Treaties Submitted to the United States Senate

Under U.S. domestic law and treaty practice, all international agreements concluded by the United States, regardless of their form, designation or title are divided into treaties, which are submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification, and other international agreements. Treaties which are submitted to the Senate are similar to federal laws, and their legislative history is much the same as the one followed by legislation, except that it is confined to proceedings in the Senate only. This legislative history follows the procedures established by the Senate, and it is based on primary legislative sources.The main part is arranged chronologically by the date of conclusion of the treaty. Each treaty contains the following components: it provides general information about the treaty; it lists chronologically steps taken by the Senate during the treaty approval process; legislative implementation, executive action, following Senate approval; entry into force, and annotations, such as references to related treaties, amendments, and present status. The use of the legislative history is facilitated by appendices and a detailed general index which includes: parties, regional subdivisions, and subjects.

Not only will the index assist an individual looking for a particular point in the legislative history of a treaty included in the book; but it should also facilitate the task of a researcher interested in making comparisons between United States treaties with various countries on the same subject matter provided that they are among the treaties submitted to the Senate during the period covered. […] Users of this impressive work will find themselves looking forward to the early appearance of Professor Wiktor’s retrospective legislative history. From the Foreword by Robert E. Dalton “This book is recommended for all academic law libraries and any other library serving researchers interested in international law and U.S. treaty practice. Researchers needing quick access to materials interpreting treaties ratified by the U.S. Senate will find this work an invaluable, time-saving resource. This work is a valuable addition to the US treaty literature and its future companion work analyzing treaties submitted from 1789 to 1989 promises to be of equal value. Duncan Alford, International Journal of Legal Information, vol. 35.