Bluebook Guide: Legislative Materials

In some instances, extensive research into legislative materials may be necessary for completing a law review article or court document.

A full citation to legislative materials will include the following components (but not necessarily) in the following order:  (1) the title of the material;  (2) the abbreviated name of the legislative body;  (3) the number assigned to the material;  (4) the number of the Congress and/or legislative session; and  (5) the year of publication.

The Bluepages provide a short overview with examples for citation of legislative materials.  See B13, pp. 21-22.  As noted previously in this guide, a Whitepage Rule may be used to supplement a corresponding Bluepage Rule.  The Whitepages provide a more comprehensive approach to citation legislative materials.  See R13, pp. 135-42. 

Of course, Illinois practitioners must be wary of citation practices under local rules.

For more information on legislative research, consult the Law Library's research guides on Federal Legislative History Research and Illinois Legislative History Research.

Enacted bills and joint resolutions are statutes, so they are cited as statutes except when used to document legislative history, in which case they are cited as unenacted bills.  Unenacted and enacted federal bills and resolutions will generally contain the same elements with the exception that unless otherwise clear in context, the fact of enactment should be noted parenthetically.  See R.13.2(a) & (b), pp. 136-37.

The Bluebook provides the following examples:

• S. 516, 105th Cong. § 2 (1997).
• H.R. 422, 106th Cong. (1999).
• S. 593, 101st Cong. § 2 (as passed by Senate, May 31, 1989).
• S. Res. 141, 106th Cong. (1999) (enacted).
• S. Con. Res. 97, 94th Cong., 90 Stat. 3024 (1976).

When citing state bills and resolutions, include the name of the legislative body, abbreviated according to T6, T9, and T10, the number of the bill or resolution, the number of the legislative body (or, if not numbered, the year of the body), and the number or designation of the legislative session.  The parenthetical information will include the name of the state, abbreviated according to T10, and the year of enactment (for an enacted bill or resolution) or the year of publication (for an unenacted bill or resolution).  R13.2(c), p. 137.

The Bluebook provides the following examples:

• H.D. 636, 1999 Leg., 413th Sess. (Md. 1999).
• H.R. 189, 145th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ga. 1999).

Citations for hearing, in general, will be lengthy.  When citing committee hearings (both federal and state), the entire subject matter title (in italics) should be included, along with the bill number (if available), the subcommittee's name (if any), the committee's name, the number of the relevant legislative branch, the page number of the material cited, and the year of the publication.  The names for the subcommittee and committee should be abbreviated according to T6, T9, and T10.  A parenthetical may be included for a given individual's statement.  See R13.3(a), pp. 137-38.

The Bluebook provides the following examples:

• Protection from Personal Intrusion Act and Privacy Protection Act of 1998:  Hearing on H.R. 2448 and H.R. 3224 Before the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 105th Cong. 56–57 (1998) (statement of Richard Masur, President, Screen Actors Guild).
• Copyright Protection for Semiconductor Chips: Hearing on H.R. 1028 Before the Subcomm. on Cts., C.L. & the Admin. of Just. of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 98th Cong. 14 (1983) (statement of Jon A. Baumgarten, Copyright Counsel, Association of American Publishers).
• Tribal Energy Self-Sufficiency Act and the Native American Energy Development and Self-Determination Act: Hearing on S. 424 and S. 522 Before the S. Comm. on Indian Affs., 108th Cong. 1 (2003) (statement of Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Chairman, S. Comm. on Indian Aff.).

The citation for state committee hearings will follow the same format as set forth above.  R13.3(b), p. 138.  The Bluebook provides the following citation example for a state committee hearing.

Tax Credit for Cost of Providing Commuter Benefits to Employees: Hearing on H.D. 636 Before the H. Comm. on Ways & Means, 1999 Leg., 413th Sess. 5–8 (Md. 1999) (statement of Del. Paul Carlson, Member, H. Comm. on Ways & Means).

The Bluebook provides noteworthy specifics for citation of federal and state reports, documents, and committee prints.  Federal reports and documents may be numbered or unnumbered, and The Bluebook addresses both instances.  See R13.4(a) & (b), pp. 138-39.

When citing a numbered federal report, include the name of the house, the number of the Congress connected by a hyphen to the number of the report, the part and/or page number on which the material being cited appears, and the year of publication.  It must be noted that large and small caps for the house, abbreviation of report, and abbreviation of number must be used.  Parenthetical information may be included to note if the pertinent report is a conference report.

