A Legal Research Newsletter for Federal Government from West

Although a federal law says what it says, the question still arises: What did Congress mean? Although legislative history is not held in good repute in some circles, it remains a useful source from which to determine what Congress intended when it wrote the law.

Federal legislative history research focuses on the procedures and documents of Congress. The most important documents are the reports of the congressional committees of each house and the reports of conference committees.

The Legislative History–U.S. Code, 1948 to Present database (LH) contains congressional committee reports as reprinted in the U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News®* (USCCAN) from 1948 to present. Beginning with 1990, LH includes all congressional committee reports on pending legislation regardless of whether a bill became law. The database also includes presidential signing statements reprinted in USCCAN from 1986 to present.

To retrieve documents related to a specific act, search for the popular name or the public law number* in the topic field (to). For example, to retrieve documents related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-204, which affects how public companies are audited, access the LH database and type a Terms and Connectors query like one of the following:

Editor's note: In your result from the above search, notice the president's signing statement, which lays out how the executive branch will construe some sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

To retrieve specific reports relating to a subject, search for house, senate, or conference in the title field (ti) and add terms describing the subject, using numerical connectors, e.g.,

For more information on public laws and federal legislative history databases on Westlaw®, including a table of the exclusive Arnold & Porter legislative history databases, see inside this issue.