Many legislative history materials, including Congressional Hearings, Committee Reports, Documents and Committee Prints are published as government documents like those shown below. Increasingly these materials are available in digital form via the Govinfo website dating back as early as 1985. Some of these materials, in particular, House and Senate Reports and Documents are compiled in a numbered series and then bound into a publication entitled the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. A volume from the Serial Set is shown below on the left.
The Serial Set dates back to 1789 and is an important historical record. Since our library only became a depository in the 1980s, we don’t have all of these materials in print or microform, but Harold Washington Library Center has the complete Serial Set, going back to its inception.
Committee Reports can be particularly important sources of legislative history, as they are the most likely to reveal legislative intent. Documents tend to be less important in that they include presidential and agency communications and miscellaneous annual reports from various groups to Congress. However, to the extent that they contain in depth, objective background studies and already prepared legislative histories, Committee Prints and Documents can be important as well.
Before researching the legislative history of a law, it is necessary to understand the public law numbering system. After a law is enacted, it is assigned a Public Law number, which is based on the Congress and order of passage. Thus, P.L. 100-38 refers to the 38th law enacted by the 100th Congress. Each Congress covers a two year span and a new Congress starts every odd numbered year. The 100th Congress, for example, covered the years 1987 and 1988.
What Congress was in session during 1996? Answer: 104th, 2nd session. What years did the 90th Congress cover? Answer: 1967 & 8. If you are having any trouble finding a particular year or Congress, you may wish to refer to ProQuest Congressional Legislative Insight > Congress in Context > Sessions of Congress.
PQ Legislative Insight is an excellent service for researching federal legislative history. In addition to this chart, it provides a description of the legislative process (how a bill becomes law), description of various Congressional publications and a glossary.
Before researching the legislative history of a law, it is also necessary to understand how the laws are published. The very first official publication of a law in print is called a slip law, as shown below on the left. A slip law pamphlet contains only the text of a single law or act. The slip law literally stands on its own with its own internal numbering. The old, thick volume next to the slip law pamphlet is from the Statutes at Large. The Statutes at Large is the official publication of the U.S. session laws, that is, laws published in chronological sequence as passed by session of Congress.
The Statutes at Large have been published since 1789 and are an important historical document. They are also available digitally via HeinOnline's U.S. Statutes at Large collection.
Like the initial slip law, the laws in the Statutes at Large are in public law number, chronological order. The text of a session law is the same as that of the slip law, with the same original section numbers. Think of a session law as a snapshot of the law after it is first enacted. That snapshot is static and does not change.
The two volumes in the middle are from another set called U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN). USCCAN is an unofficial publication of U.S. session laws. USCCAN contains the text of the laws themselves, plus selected legislative history. It is an easy way to access some legislative history materials quickly, especially the most relevant House and Senate Reports. The USCCAN set is divided into Laws volumes and Legislative History volumes. The public law numbers are also indicated on the spines.
The red USCCAN pamphlets on the right contain the session laws from the current session of Congress as well as helpful updating tools. Thus, USCCAN is a source that can be used to trace the history of laws and also to update statutory research.
In contrast to the session laws, a code is a subject rather than a chronological arrangement of the public, general and permanent statutes of a jurisdiction. When a newly enacted law is codified, it is renumbered and made a part of the existing code. Remember that codification can take a while, especially when researching a newly enacted law.
The U.S. Code , as shown below, is an “official” government publication. The creation of a statutory code is a large undertaking. For many years, U.S. lawyers had only the session laws available to them for researching federal law, as the U.S. Code did not come into being until 1926. The official version is not annotated, that is, it does not contain notes of court decisions. Also, it does not provide cross references to secondary sources. The annotated codes published by private publishers, Thompson West and LexisNexis, contain these editorial enhancements. It is best to use an annotated code for research whenever possible, but note that it is sometimes necessary to cite to the official version.
When citing to the U.S. Code, provide the title and section number. The U.S. Code is composed of 53 subject titles as shown below.
Titles are the largest divisions of statutes within the Code. Within each title, there are further divisions such as chapters and subchapters. A section is usually the smallest division used for citation purposes. Like the session laws, one may find earlier editions of the Code useful for researching the law at a particular point in time. New editions of the U.S. Code are published every six years as shown in HeinOnline’s U.S. Code Library. It can take many years to receive the latest edition. The annotated codes tend to be more up to date, which is yet another reason to use an annotated code for statutory research.
Unlike the session laws which are static, the code is constantly changing, as new laws are added to it and old laws are repealed. Always use the current code to find the current law. Only use the session laws when researching the history of a law.