Observations about the Use of Legislative History

Abstract

One of the workaday tools which federal judges are called upon to employ regularly in their daily labors is the body of materials called "legislative history." Like a trusty old teapot, legislative history is readily available whenever the need for it arises. Indeed, in the current era legislative history truly abounds, with library specialists compiling vast tomes designed to aid lawyers and judges in divining the meaning of statutory law. Today, as courts toil under burgeoning case loads, we pause to examine whether (and to what extent) we may be, as it were, drinking too much tea.