Doing Legal Research--Part III--Legislative History

This article appeared in the OGC Adviser, Vol. 2, No. 4, July 1978. Research tools to assist in the identification and location of the primary documents belonging in a legislative history are identified. The starting point for researching legislative intent is the identification of all published documents that make up the legislative history of a law or bill. When particular files are not available, however, or when a history is needed for legislation that was not enacted, the legislative history must be put together by some alternate method. The bills and amendments are the primary texts of a particular law. In addition, every legislative history normally contains three types of documents: reports of Senate and House committees and joint conference committees, Senate and House committee hearings, and debates. The tools used to identify and locate these documents may vary widely in the amount of information they provide. Sources range from those combining an inclusive chronological list of reports published in Congress to sources that identify the majority of the pertinent documents in a history. These research tools include: compiled histories, comprehensive listings of current legislation, and historical legislative materials. If the GAO law library does not have a legislative document available, the material may be borrowed through the interlibrary loan process. Bills and amendments are not available on loan, but may be found in the Library of Congress.