rep. 2222.
• http//www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/fed-leg-hist.htmA
  

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The Process

• Where to Begin.
• Start with the Statute (USCA)
• The History Line contains the
• Public law number
• Statutes at large citation

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The Process

• Other print sources of Legislative History
• Compiled legislative histories.
• a. Union List of Legislative Histories by LLSDC,
  2000 also LLSDC listserv, others
• b. Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories by
  Nancy Johnson (biennial)
• c. Federal Legislative Histories An Annotated
  Bibliography by Bernard Reams, 1994

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The Process

• Print sources of Legislative History- continued
• United States Code Congressional and
  Administrative News, or USCCAN
• Contains two volumes
• Text of Laws (Statutes at Large)
• Committee Reports (Legislative History Volumes)

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The Process

• Congressional Information Service
• Most comprehensive legislative history source
• Includes
• Committee reports and hearings
• Citations to floor debates published in
  Congressional Record.
• Number changes for bills that carry over from a
  previous session

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The Process

• Congressional Record
• Published in daily and permanent editions
• 142 Cong. Rec. 11,352 (permanent)
• 142 Cong. Rec. H8620 (daily)
• This is a record of all House and Senate
  Activity. Use the Congressional Record to find
• Floor debates

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An Example.

• Lets look for the Medicare Prescription Drug Act
  in Print.
• USCA
• 42 U.S.C.A. 1305, PL. 108-173
• USCCAN
• 117 Stat 2066
• Leg. History 1808
• Congressional Record
• H9967(OC28)
• CIS

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Electronic Searches

• Lexis has the Congressional Information Service
  (CIS) legislative history taken from microfiche
• Westlaw and Lexis both have
• Congressional Record
• Legislative History Databases
• www.westlaw.com
• www.lexis.com

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Internet Searches

• Other sites
• http/thomas.loc.gov
• www.gpoaccess.gov/
• Congressional Universe via law library site

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