Relation of tits Federal Government to Research 



121 



vision fof the preserviition of all such propusais, their 

 systematic classilication, listing, and filing in such a 

 manner that they may be readily available to the legis- 

 lator desiring to frame action along the same or similar 

 lines, to the private interests that may be afl'ecteil by 

 such proposed action, and to the student of public 

 afi'airs. If this record is to be complete it shoukl em- 

 brace copies of the bills and resolutions as introduced, 

 as amended bj' committees and as finally passed, where 

 favorable action upon them is had. 



The proi^er depository, in the first instance, of sucli 

 records is the offices of the clerks of the two chambers. 

 Later, the records of the earlier sessions may be trans- 

 ferred to the Department of Archives where provision 

 is made for such an office and special provision is made 

 for the physical safeguarding of the public archives. 

 It is furthermore desirable that duplicate copies of all 

 bills and resolutions be currently supplied to those 

 libraries of general importance that express a desire 

 to receive them and can give assurances that they will 

 be properly preserved and made available to interested 

 persons. 



Information is not available regarding the extent to 

 which these considerations are appreciated and met 

 by the several State legislatures, but it is highly prob- 

 able that, in the majority of cases, conditions in this 

 respect are not fully satisfactory. In the case of the 

 National Government, the only provision of law re- 

 garding the preservation of copies of bills and resolu- 

 tions is section 80 of the General Printing Act of Janu- 

 ary 12, 1895 (now section 190, title 44 of the United 

 States Code) which provides that "the Public Printer 

 shall bind four sets of Senate and House of Kepre- 

 sentatives bills, joint and concurrent resolutions of 

 each Congress, two for the Senate and two for the 

 House, to be furnished him from the files of the Sen- 

 ate and House Document Rooms, the volumes when 

 bound to be kept there for reference" The Library 

 of Congress has, however, for many years maintained 

 a collection of these proposals, including their various 

 printings during their progress in the two Houses. A 

 few other central libraries have made arrangements 

 for the receipt of Congressional bills and resolutions 

 for current reference and probably for permanent 

 preservation. 



A consideration of importance in respect to legisla- 

 tive proposals is the provision of means through which 

 the legislative history of such proposals may be readily 

 traced. In the case of Congress, such means exist in 

 the journals, the indexes to the daily and final edi- 

 tions of the Congressional Record, and the daily cal- 

 endars that are supplied to the Members and other in- 

 terested parties. To supplement these aids. Congress, 

 by a provision contained in the Legislative Appro- 



122999—39 



priation Act of 1936, provided for the preparation and 

 periodical publication by the Legislative Reference 

 Service of the Library of Congress of a Digest of 

 Public General Bills. This publication gives not only 

 a digest of the important provisions of all public bills 

 of a general character but the action that has been 

 had upon them and their existing status. Regarding 

 this publication the Librarian of Congress, in his an- 

 nual report for 1936, says: 



While the pioparatioii of (li);ests is the piimiiry object of 

 the section (e. g., the division set up in tlie Legislative Ref- 

 erence Service for the prepanUion of the digest) its facili- 

 ties and ijersouuel were available, and have proved peculiarly 

 valuable, in the handling of all inquiries relating to bills gen- 

 erally. The number of such inquiries is constantly increasing, 

 requests for legislative histories of bills, especially, being very 

 frequent. Such requests are now allocated properly to the 

 Bill Digest Section, and receive, instead of the more or less 

 inexpert treatment heretofore accorded them, a prompt exam- 

 ination and careful treatment by persons constantly engaged 

 in such work and with considerable facilities at their command. 

 The section maintains an index and history of bills running 

 back to the Sixty-seventh Congress, and is thus enabled to 

 trace bills or particular subjects with considerable expedition. 

 The digests, themselves, will, it is believed, in course of time 

 afford Members a valuable aid in this respect by making read- 

 ily available in printed form a concise historical index and 

 statement of the status of bills of earlier Congresses. 



Petitions and Memorials 



Another class of legislative documents of interest as 

 throwing light upon the reaction of the public towards 

 legislative action is the numerous petitions and mem- 

 orials addressed to our legislative bodies. The manner 

 in which these documents are handled and preserved 

 by the State legislatures is not known ; probably prac- 

 tice varies widely in the several States. In the case of 

 Congress, the rules of the Senate provide that the titles 

 of all petitions and memorials presented shall be en- 

 tered in the Journal and a brief statement of their 

 contents accompany a similar listing in the Congres- 

 sional Record. The House rules provide for a mere 

 listing of the titles in the Journal and the Congres- 

 sional Record. The petitions and memorials them- 

 selves are referred to appropriate committees for their 

 consideration. Not infrequently, unanimous consent is 

 granted for the reproduction in full in the Congres- 

 sional Record of a memorial or petition. The original 

 documents themselves remain in the files of the several 

 committees except as they may be from time to time 

 transferred to the documen*^ rooms or the National 

 Ai'chives. 



Hearings 



Probably the most important, certainly the most 

 distinctive, feature of the system of procedure of 

 Americfn legislative bodies is the requirement that 



