Making laws
legislative history
The paper trail behind a statute: committee reports, hearings, floor debate, and earlier versions. Courts sometimes use it to read an ambiguous text.
In full
When a statute's words do not settle a question, some judges look to what Congress said while writing them, weighting committee reports most heavily and floor statements least. Textualist judges reject the practice, arguing that only the enacted text passed both chambers. The debate matters because the same record can support competing readings, and members know their statements may be read later.
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Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.