Congressional committees and private publishers often compile and publish legislative histories for specific acts. This was because, traditionally, there was no "one source" for all the legislative history documents for a piece of federal legislation. Researchers should always try to look for a compiled federal legislative history first, especially if the act created significant additions and or changes to existing laws. If that isn't possible, then the researcher should start to put together their own federal legislative history. Which sources you use depends on what acts you're looking for and how prominent those acts are. Here's a list of the most common resources were you can find compiled federal legislative histories:
- Department of Justice Legislative Histories: A small collection of legislative histories compiled by DOJ librarians; available online.
- HeinOnline: U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
- ProQuest Legislative Insight: PDFs of full-text legislative histories of passed legislation (1789-2015). Coverage includes more than 27,000 laws (major laws and select additional laws), including CIS histories 1970-2010. Patrons should use the Proquest Congressional database for comprehensive coverage of congressional documents, including those not included as part of a compiled legislative history.
- ProQuest Congressional: Online legislative histories derived from the CIS Index. Most have links to full-text. Searchable by keyword. Coverage is 91st Congress (1969) to present.
- CIS Index: Print Index for legislative histories from 1971 to 2000. Law Library Fourth Floor, Range 408.
- United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN): Second Floor, Row 213. Coverage 1944 to present.
- USCCAN publishes the full text of most public laws, lists the reports associated with bills, lists the dates of debate, and reprints portions of the most significant reports.
- Also available on Westlaw.
- Westlaw
- GAO Legislative Histories: Coverage 1915-1995.
- Arnold & Porter Legislative History Collection: 31 legislative histories compiled by the Arnold & Porter law firm..
- GMU Library Catalog: To locate compiled legislative histories at the George Mason Law Library, search using keywords for your topic and the phrase “legislative history.”
- Union List of Legislative Histories: List of legislative histories compiled by libraries in the Washington, D.C. area. Published by The Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C. REFERENCE KF4.U55 2000.
Sources to Determine if a Compiled Legislative History is Available
