Communications Law Research Guide

• Federal communications statutes are contained in Title 47 of the United States Code.
• Official and annotated codes in print -- United States Code (USC), United States Code Annotated (USCA), United States Code Service (USCS) -- are all available in the Williams Library Reading Room.
• Refer to "Where to Find Federal Statutes" (left) for a list of places where the USC, USCA, USCS, and Statutes at Large are available electronically.

• Congress.gov  (For the full text and status of pending and recently enacted communications legislation, try a word search in the current Congress.)
• Westlaw: Federal Proposed & Enacted Legislation
• Lexis: Congressional Full Text Bills - Current Congress

For some federal communications laws, there are compiled legislative histories available in the Library. These compilations usually include bills, Congressional Record debates, reports and hearings. Examples include:

• Max D. Paglin, editor, A Legislative History of the Communications Act of 1934 KF2762.113 .A15 1989
• Max D. Paglin, editor, The Communications Act: A Legislative History of the Major Amendments, 1934-1996 KF2762.113 .A15a 1999
• Robert E. Emeritz et al., editors, The 1992 Cable Act: Law & Legislative History KF2844.A31992 A163 1992
• Robert E. Emeritz et al., editors, The Telecommunications Act of 1996: Law & Legislative History KF2762.115 .A15 199

To find others, try a keyword search in our catalog using terms from the popular title of your act and the phrase "legislative history." (Example: cable and legislative history)

For more information on how to do legislative history research, read our Legislative History Research Guide or watch our Legislative History Video Tutorial.