Commercial publishers reprint legislative histories issued by the government or publish their own. The following bibliography can be used to determine if a compiled legislative history has been issued for the act being examined. The public catalog must then be checked to see if the LRC owns it. The references to legislative histories included here are arranged by Congress, and within each Congress by public law number. Each entry is in standard bibliographic form to facilitate quick location of the compilation in the online catalog.
All compilations vary in the quality and the quantity of congressional documents.
Proposed laws which must pass both houses of Congress before being sent to the President for approval or veto. Bills are sequentially numbered in separate series for both House and Senate, and retain that number through both annual sessions of Congress. Each bill is assigned to a committee, which holds hearings on the proposed legislation, and issues reports. These are not the same as hearings which take place before a committee. Congressional committees hold hearings on particular bills as well as on topics that fall within the scope of their responsibility.