Number: 97-589 Title: Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends Authors: Yule Kim, American Law Division Abstract: The Supreme Court has expressed an interest "that Congress be able to legislate against a background of clear interpretive rules, so that it may know the effect of the language it adopts." This report identifies and describes some of the more important rules and conventions of interpretation that the Court applies. Although this report focuses primarily on the Court's methodology in construing statutory text, the Court's approach to reliance on legislative history are also briefly described. Pages: 51 Date: August 31, 2008