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Legislative Histories

Understanding the Legislative Process

What is a legislative history and how is it used?

Step-by-Step Research about a Public Law

Where to Find the Text of Congressional Publications

Potential Research Problems

Documenting Florida Legislative Intent

Citation Guides

Other Resources

Understanding the Legislative Process

Start with these basic overviews of the legislative process

and then visit LexisNexis Congressional for a chart and step-by-step review of How a Bill Becomes Law

or the following resources from Congress:  How Our Laws Are Made (House) or Enactment of a Law (Senate)

What is a legislative history and how is it used?

A legislative history traces the events leading to the passage of a Public Law.  It documents the issues and facts considered by Congress in reaching its decision.  The legislative history includes publications such as reports from committees and the record of testimony at public hearings.

A legislative history is consulted to resolve questions as to how a law should be interpreted or applied.  The original process of crafting the law is examined to determine legislative intent.  Those seeking to modify existing laws or to enact related legislation may also review legislative histories to gain insights about the key issues and to identify likely opponents and supporters, both within and outside Congress.

Step-by-Step Research about a Public Law

Begin Step-by-Step Research.

Where to Find the Text of Congressional Publications

Public Laws | Bills | Committee Reports | Committee Prints | Hearings | Debates | Presidential Messages

Public Laws (P.L.)

Stat. - United States Statutes at Large (1789- ) full text is searchable by keyword or citation at LexisNexis Congressional.

  • 1789-1873 Online (American Memory, Library of Congress)
  • 1789-1965, vol. 1-79 [US DOCS microfiche AE2.111:]
  • 1942-1983, vol. 56-97 [US DOCS GS4.111:]
  • 1973-         , vol. 87-   [Internet resource] Public Laws at Thomas
  • 1984-         , vol. 98-     [US DOCS AE2.111:]
  • 1995-         , vol. 109-   [Internet resource] Public & Private Laws at GPO Access

U. S. Code Congressional & Administrative News [REF KF62.A2.W4]

  • The full text of each Public Law is provided, arranged sequentially by number. 
  • UCF holdings begin with P.L. 89-350 (1966).  Earlier volumes may be available in other local libraries, such as the Orlando Public Library (1952- ).

Bills, Resolutions and Amendments

Committee Reports

Committee Prints

Hearings

Debates

Congressional Record (and previous titles) - Index [US DOCS X1.1:]

  • 1789-1824 [MFLM J11.A5] Annals of Congress (online at American Memory)
  • 1824-1837 [MFLM J11.D5] Register of Debates (online at American Memory)
  • 1833-1873 [MFLM J11.G5] Congressional Globe (online at American Memory)
  • 1873-1955 [US DOCS X1.1:] Congressional Record
  • 1956-1976 [GenColl J11.R52] Congressional Record
  • 1977-1995 [US DOCS X1.1:] Congressional Record
  • 1985-          [Internet resource] Congressional Record at LexisNexis Congressional by keyword and citation
  • 1989-          [Internet resource] Congressional Record at Thomas
  • 1994-          [Internet resource] Congressional Record at GPO Access
  • 1873-1976 [MFLM J11.R5] Congressional Record
  • 1977-1987 [US DOCS X95/1: through X100/1:] Congressional Record (microfiche)
  • 1986-1993 [US DOCS X/A.99/2: through X/A.103/1:] Congressional Record (microfiche)
  • 1993-          [US DOCS X1.1: -        ] Congressional Record (microfiche)

Presidential Messages

U. S. Code Congressional & Administrative News [REF KF62.A2.W4]

  • If the President issued a Signing Statement, it usually follows the committee report in the legislative history volume. 
  • UCF holdings begin with P.L. 89-350 (1966).  Earlier volumes may be available in other local libraries, such as the Orlando Public Library (1952- ).

Congressional Record Index [US DOCS X1.1:]

  • "History of Bills and Resolutions" section is arranged by bill number and includes citations for presidential messages about the bill.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

Potential Research Problems

Not a Public Law - If the topic being researched is not a Public Law passed by Congress, then there won't be federal legislative history materials about it.  Examples include:

  • Federal Regulations
  • Executive Orders - For Example, charitable choice was implemented by Executive Order 13279 on Dec. 12, 2002.
  • State Laws and Regulations - Documentation of the intent of state legislatures can be very difficult to research.  For example, see Documenting Florida Legislative Intent
  • Failed or Vetoed Congressional Bills - Some of the publications discussed above will exist, but there won't be ready-made guides to the legislative history since the bill never became a law.

Publications Never or Not Yet Published - Some Congressional committees have been extremely slow to publish their reports and documents. 

Lack of Congressional Documentation - If the legislation flew through Congress with little or no opposition, there may have been no hearings and no committee reports produced.  In 1995 the rush to meet the 100-day goal of the "Contract with America" resulted in some bills moving forward without hearings and with limited debate.

No Record of How Individuals Voted, e.g. Voice Vote - It is not possible to determine how individual members of Congress voted unless the vote was recorded name by name.  Voice votes are simply a shouted chorus of "ayes" versus a shouted chorus of "nays"; there is no record of how specific individuals voted in a voice vote.

No Specific Citation Listed in the Legislative History - If the report or hearing had not yet been published at the time CIS went to press with the Legislative History volume, then CIS identified the report or hearing by subject, committee, and date, but there won't be a citation that directs you to the microfiche by number. That problem carries over into the electronic product because they just imported the legislative history information from the print version without updating it. So how do you find those reports and hearings? You can still search for them using the online LexisNexis Congressional, but the details won't show up in the Legislative History section. Instead, go to the home page of LexisNexis Congressional, and then (1) If you have the Congressional report or hearing number, use the last tab for "Search By Number" and then enter the number to retrieve descriptive information for the report or hearing. Otherwise, use the second tab for "Advanced Search". (2) Search by a few of the key words and limit by date, but go from the year of the report or hearing to one or two years later to allow for the publication date not matching the actual hearing date. Avoid too tight a phrase search, even if you think you know the title. Example, the actual title of a 1999 hearing when published was "Challenges Confronting Older Children Leaving Foster Care" but the description published in the legislative history was "Hearings on challenges confronting children aging out of foster care", so a search for the phrase "challenges confronting children" misses retrieving the actual hearing. (3) In the results list, it is usually easiest to scan the list for the date of the hearing.  Months are sometimes abbreviated and sometimes spelled out, e.g., "Oct" or "October".

Microfiche Missing - If the fiche are not in the CIS drawer and you cannot find them on top of the cabinets waiting to be refiled, you can try using the SUDOC number (e.g., Y4.W36:106-26) to find a copy in our depository microfiche. You do NOT need both versions.

Citation Guides

How to cite electronic, print and microfiche congressional publications (LexisNexis Congressional)

Other Resources for Citing Government Information

Other Resources

Other Guides are available at the UCF Library Reference Desk for "Legal Research: General" and "Legal Research: Florida".

For more comprehensive guides to legal research, take a look at various books in the UCF Library's Reference Collection at REF KF240.

Looking for something else?  
Ask for assistance at the UCF Library's Reference Desk or contact UCF's Ask A Librarian.

Prepared by:  Rich Gause, Government Documents Librarian
URL of this page: http://library.ucf.edu/reference/guides/legal/leghistory.htm

Last update:07/28/08 01:33:44 PM