REPORTS

After a committee reviews a bill, makes amendments, and analyzes its content, the committee will decide if the bill should go for a vote by the full chamber which introduced the bill.  If the committee recommends passage, it will issue a report to the chamber.  

Committee reports are generally given more weight than other legislative history documents in constructing a legislative history, because committee members are the legislators most intimately familiar with the intent behind the bill, its language and effects. Note: bills which die in committee do not have reports.

House and Senate reports are published as individual pamphlets and are most easily identified by the number of the Congress, the session and the report number.   Committee reports are sequentially numbered, but keep in mind that the number assigned to a report rarely, if ever, corresponds to the bill number (i.e. House Report 105-342 refers to the 342^nd Report issued in the House during the 105^th Congress and does not mean that the Report concerns House Bill 105-342).  Reports are published by the Government Printing Office, and microfiche copies are available at U.S. GPO Depository libraries (such as the Downtown Campus Library, 6th Floor microfiche cabinets).  

Other full text sources include:

• U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News ("USCCAN"), KF 48.W45, 9^th Floor - selectively reprints committee reports relating to major pieces of legislation.  

• CIS/Index, KF 49.C62, 6^th floor - contains citations to all committee reports for enacted legislation. The full texts of reports can then be found in microfiche format (also on the 6^th floor).
• Thomas - full texts of reports from the 104^th Congress forward (1995 - present)

• LexisNexis Congressional, (formerly Congressional Universe) from the Library's Electronic Resources page (accessible on campus or off campus with valid network ID and password) - full texts for reports from the 101^st Congress forward (1989 - present).
• Lexis - Selected coverage of the 101^st and 102^nd Congresses (1989 - 1992); full coverage of the 103^rd Congress forward (1993 - present)
• Westlaw - Carries reports in its USCCAN database (ID USCCAN-REP) from 1948 - present, including committee reports on many bills which did not become law.

Previous (Prints) | Next (Debates)