The Bluebook provides the following examples for clarification:

• H.R. Rep. No. 99-253, pt. 1, at 54 (1985).
• S. Rep. No. 84-2, at 7 (1955).
• H.R. Rep. No. 98-1037, at 3 (1984) (Conf. Rep.).
• S. Rep. No. 95-601, at 5 (1977) (Conf. Rep.).

With respect to federal documents and international agreements, The Bluebook sets forth the following formulations.

• House Document   >   H.R. Doc. No.
• Senate Document   >   S. Doc. No.
• House Miscellaneous Document   >   H.R. Misc. Doc. No.
• Senate Executive Document   >   S. Exec. Doc. No.
• Senate Treaty Doc.   >   S. Treaty Doc. No.

For reports and documents published after 1974, provide a parallel citation to the permanent edition of United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.).  See also R12.6, pp. 127-128.  The Bluebook provides an example of a parallel citation in this circumstance:

S. Rep. No. 95-797, at 4 (1978), as reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 9260, 9263.

When available, the title and author (whether as an individual or institution) of numbered reports or documents may be indicated in large and small caps.  The Bluebook provides the following examples for this scenario:

• Carlton Koepge, The Road to Industrial Peace, H.R. Doc. No. 82-563, at 29–30 (1953).
• U.S. Immigr. Comm'n, Immigration Legislation, S. Doc. No. 61-758, at 613 (3d Sess. 1911).

Turning to unnumbered federal documents and committee prints, The Bluebook directs that citation to these materials must be to that of an institutional author.  Also note that the number of Congress will be part of the author's name.  Further, in the case, where the document or committee print is the work of a specific person or group, that may be noted parenthetically.  The Bluebook provides the following example of a citation for an unnumbered committee print.  See R13.4(c), p. 139.

Staff of S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 81st Cong., Rep. on Antitrust Law 17 (Comm. Print 1950).

Federal legislative agency reports, i.e., Congressional Research Service (CRS) or Government Accountability Office (GAO), must be cited as a work of an institutional author.  The report number (as given by the pertinent agency) will be included as part of the title with all of this information being presented in large and small caps.  See R13.4(d) & (e), p. 139.  The Bluebook provides examples of citations for federal legislative agency reports.

• Louis Fisher, Cong. Rsch. Serv., RL31340, Military Tribunals: The Quirin Precedent 30 (2002).
• U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO-08-751, Food and Drug Administration: Approval and Oversight of the Drug Mifeprex 27 (2008).

Finally, with respect to federal materials in this subcategory, The Bluebook provides the following citation model for federal legislative journals.  Note that only the title will be presented in large and small caps in this case.

S. Journal, 24th Cong., 2d Sess. 123–24 (1836).

Citations to state materials generally follow the same citation of their federal analogs.  As such, the citation will include the name of the legislative body (abbreviated in accordance with T6, T9, and T10), the number of the legislative body connected by a hyphen to the number of the report or document, the number of the legislative session, the part or page number on which the material being cited appears, and the year of publication (in the parenthetical).  A state abbreviation (in accordance with T10) will also be necessary for the parenthetical unless it is clear from the title or author information appearing in the citation.  See R13.4(f), p. 139.

The Bluebook provides a general example of a citation for a state legislative document:

S. 178-247, 1st Sess., at 4 (Pa. 1994).

The Bluebook also indicates that the author (whether as an individual or an institution) and title of numbered reports or documents may be indicated.  Note that the author and title will be presented in large and small caps.

The Bluebook provides the following pertinent example for this sort of citation:

Commonwealth of Pa. Dep't of Agric., Annual Report of the State Food Purchase Program, S. 178-247, 1st Sess., at 4 (1994).

The Bluebook covers citations and provides relevant examples for congressional debates (R13.5, p. 140), separately bound legislative histories (R13.6, p. 140), and electronic media and online sources (R13.7, pp. 140-41) in the rules noted above. 

As always, proper short citation forms are essential for academic legal writing.  See R13.8, p. 141-42.  The Bluebook gives directions on how to cite legislative materials in the text or footnotes of a law review article.  See R13.8(a), (b) & (c), p. 141.  The following table from The Bluebook contains examples of a full citation, a "text" form, and a "short"  citation form.  The use of large and small caps in some of the examples should be noted.

The Bluebook, at 135-36 provides this table as an example of basic citation forms for legislative materials for academic legal writing.  

The committee hearing and committee print examples might be good candidates for the use of  “hereinafter.”  

The Bluepages generally follow the same format with the exception of large and small caps are not used.  Examples for the Bluepages are provided at B13, pp. 21-22.