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Legislative History

Legislative History. Seminar: Statutory Interpretation Prof. Nourse Guest Instructor: Amy Flick October 14, 2009. Legislative History Documents. Compiled legislative histories Statutes at Large and Public Laws Congressional Reports Hearings Congressional Record Historical Documents.

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Legislative History

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  1. Legislative History Seminar: Statutory Interpretation Prof. Nourse Guest Instructor: Amy Flick October 14, 2009

  2. Legislative History Documents • Compiled legislative histories • Statutes at Large and Public Laws • Congressional Reports • Hearings • Congressional Record • Historical Documents

  3. Sources for Congressional Documents • Emory Law Library Guide: Legislative History • Hein Online • U.S. Federal Legislative History • U.S. Congressional Documents • Lexis Congressional • Lexis • US Code Congressional and Administrative News • Westlaw • Thomas • FDSys (GPO Access) • Serial Set • Readex Serial Set database

  4. Starting Points Citations: Statutes at Large, Public Laws U.S. Code: History Notes Popular Names Tables Citations: Bill Number Statutes at Large, Public Laws, compiled histories Compiled Legislative Histories: Citations, sometimes documents Lexis Congressional, USCCAN, Thomas, Hein

  5. Original Documents Original Documents and PDFs Government Documents FDSys/GPO Access Most newer documents Hein Stat., Cong. Record Lexis Congressional Older hearings and Cong. Record Readex Serial Set Older reports

  6. Statute: RLUIPA • Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 • 114 Stat. 803 • P.L. 106-274 • S. 2869 (106th Cong.) • September 22, 2000 • Documents available in most legislative history sources

  7. 2000 Act: Compiled Histories Guide: Compiled Legislative Histories Lexis Congressional All related documents, including previous Congresses Citations, SuDocs, document text Also on Lexis Thomas Free Bill Summary & Status: All Congressional Actions Links to GPO Access for PDFs USCCAN Selected documents, excerpted reports Westlaw also links to other legislative history documents Hein PDF documents Sources of Compiled Legislative History Statutes at Large: notes Statutes at Large/Public Laws Legislative History notes FDSys/GPO Access, GovDocs

  8. RLUIPA: Committee Reports • House and Senate Reports • No report on the enacted bill, but related report H. R. Rpt. 106-219 • Committee reports for section-by-section analysis, background, purpose, definitions • Lexis Congressional: citations to all related reports, text • FDSys/GPO Access : pdf, retrieve by citation • Fields to search include bill, Stat., and USC citations • Serial Set volumes • Major reports may be excerpted in USCCAN

  9. RLUIPA: Other Documents • Hearings • Official version (print or pdf) varies from unofficial transcripts • Time lag before official publication • FDSys: pdfs of many hearings • Search by fields, including committee, witness, member of Congress • Lexis Congressional: separate database for pdfs of official hearings • Congressional Record • Note different pagination Daily and Bound editions • Hein: Daily to Bound Locator with date or citation • FDSys: • PDF: Daily Edition • Field search including bill number • PDF: Bound edition (1999-2001) • Index for page citations, then retrieve by citation

  10. Historical Statute: Civil Rights Act • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • 78 Stat. 241 • P.L. 88-352 • H.R. 7152 (88th Cong.) • July 2, 19964 • Documents available in multiple sources, mostly as print or pdf

  11. 1964 Act: Compiled Histories • Hein Federal Legislative Histories • Compiled legislative history volumes with documents: Titles VII and XI • Congressional Record • Use dates or citations from other sources • Use the Index/History of Bills to find dates • USCCAN • Volumes Range 301, selected reports, excerpts • Westlaw LH database: USCCAN reports • Westlaw FED-LH database: GAO compiled legislative histories

  12. Civil Rights Act: More Documents • Serial Set • US Docs Y1: Find by Congress, House or Senate, report number • Readex Serial Set database • PDFs, search by bill or report number • Reports: S. Rpt. 88-352 and H.R. Rpt. 88-914 • Summary and Section-by-Section Analysis, background, history • Lexis Congressional • Search Publications related to PL 88-352 • CRS Reports, committee print • Separate databases for pdf hearings and Congressional Record • Guide: Historical Congressional Sources

  13. Historical Statute: Alien Contract Labor Law • Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885 • 23 Stat. 332 • H.R. 2550 (48th Cong.) • February 26, 1885 • Few publications, few sources • Most sources don’t go back that far

  14. 1885 Act: Sources • Hein Online • No compiled history, no legislative history notes in Statutes at Large • Congressional Record • Index/ History of Bills • H.R. 2550: Cong. Record volumes 15 and 16 • Use the citation navigator with page citations • Readex Serial Set • Search by publication or bill number • S. Rpt. 820 and H.R. Rpt. 444 • Appendices to reports include testimony summaries • Lexis Congressional • Citations only, including the bill and report numbers • Cong. Record: pdf

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