Is there already a legislative history compiled?
Many major federal laws already have detailed legislative histories compiled, meaning that all the documents comprising the legislative history are already gathered together.
1. Locate the Public Law Number. Check any version of the United States Code. At the bottom of the text, there will be a reference to the Public Law Number for the original law and any subsequent amendments in the format of YY-NNNN (e.g., 98-123).
When a statute is passed by Congress, it is assigned a public law number (e.g. Pub. L. 93-406) and published by date in the official Statutes at Large (Stat.).
It is then organized by topic in the official United States Code (U.S.C.). Westlaw™ and Lexis™ take the basic text of the U.S.C. and add annotations (notes explaining each statute's history and identifying relevant cases and secondary sources interpreting the statute) to produce Westlaw's unofficial United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and Lexis' unofficial United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.).
The easiest way to view a statute's history is to type the statute's citation into the main Lexis™ or Westlaw™ search box and then hit enter. For example, if you are interested in researching the history of 29 U.S.C. § 1182, type 29 USC 1182 in the main Lexis™ or Westlaw™ search box and hit enter.
After the text of a statute, you will see a citation to the public law that created the statute, followed by citations to each public law that amended it.
To help you identify which public law is relevant to your research, both Lexis™ and Westlaw™ provide notes explaining what each amendment did. These are shown just after the list of the public law citations on Lexis™ and under the History > Editor's and Revisor's Notes subtab on Westlaw™.
2. Locate a Compiled Legislative History.
Compiled legislative histories take all of the major documents that were generated in the process of passing a bill, from different drafts of the bill to committee reports to committee hearings, and compile them into a single web page or print book.
If a compiled legislative history is available, it is your single best starting point for legislative history research and can allow you to skip directly to reading the legislative history materials, without having to track them down individually.
You can also check the following sources:
3. HeinOnline contains "Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories" by Ronald E. Wheeler & Jenna E. Fegreus
The HeinOnline version includes direct links to all legislative histories and law review articles available on Hein and citations to legislative histories available on other databases or in print.
4. HeinOnline Legislative Histories: Contains legislative histories.
5. Although HeinOnline Legislative Histories are most easily accessed using Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories (above), you can also browse them directly by Public Law Number or Popular Name.
6. US GAO Federal Legislative Histories
Legislative histories for most U.S. Public Laws enacted between 1921 and 1995, as compiled by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Search by Public Law Number for best results.
7. Arnold & Porter Legislative Histories
8. Legislative Histories
9. List of legislative histories available free online
If there is no legislative history already compiled, you will need to pull the documents together yourself.
When a statute is passed by Congress, it is assigned a public law number (e.g. Pub. L. 93-406) and published by date in the official Statutes at Large (Stat.).
It is then organized by topic in the official United States Code (U.S.C.). Westlaw™ and Lexis™ take the basic text of the U.S.C. and add annotations (notes explaining each statute's history and identifying relevant cases and secondary sources interpreting the statute) to produce Westlaw's unofficial United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and Lexis' unofficial United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.).
The easiest way to view a statute's history is to type the statute's citation into the main Lexis™ or Westlaw™ search box and then hit enter. For example, if you are interested in researching the history of 29 U.S.C. § 1182, type 29 USC 1182 in the main Lexis or Westlaw search box and hit enter.
After the text of a statute, you will see a citation to the public law that created the statute, followed by citations to each public law that amended it.
To help you identify which public law is relevant to your research, both Lexis™ and Westlaw™ provide notes explaining what each amendment did. These are shown just after the list of the public law citations on Lexis and under the History > Editor's and Revisor's Notes subtab on Westlaw™.
Alternatively, you can retrieve the statute in one of the free online versions of the official United States Code (U.S.C.). After the text of each statute, the U.S.C. provides a citation to the public law that created the statute, followed by citations to each public law that amended it, followed by notes explaining what each amendment did. The text and basic history information for the statute will be the same as that found in the U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. but the U.S.C. will not provide as detailed an explanation of what each amendment did.
The following free online versions of the U.S.C. are generally trustworthy:
2. Use an Index to Identify Documents. Using the Public Law Number or Bill Number, locate references to legislative history documents. This is much more efficient than diving right into full-text databases and searching for key words.
The most comprehensive and respected indexes to federal legislative history materials are the abstracts/indexes prepared by the Congressional Information Service (CIS).
The CIS abstracts/indexes combine:
The CIS abstracts/indexes were formerly owned by Lexis and remain available on Lexis™:
Generally links to the full text of documents available on Lexis™. If the full text of a document is not linked, you can retrieve it elsewhere using the databases listed under Retrieve Individual DocumentCIS/Historical Index on Lexis (1789-1984). Provides abstracts (short descriptions) of Congressional documents taken from retrospective abstracts/indexes that CIS compiled to cover materials from before it began publication in 1970, as well as certain documents from 1970 to 1984 that were missed in the CIS annual abstracts/indexes.
Generally it does not link to the full text of documents, even when the full text is available on Lexis™. You will need to use the title and citation provided in the abstract to retrieve the full text using the databases or sites listed below.
3. Use Databases to Find Documents. Find the full-text of the documents you have identified in databases or other sources.
Indexes provide lists of the major documents that were generated in the process of passing a public law, from different drafts of the bill to committee reports to committee hearings. There are also indexes that provide lists of major Congressional documents on specific subjects, such as Congressional documents on education or on attorneys.
Unlike compiled histories, indexes do not necessarily include the full text of the documents. Although an increasing number of indexes link to the full text of documents, often indexes provide you only with citations to documents, which you can then use to retrieve the documents using the databases listed below..
Using a compiled legislative history is always easier than compiling your own history using an index and you should always attempt to Locate a Compiled Legislative History before checking an index. However, if no compiled history is available, checking an index allows you to feel more confident that you have found the most significant relevant documents and saves you the hassle of blindly searching each individual type of document.
Both Lexis™ and Westlaw™ provide database access to the Statutes at Large, public laws, and private laws. They are generally more difficult to browse and search than HeinOnline or the free websites but are a good option if you are not a current student, faculty, or staff member, need content that is not posted on the free websites, and have access to Lexi™s or Westlaw™. Additionally, because USCCAN is published by Westlaw, it is only available on Westlaw and in print.
Non- Lexis™ or Westlaw™ Databases