Research Guides: Law and Medicine : Finding Federal Legislative History

Before You Begin...

How a Bill Becomes a Law
This flow chart demonstrates the process in which a bill becomes a law. It also shows the types of resources that are likely to be found when compiling a legislative history.

Examples: How Do You Find Citations to Relevant Public Laws?

Years of the 1st through Present Congresses
This chart lists the years of each Congress. If you are only given a Congress session (such as 44th Congress), this chart will tell you what years that Congress was in session (the 44th Congress was in session from 1875-1876).

Full Text, Federal Legislative Histories (in other words: look at these first)

There are compiled legislative histories in our collection. Consult the following databases and websites to find completed, full-text legislative histories. Also, search our online catalog for additional useful materials.

HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library This link opens in a new window
Contains the U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection (full text resources), the Sources of Compiled Legislative History Database (citations), and the Legislative Reference Checklist.

Access Information: Available on campus. Off campus access for UNL faculty, staff, and students only. Information for off campus access.

LLSDC
Legislative Histories of Selected U.S. Laws on the Internet: Free Sources by the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.
Proquest Congressional
Provides access to many full-text legislative documents. Contains abbreviated legislative histories from 1969-83, full legislative histories of major public laws from 1984-98, and full legislative histories of all public laws from 1999-present.
Westlaw Edge Legislative History Resources
Access to links to U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories (Legislative histories for most public laws enacted between 1921 and 1995), Arnold and Porter Legislative Histories (on the right side of the screen, under "Tools and Resources"), and other materials.

Use These Resources to Find Full Text, Federal Legislative Histories

Federal Legislative Histories by Bernard D. Reams
Call Number: KF42.2 1994 Law Ref
ISBN: 0313230927
Publication Date: 1994
This resource lists compiled legislative histories. It does not contain the full text of the legislative histories.
Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories : a Bibliography of Government Documents, Periodical Articles, and Books, 1st Congress-114th Congress by Ronald E. Wheeler and Jenna E. Fegreus
Call Number: KF42.2 2018 Law Ref
Publication Date: 2018
This resource lists compiled legislative histories. It does not contain the full text of the legislative histories. This resource is also available on HeinOnline.

Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories Database via HeinOnline
See above for description.

Union List of Legislative Histories by Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C., Inc., Legislative Research Special Interest Section
Call Number: KF4 .U55 2000- Law Ref
Publication Date: 2000-
This resource lists compiled legislative histories. It does not contain the full text of the legislative histories.

Learn How to Compile a Federal Legislative History

Federal Legislative History Research: A Practitioner's Guide to Compiling the Documents and Sifting for Legislative Intent
This guide to compiling a federal legislative history was created by the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC. It is part of their Legislative Source Book.
How to Trace Federal Legislation - A Research Guide
This contains a very basic discussion on tracing the history of a law. Written by the Law Librarians of Congress, this posting focuses on bills and previous versions of the law.
The Legislative Process (Congress.gov)
This series of short videos discusses the legislative process from introduction of bills through Presidential actions.
LLSDC Legislative Source Book
This website has a number of resources that are extremely useful in understanding federal legislation.

Finding Elements of Legislative Histories

We have the following federal legislative materials in print in the lower level of the law library:

Assorted materials from the U.S. Congressional Serial Set from 1894-1906 and 1931-1996. Please note, the materials in those date ranges are not complete.
Assorted print hearings from 1889-1973
Annals of Congress
The Congressional Globe
The Congressional Record: Volumes 1-158
The Daily Digest is received daily

We have the following legislative materials in print on the main floor of the law library:

United States Code Congressional Administrative News (aisle S7)
- Contains some elements of legislative history from 1948-present. Some resources may be excerpted.
- Also available on Westlaw Edge.

We have the following federal legislative materials on microfiche in the microforms room in the lower level of the law library:

Assorted materials from the U.S. Congressional Serial Set from 1993-2008
CIS published hearings, House and Senate from 1833-1969
CIS Unpublished hearings; House 1831-1964, Senate 1823-1976
CIS Congressional Committe Prints and U.S. Senate Executive Documents & Reports not included in Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1969
U.S. Executive Documents 1789-1932

American State Papers
This database contains legislative and executive documents from the first fourteen U.S. Congresses.
Bills & Statutes via govinfo
Available on this page: bills, public & private laws, statute compilations, Statutes at Large, and the U.S. Code.
Congress.gov
This free online resource is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. Available federal legislative resources include federal bills, laws, committee reports, the Congressional Record, and many others. Note: coverage dates vary by specific resource title.
Congressional Hearings via govinfo
Select hearings from 1957-present.
Congressional Prints via govinfo
"Congressional Committee Prints are publications issued by Congressional Committees that include topics related to their legislative or research activities... Some basic categories of Congressional Committee Prints are: draft reports and bills, directories, statistical materials, investigative reports, historical reports, situational studies, confidential staff reports, hearings, and legislative analyses." Quote from website. Select prints are available at this site from the 94th Congress-present.
CRS Reports
"The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves as shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities." Quote from website.
HathiTrust
"HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world." Quote from website. Congressional materials (such as hearings) are available on this site.
Legislative Resources (Law Library of Congress)
There are many historical resources on this page. "Century of Lawmaking" contains information from the Continental Congress & Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress. "Congressional Hearings" contains committee hearings on selected topics. "Historical Legal Documents" includes full-text of historical Statutes at Large and U.S. Code volumes. "U.S. Congressional Web Archive" includes "...member websites of from the House of Representatives and Senate, from the end of the 107th Congress through the 112th Congress. Additional Congresses will be added in the future, as will committee websites, which are being archived monthly." Quote from website.
ProQuest Congressional
ProQuest Congressional contains many federal legislative resources (coverage varies), including bills, hearings, legislative histories, and member profiles of senators and representatives.
Register of Debates via Library of Congress
This set contains congressional debates from 1824-1837.
United States Code (Office of Law Revision Counsel)
This website provides free access to the current United States Code. It is searchable by key word or title/section number. It is also browsable by title.
U.S. Congressional Documents via HeinOnline
"This collection features the complete Congressional Record Bound version, as well as the daily version back to 1980. It also includes the three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) Congressional Globe (1833-1873), and Congressional Hearings (early 1900s-present), as well as other important congressional material such as hearings, CRS Reports, and much more." Quote from website.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (Readex)
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is a collection of legislative primary source materials from 1817-1994. It contains congressionally published reports, journals, and maps. It is searchable by publication, bill number, or keyword. Searches can also be limited to tables, maps, and/or illustrations.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set via HeinOnline
"The United States Congressional Serial Set, commonly referred to as the Serial Set, is considered the most essential publication for unveiling American history. Spanning more than two centuries with more than 17,000 bound volumes, the records in this series include House and Senate Documents, House and Senate Reports, the American State Papers, and much more. This ongoing project in HeinOnline will be released in phases and will soon contain complete coverage of the Serial Set. The Serial Set is indexed from inception to date and contains comprehensive full-text coverage from 1978-date." Quote from website.