Research by Subject: Government Publications: United States: Legislative Histories-Bills & Laws

Definition: Legislative history

A legislative history describes how a bill becomes law and includes the documents created as part of the process (bill, hearing, report, andmore). One reason to create and study a legislative history is to determine legislative intent--to understand why the bill became law. Legislative intent is sometimes used by the courts when interpreting a law.

Key databases

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Legislative histories track the paper trail as a bill moves through the process to become law. Coverage varies slightly:
*1999 (106th Congress) to present: full legislative histories of all public laws
*1984 (98th Congress) to 1998 (105th Congress): full legislative histories of major public laws; ceremonial and housekeeping laws excluded
*1969 (91st Congress) to 1983 (97th Congress): abbreviated legislative histories of major public laws
This resource searches the full text of three historical newspapers, the Chicago Defender (1909-1975), the Los Angeles Times (1881-1993), and the New York Times with Index (1851-2014).

History of Bills via FDsys
98th Congress (1983-1984) to present
History of Bills lists legislative actions on bills that are reported in the Congressional Record, which has been published since 1874. In print it is part of the Congressional Record Index, the biweekly publication from the Joint Committee on Printing, but on FDsys it is a separate collection.
Congress.gov
93rd Congress (1973-1974) to present
Full text of public laws, legislative bills (as well as summaries and status information for these bills), legislative debates, and committee reports. For the debates and reports, links are provided to a PDF version of these documents.