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Legislative Histories: 05 - List of bills, reports & debate

Step-by-Step Research about a Federal Law

Begin Step-by-Step Research -- Research Tips

  1. Identify the Public Law number
  2. Locate and read overviews of the bill's history
    - Congressional Quarterly Almanac
    - U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News
  3. Retrieve a compiled legislative history list of bills, hearings, reports, debate, etc.
    - CIS Index: Legislative Histories
  4. Retrieve the Bill Tracking Report
    - ProQuest Congressional
  5. Retrieve the brief "Guide to Legislative History" list of bills, reports and debate
    - U.S. Statutes at Large
  6. Retrieve the list of reports and documents by bill number(s)
    - CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, Part XIII, Index by Reported Bill Numbers, 1817-1969
  7. Retrieve the list of reports, documents, and hearings by subject
    - ProQuest Congressional, Historical Indexes, 1789-1969
    - CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index, 1833-1969
  8. Retrieve articles from journals & newspapers
  9. Search for information from organizations concerned with the issue
    - Gale Directory Library
  10. Check other resources for information
    - Thomas
    - GPO Access
    - Other sites

Retrieve the brief "Guide to Legislative History" list of bills, reports and debate

Starting with the volume for P.L. 88-1 (1963), a brief "Guide to Legislative History" appears in a table near the end of the volume, including citations for bills, committee reports and Congressional Record consideration dates.

Beginning with P.L. 94-1 (1975) the legislative history citations appear immediately following each law rather than in a separate table.

U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News can be used from 1966 forward to identify the committee reports.