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Federal Legislative History Made Simple: Know a Few Good Sources

A step-by-step guide to the basics for understanding how to research federal legislative history and Congressional intent and for finding the Congressional documents at the Hofstra Law Library.

Finding the Public Law Number

To use many legislative history sources, you need to know the Public Law Number. 

To find the Public Law (P.L.) number:

  • If you have the code section, such as 17 USCA 107, then go to the parenthetical at end of code section (sometimes known as "Credit" or "History")   
    - click on image below

    • finding PL for 17usca107

  • If you have the name of the Act, then go to the Popular Name Table

Basic full-text Coverage Summary

Executive Summary / Abbreviations Explanation

1. Bills -
H.R.*= House Bill
(*do not confuse with House Report-H.Rpt.)
S.=Senate Bill
example: H.R. 1 or S.1

2. Hearings
H.Hrg=House Hearing
S.Hrg=Senate Hearing
example: S.Hrg 108-383 or H.Hrg 108-383

3. Committee Reports
H.Rpt= House Report*
(*do not confuse with HR which is for House bill)
S.Rpt=Senate Report
example: H.Rpt 111-299 or S.Rpt 110-470

4. Debates
CR or Cong.Rec=Congressional Record

5.  bill goes through process in other chamber.

6. Conference Report

H.Rpt, H.Conf.Rpt=House Conference Report (may be same as for House Report)

S.Rpt=Senate Conference Report (same as for Senate Report)

example: H.Rpt 111-89

7. Presidential Signing Statement

WCPD=Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

DCPD=Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents

8.  Public Law
P.L.=Public Law
 
example: P.L. 111-148
 
 

See Bluebook Rule 13 for citing rules.

A Few Good Sources

Good sources for legislative history research include:

1.  ProQuest Congressional (access restricted)  

2.  Thomas  

3.  HeinOnline Federal Legislative History Library (access restricted)

See boxes below for detail on each of these.  

For date coverage for hearings and reports, see Basic full-text coverage summary box on left

Good Source #1 - ProQuest Congressional - $$$$

ProQuest Congressional (access restricted) is the most robust database for legislative history research, but it costs big $$$.  If you do have access, find the Public Law number for the statute you are interested in (see box at left) and use the Search By Number link as pictured below.  You will get a complete list of documents (listed in the Executive Summary at lower left), many with links to the full text.

Basic full-text Coverage summary:

  • Debates (Congressional Record) - 1985-present
  • Hearings - 1824 - 2003
  • Reports - 1789-1969 ; 2003-present

Access to ProQuest Congressional requires a subscription.   (Links will work for Hofstra Law Community only)

On the next screen click on the "Legislative History" link on the right.

Good Source #2 - Thomas - FREE

Thomas is free - which means it is not as comprehensive as subscription databases but can be very useful for basic legislative history research.  Again, having the Public Law number (see box at left) is very useful.  Thomas will give you links to versions of bills as well as the Congressional Record and Committee Reports.

Thomas homepage

Finding an Act with the Public Law number (example 111-147)


Viewing the Public Law listing

HeinOnline Federal Legislative History - $$$

HeinOnline Federal Legislative History Library (access restricted) compiles the various legislative history documents for specific laws and  provides full text access to those documents.  The advantage of using HeinOnline is that you can do full-text searches across the different documents for key phrases.  The disadvantage is that HeinOnline does not include every Act passed by Congress.  Again, having the Public Law number is helpful, although you can also find you Act by Popular Name.

Access to HeinOnline requires a subscription.   (Links will work for Hofstra Law Community only)