When doing legislative history research, there's often no need to start from scratch. Prepared legislative histories range from a list of documents associated with a law, to gathered reprints of those documents, to narrative commentary on the ratification process. Check first for compiled legislative histories (gathered documents) in these resources
Legislative Insight is a Federal history service that includes compilations of full text publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws. Documents may include: bills, reports, hearings, CRS reports, committee prints, Presidential Signing Statements, and Statutes. For documents that are not part of a legislative history, please use ProQuest Congressional.
Law review articles and chapters of books on legal topics may trace the development of a specific law.