Westlaw tips for associates

Legislative history research got much easier when the U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories database (FED-LH)—and its intuitive, time-saving features—was released on Westlaw. If you know the public law number, bill number, name of the act, or other identifying information, you can retrieve all available legislative history documents (including Congressional Record documents, hearing transcripts, and presidential signing statements) in a matter of moments.

The coverage of FED-LH has been growing steadily. Links to FED-LH results are now displayed on the Links tab for selected U.S. public laws, on selected Reports and Related Materials displays, and on selected Graphical Statutes® timelines. Access to FED-LH is currently available from 12 tabbed pages, including the Legislative History—Federal, Librarians, and Litigation pages. Compiled histories are available for more than 3,500 public laws enacted between 1978 and 1995. (Recent additions include public laws that amend major acts governing federal taxation, veterans' compensation, and solid waste disposal.)

FED-LH will grow exponentially in the near future: Over the next four years, more than 20,000 compiled histories will become available, with nearly 1 million PDF documents to be available from as early as 1915.