Congressional Timeline: A “Snapshot” of Major Legislation and Political Events
Have you ever wondered what political events surround the passage of significant Congressional legislation? Context can shed light on the meaning of a statute, by helping us understand what events transpired during enactment and how they might have influenced a legislature’s state of mind and choice of words during passage. While we typically seek legislative documents such as reports, hearings and debates for insight, a less traditional but very useful resource is the Congressional Timeline, developed by the Dirksen Congressional Center, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization. According to Cindy Koeppel at the Dirksen Congressional Center, the Congressional Timeline seeks to “help people better understand Congress, and to provide a ‘snapshot’ of important dates and resources in an easy-to-use, chronological format.”
With the new 113th Congress beginning on January 3, 2013, what better time to visit Congressional Timeline!