Cite as: 514 U. S. 695 (1995)
Opinion of the Court
ute—based on decisions by the entire Congress—should not be discounted for the reasons that may undermine confidence in the significance of excerpts from congressional debates and committee reports,6 a historical analysis normally provides less guidance to a statute's meaning than its final text. In the ordinary case, absent any "indication that doing so would frustrate Congress's clear intention or yield patent absurdity, our obligation is to apply the statute as Congress wrote it." BFP v. Resolution Trust Corporation, 511 U. S. 531, 570 (1994) (Souter, J., dissenting).
As noted above, a straightforward reading of the statute suggests a meaning of "department" that is fully consistent with the definition set forth in § 6. See supra, at 699-702. Similarly unremarkable is the language of the original Act of Congress adopting what is now § 1001. That piece of legislation—the Act of June 18, 1934, 48 Stat. 996 (1934 Act)—
to any officer of the Government." United States v. Bramblett, 348 U. S. 503, 505 (1955). In an earlier decision, it had interpreted "claim" in the false claims statute broadly, explaining that the word referred to "a claim for money or property to which a right is asserted against the Government, based upon the Government's own liability to the claimant." United States v. Cohn, 270 U. S. 339, 345-346 (1926). Bramblett could thus seemingly have been charged with violating § 287, or at least aiding and abetting in a violation of that statute, since his misrepresentation was intended to procure Government compensation. See Supplemental Memorandum for the United States in United States v. Bramblett, O. T. 1954, No. 159 (arguing that Bramblett's conviction could be affirmed because his conduct violated all the elements of § 287). In today's decision, we do not disturb the scope of § 287 as construed in either Cohn or Bramblett.
Bramblett's fraud also was arguably directed at an "agency" within the meaning of § 1001. The Court recognized this contention, noting "it might be argued, as the Government does, that the [Disbursing Office] is an 'authority' within the § 6 definition of 'agency.' " 348 U. S., at 509. The Court refused, however, to rest its decision on that more narrow interpretation. Ibid.
6 See, e. g., Thompson v. Thompson, 484 U. S. 174, 191-192 (1988) (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment); but cf. Breyer, On the Uses of Legislative History in Interpreting Statutes, 65 S. Cal. L. Rev. 845 (1992).
703
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