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Congressional Committee Reports: Their Role And History, Thomas F. Broden

Journal Articles

Most lawyers have an extremely limited understanding of the function of a congressional committee report. In general, lawyers think of such reports as aids to the interpretation of statutes on the books and much has been written about this role of the committee report. This role is considered by many as the committee report's primary, if not its only, function. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the purpose of this article to explain its other, more important roles, those in the legislative process and to examine the historical development of the use of written committee reports in …