The volume begins with the 1982 Final Report of the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime released in December 1982. Presented in chronological order, other materials include the U.S. Department of Justice's position on the legislation, the bills introduced in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate both in the original and compromise versions, statements by senators and representatives, and the Act's final text. An index identifies pages in each document that relate to the Act's individual provisions, thus providing an outline of each provision's legislative history.