A few quick tips on federal legislative history:
1. Make sure you actually need to do the research. Have court opinions already discussed legislative intent and explored the legislative history? Has a law review article or some other secondary source discussed it?
2. If you must do legislative history research, has someone already compiled one?
When looking at the statute on Westlaw, check the "History" tab for possible legislative history materials, but that is often incomplete or lacking. For more reliable coverage check ProQuest Legislative Insight which allows you to pull up legislative history materials and keyword search through them to find specific language. You can also try HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, DoJ's Legislative Histories, etc. Other relevant sites are on the CUNY Law Library's page.
3. Also, consult available research guides on doing legislative history research, such as from LLSDC, UW's Gallagher Law Library, and Georgetown Law.
