 If the president signs a bill, passed by both legislative chambers, it becomes law. Usually there are remarks made at the time a bill is signed into law.  These remarks can usually be found in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents as well as the Congressional Record.  The same process holds true when the president vetoes a bill, requiring 2/3’s override by both legislative chambers.

 Having decided upon the necessary documents, the researcher must next locate the appropriate tools to help locate the documents.  Several tools exist to help the researcher, including:  compiled legislative histories;  CIS;  CCH Congressional Index;  Thomas;  Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions (available through 1990);  Statutes at Large/ United States Code Congressional & Administrative News; &  Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (ceased print publication in 2004.)

 Frequently, another researcher has already located the relevant documents, including the bill, hearings, committee report, and public law number.  These sources are referred to as compiled legislative histories.

 Check out:  Nancy Johnson’s Compiled Legislative Histories, available initially in print but now an online database in HeinOnline  Bernard Reams, Federal Legislative Histories: An Annotated Bibliography and Index  Irving Sloan’s American Landmark Legislation

 Congressional Index Service (CIS) began publication in print in  CIS attempts to organize the legislative history process.  With CIS, House and Senate hearings, reports, and re-prints are listed and abstracted. While the abstracts provide useful information such as hearing numbers, bill numbers, and report numbers, the print version does not provide access to full text.  Access is via indexing of subject, bill number, bill name, or witness.  As with all things legal, CIS has merged with Lexis Nexis.  The electronic product is now known as Lexis Nexis Congressional.

 In addition to the Library of Congress site, Thomas, other online tools exist to help with legislative histories, including  Westlaw; &  Lexis.

 Thomas provides access to the full text of:  bills pending before Congress;  bill that were signed into law and become public laws;  bills that die in committee or fail to become enabled.  from 1989 onwards.  Searching is via keyword, bill number, or sponsor.

 Westlaw & Lexis provide access to bills pending before Congress.  They also provide some compiled legislative histories for landmark legislation.

 Publication of this resource began in 1936 in print format by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. Publication ceased in From , this government resource issued a publication for each Congressional session.  It served as a finding tool rather than access to the full text of bills.

 This digest indexed all bills introduced into Congress during a particular legislative session, including those bills that stalled in committee or were otherwise rendered inactive until re-introduced in a later legislative session.

 The Digest was indexed by:  subject;  sponsor.

 This information regarding bills is now available electronically on Thomas from 1990 onwards.Thomas

 The Statutes at Large are the official session law publication of the U.S. government. In addition to the chronological arrangement of laws passed during a particular legislative session, this publication sometimes includes committee reports.

 The United States Code Congressional & Administrative News (USCCAN) is a commercial publication of the session laws of the U.S. government.  It too includes committee reports.

 The Monthly Catalog began publication in 1951 by GPO access. Print publication ended in 2004 but it is available electronically at GPO Fdsys.GPO Fdsys  The print format indexed all publications produced by federal agencies. The electronic version allows access via author, title, subject heading, conference title, and ISBN as well as providing other avenues of access.

 Check out Christian Mammen’s Using Legislative History in American Statutory Interpretation  Ron Brown’s Statutory Interpretation: The Search for Legislative Intent

 To begin a limited compilation of a legislative history in South Carolina, begin by visiting South Carolina’s Legislature Online site. South Carolina’s Legislature Online

 In South Carolina, the legislative process is similar to that of the federal legislative process.  A bill is introduced in either the House or Senate, read, and then referred to the appropriate committee.  While in committee, there may be hearings on the bill as well as committee reports and staff analysis.

 The bill may be amended or left intact. It is then reported to the floor of the legislative chamber where it is debated.  It is voted on and either fails or passes both the Senate & House.  If it passes both chambers, it is engrossed and sent on the Governor.  Once the Governor signs it, it is then enrolled as a new law.

 Bill  Committee Hearings & Reports  Staff Analysis  House & Senate Debates  Governor Vetoes or Remarks

 Begin by checking the History and Reporter’s Comments at the end of a statutory provision of the S OUTH C AROLINA C ODE OF L AWS. The History note provides a citation to the session laws, the A CTS AND J OINT R ESOLUTIONS OF THE S TATE OF S OUTH C AROLINA.

 Once the researcher obtains the bill number from the South Carolina session laws, consult the S OUTH C AROLINA L EGISLATIVE D IGEST.  In this loose leaf, look up the bill by number. It will then list the bill’s sponsor, provide a brief abstract about the purpose of the bill, list the S OUTH C AROLINA C ODE OF L AWS to be amended, and the committees to which the bill was sent. This resource also has a subject index, a sponsor report, and cross references.

 Consult the South Carolina House and Senate Journals on the dates debate is indicated.  Today, much of South Carolina’s legislative history or bill information is placed on its Internet site, South Carolina Legislature Online, at  State archives can also be contacted at (803) for additional information. State archives additional information

Conclusion Questions? Stop by the Sol Blatt Jr. Law Library Reference Desk. We’re glad to help!