An American Perspective: Legislative History

Chapter 2- Law

§9. Legislative History

The legislative history of the United States of America and the several States can be found in various compilations. Bill numbers for earlier laws can most easily be found through the tables in Eugene Nabors, “Legislative Reference Checklist: The Key to Legislative History from 1789-1903 (1983)”. The history and intent of enacted legislation can also be found through the indexes and tables of the Congressional Record and its predecessors, such as is found in The American State Papers, which contain selected committee reports from 1789-1838.

Since 1872, congressional debates have been published in the Congressional Record, which appears first on a daily basis, then is recompiled into annual bound volumes at the end of each session of Congress (known as the “permanent,” or “bound” edition). There are separate Bluebook citation formats for the daily and permanent editions of the Congressional Record; researchers should cite to the daily edition only if the material has not yet appeared in the permanent volume.

“What individual Senators or Representatives may have urged in debate, in regard to the meaning to be given to a proposed constitutional amendment, or bill, or resolution, does not furnish a firm ground for its proper construction, nor is it important as explanatory of the grounds upon which the members voted in adopting it.” 170
To compile a complete legislative history for a current federal law, it is necessary to locate the documents related to both the creating act and any later amendments. You can trace such history through the Public Law number, its location in the U.S. Statutes at Large, the date of enactment, and the number of the House or Senate Bill that was enacted. A compiled legislative history assembled for selected law by previous researchers can be found in Nancy P. Johnson’s, “Source of Compiled Legislative Histories: A Bibliography of Government Documents, Periodical Articles, and Books”, which includes materials dating back to the 1st Congress.

Prior to June 22, 1874, a person looking for the law would have to sort through the Statutes at Large. They are published chronologically and the index is not cumulative. That means that a researcher would have to find the exact volume of Statutes at Large containing the law they were looking for. By 1874, this was as many as 17 volumes to look through for a particular law. In 1875, the Revised Statutes of 1875 were published, organizing the federal statutes into 74 subject titles and was submitted to Congress. The Revised Statutes of 1878 was published in an effort to correct errors present in the first edition. Between 1878 and 1926 there were 27 more volumes added to the Statutes at Large.

Finally, in 1926, the United States Code arranged the legislation in the Revised Statutes of 1875 and the legislation found in each volume of the United States Statutes at Large into 50 Titles. This was the first version of the U.S. Code, and all federal legislation of a ‘general and permanent nature’, which is currently in force, is codified in the official U.S. Code (U.S.C.). These codes are published every six years with annual supplements. The language of each Code section is based on the original act that created it and any later laws that amended it. With the advent of increasing technological advancements and rapid data sharing capabilities, we can easily locate any law and the specific wording therein, and dissect each portion of it through word searches. Additionally with the ability to access practically any dictionary or reference material that is available on the subject, we can easily and swiftly gain a clear picture of it and prepare ourselves more effectively.
Abundaans cautela non noret. Abundant caution does no harm.171

“But in fact and in law, such statutes are intended to be applied to those who are here as “residents” in this State under the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Federal Constitution and the so called Fourteenth Amendment.”172

“All codes, rules, and regulations are for government authorities only, not human/ creators in accordance with God’s laws. All codes, rules and regulations are unconstitutional and lacking due process...”173

The whole scope of the statutes, known as the U.S. codes, is absolutely dependent upon the granted jurisdiction and authority that was given to it through the Constitution.

Title 18 – Crimes and Criminal Procedure Part II – Criminal Procedure
Chapter 211 – Jurisdiction and Venue Section 3231. District Courts

• The district courts of the United States shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of all offenses against the laws of the United States.
  Nothing in this title shall be held to take away or impair the jurisdiction of the courts of the several States under the laws thereof.

“The United States District Court is not a true United States court established under Article III of the Constitution to administer the judicial power of the United States therein conveyed. It is created by virtue of the sovereign congressional faculty, granted under Article IV, Section 3, of that instrument, of making all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory belonging to the United States. The resemblance of its jurisdiction to that of true United States courts in offering an opportunity to nonresidents of resorting to a tribunal not subject to local influence, does not change its character as a mere territorial court.”174

[170 United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Asso. 166 U.S. 290, 318 , 41 S. L. ed. 1007, 1019, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 540, (1897); Dunlap v. United States, 173 U.S. 65, 75 , 43 S. L. ed. 616, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 319. (1898)
171 A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other systems of Foreign Law, to which is added Kelhams Dictionary of the Norman and Old French Language by John Bouvier (1856); pg. 116; 11 Coke, 6; Fleta. lib. 1, c. 28 sec. 1
172 U.S. v. United Mine Workers of America, 67 S.Ct. 677, 330 U.S. 258 (1947)
173 Rodrigues v. Ray Donavan (U.S. Department of Labor) 769 F.2d 1344, 1348 (1985)
174 Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298 at 312 (1921), 42 S.Ct. 343, 66 L.Ed. 627]