Legislative History
Federal legislative history refers to the documents produced by and for Congress as a bill is introduced, considered, debated and ultimately approved. The legislative history of a statute can be used to determine the intent of the legislature. Understanding the intent of the legislature can bolster your argument for how an ambiguous statute should be interpreted.
Legislative History Research Guide from Georgetown Law Library
Federal Legislative History: Initial Steps from the Law Library of Congress
Resources for Tracking Legislative History
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ProQuest CongressionalIncludes information on bills, laws, regulations, Congressional publications, current and previous Members of Congress, campaign finance information, financial disclosures, voting records, and committee membership. Also includes the full text of some Congressional reports,
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HeinOnlineHeinOnline, sometimes known as Hein Online, serves as a source of legal information with over 100 million pages of legal history and comprehensive coverage of more than 2,000 law and law-related periodicals. HeinOnline hosts a number of collections, with descriptions of contents available to users who click the question mark next to the collection title.
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Congress.govCongress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.
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govinfo.govA service of the Government Publishing Office (GPO), govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
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Legislative Source Book from the Law Librarian's Society of Washington DCThis site offers links to a variety of reference sources that provide information and background on the legislative process and relevant materials for looking at legislative histories.
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An Index to In Custodia Legis Legal Research GuidesA listing of research guides from the Law Library of Congress.