Statutory meaning in doubt resolves by sponsors’ words, not opponents’ fears.

Evidence

It is the sponsors that we look to when the meaning of the statutory words is in doubt. And when we read what the sponsors wrote and said about the amendment, we cannot find that the distributors were to have the right to use not only a contract to fix retail prices but a club as well. The words they used - “contracts or agreements” - suggest just the contrary. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1780

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Courts decide statutory meaning where legislative intent is genuinely ambiguous — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 490; Long-accepted administrative or popular constructions can fix statutory meaning. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3558

Broader Connections

• Courts decide statutory meaning where legislative intent is genuinely ambiguous #qualifies (0.78) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 490
• Long-accepted administrative or popular constructions can fix statutory meaning. #complicates (0.75) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3558