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Federal Legislative History Research: Introduction

The legislative process, the documents generated by each step, and resources for finding Congressional documents.

Legislative Research

Federal legislative histories are used to aid in determining the intent of Congress at the time a statute was planned and enacted or amended.  Courts look to legislative intent when a statute’s meaning is ambiguous on its face.

"How Our Laws Are Made" image was created by Mike Wirth and Dr. Suzanne Cooper Guasco and is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Atrribution 3.0 United States License.

Related Research Guides

Class and Workshop Materials

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