FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

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FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
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The Big Picture
Statute
Undefined Term
Unexpected Situation or Ambiguous Phrase
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Gap Fillers for Statutes

• Cases
• Legislative History
• Administrative Law
• Administrative Regulations
• Administrative Decisions

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Legislative History is . . .

• An attempt to determine the intent of the
  legislature in passing a particular act.
• A compilation of the documents produced
  throughout the legislative process

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Research Legislative History . . .

• When the statutes language is unclear or
  ambiguous
• When the statute is applied to an unforeseen
  situation
• When you would like to suggest a different
  interpretation to the statute

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My Definition

• Pain, agony, and the pursuit of defeat

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To minimize frustration

• Dont expect too much from your research
• May not find information which explains the
  meaning of a particular word or phrase
• Will find information which explains the general
  purpose of the act

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The Legislative Process
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Committees may hold hearings on bills which have
been referred to them. Many bills die while in
committee
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Senate Debate Vote on Passage
House Debate Vote on Passage
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Conference Action
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Presidential Action
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Documents developed during this process
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Committee Reports

• THE most reliable resource for determining
  legislative intent
• Often will have both Senate and House reports
• May also have a conference report
• Reports from later in the process are generally
  better for determining legislative intent

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Committee prints

• Documentation prepared by committee staff to be
  used by the committee as they consider the bill
• Helpful background information
• Difficult to assert intent from these

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Committee hearings

• Testimony of people with an interest in the topic
  or experts in the area
• Helpful background information

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Different Versions of the Bills

• May be able to infer intent if legislators
  inserted or removed a phrase

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Congressional debate

• Reported in the Congressional Record
• Cannot attribute an individuals remarks to be
  the intent of the body
• Individual comments carry more weight if made by
  the Chairperson of the committee or by the bills
  sponsor

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Presidential statements

• Questionable value

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Scale of Importance

• Reports--Conference, House and Senate
• Different Versions of Bills
• Statements by Bills sponsors or committee
  members during debate
• Committee prints and hearings
• Presidential statements

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How do you locate these documents?
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Scenario

• Your client has AIDS and, because he has missed
  more work than usual and lost weight, his
  employer has been asking questions about his
  condition. He feels that he has been the
  subject of intimidation and coercion as a result
  of his refusal to discuss his health.

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Find the text of the law

• Use secondary resource to find code citati on
• Use U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. General Index for
  subject search, OR
• Use Popular Names Table for the Americans with
  Disabilities Act
• Codes
• Shepards

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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 July 26,
1990, P.L. 101-336, 42 U.S. Code 12101
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Congressional Findings and Purpose available in
the United States Code.
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Legislative History Resources

• Statutory Resources
• United States Statutes at Large
• Chronological arrangement
• United States Code
• Subject arrangement

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Legislative History Resources

• Compiled Legislative Histories
• See Section II.A. of Federal Legislative History
  handout

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Nancy Johnson, Sources of Compiled Legislative
Histories
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101-336 104 Stat. 327 AMERICANS WITH
DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 U.S. Congress,
House, Committee on Education and Labor,
Legislative History of Public Law 101-336,
The Americans with Disabilities Act, 3 vols.
Wash., Dc. GPO, 1990. SuDoc
Y4.Ed8/1102-A Microfiche CIS
90-H342-123 Note Actual Documents--Reports
and Hearings checked
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Legislative History Resources

• United States Code Congressional and
  Administrative News USCCAN
• Commercial Publication of the U.S. Statutes at
  Large
• Legislative History volumes reprint portions of
  the Committee and Conference reports.

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Legislative History Resources

• CIS Index
• 1984-present--Legislative History Volumes
• For earlier coverage, read description in Federal
  Legislative History handout, section II.D

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Legislative History Resources

• For Bills which did not pass
• Use CIS IndexIndex volume
• Index of Subjects and Names
• Index of Bill numbers
• NOTE References are to abstract numbers located
  within the Abstracts volume

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2001 Index volume
See 2001 Abstracts H423-3 and H423-4
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2001 CIS Index Abstracts volume
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ONLINE RESOURCES

• INTERNET
• thomas.loc.gov
• Lexis Nexis Congressional--CIS website.
• Access through Law Librarys home page
  (ResearchInternet ResourcesElectronic
  ResourcesDatabases --Available Only to
  University of Iowa Faculty, Staff, and Students)
• WESTLAW
• LEXIS