LibGuides: Federal Legislative History: Finding Compiled Histories

Overview — Has Someone Already Done the Work?

For major legislation, someone may have already compiled the documents, or at least created a list of citations to them.

Checking the sources on this page first may save you lots of time.

Digital Sources for Already-Compiled Legislative Histories

Legislative Insight - ProQuest
Legislative Insight's sophisticated search of compiled federal legislative history documents quickly retrieves the most relevant documents. Includes access to: Public Law text; all versions of enacted & related bills; Congressional Record excerpts; committee hearings; and committee reports. Also includes Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, committee prints, and Presidential signing statements. See the Quick Start Guide for more. Coverage begins with 1789
ProQuest Congressional
Once you're connected, run your search, then select "Legislative History" from the "Document Type" menu on the right. ProQuest Congressional includes compiled legislative histories for enacted and non-enacted legislation. These compilations cite to the legislative documents, and often link to summaries or, for more recent legislation, the full text of the documents. Non-digitized documents are available on microfiche at the Zief Law Library. [Access for the USF community.]
Sources of Compiled Legislative History - HeinOnline
Part of HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library. Browse by Congress (the default), browse by public law name or run a search. (Access for the USF community.)

U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection - HeinOnline
Already-compiled histories; part of HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library. The HeinOnline blog has search tips. (Access for the USF community.)
[On-campus link for U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection]

Legislative History source - Westlaw - For Law Schools
Includes collections of compiled Federal legislative histories as well as: congressional committee reports via U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN); congressional testimony and transcripts; and the Congressional Record.
Legislative Histories - Lexis +
Compiled histories for tax legislation. Also includes: committee reports; hearings; committee prints; Congressional Research Service reports; federal bill histories; voting records; House and Senate documents.

Print Sources for Already-Compiled Legislative Histories

Federal Legislative Histories: An Annotated Bibliography And Index to Officially Published Sources by Bernard D. Reams, Comp
Call Number: KF 42.2 1994 Law Reference

ISBN: 0313230927

Publication Date: 1994
Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories, 3d ed. by Nancy P. Johnson, Comp.
Call Number: KF 42.2 2014 Law Reference Desk

ISBN: 9780837739977

Publication Date: 2014

(Also available to the USF community as part of the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library on HeinOnline. For details and link, see "Digital Sources," above.

The Zief Law Library also has compiled legislative histories on microfiche through Congressional Information Service's CIS Index to Publications of the United States Congress, call number: KF 49 .C62 Law Microforms).

Selected compiled legislative histories are also available in print at the Zief Library. Try a "Doncore" keyword search in Ignacio, and include the phrase "legislative history" in your search.

Ignacio - USF Libraries Catalog
Use Ignacio to find complied legislative histories at the USF libraries. Include the phrase "legislative history" in your search.