Cite as: 534 U. S. 84 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
effort to explain the critical legislative circumstance, namely, the elimination of the word "taxation" from the bill. The letter may express the Senator's interpretive preference, but that preference cannot overcome the language of the statute and the related considerations we have discussed. See Heintz v. Jenkins, 514 U. S. 291, 298 (1995) (A "statement [made] not during the legislative process, but after the statute became law . . . is not a statement upon which other legislators might have relied in voting for or against the Act, but it simply represents the views of one informed person on an issue about which others may (or may not) have thought differently"). Cf. New York Telephone Co. v. New York State Dept. of Labor, 440 U. S. 519, 564, n. 18 (1979) (Powell, J., dissenting) ("The comments . . . of a single Congressman, delivered long after the original passage of the [act at issue], are of no aid in determining congressional intent . . .").
In sum, to adopt the Tribes' interpretation would read back into the Act the very word "taxation" that the Senate committee deleted. We ordinarily will not assume that Congress intended " 'to enact statutory language that it has earlier discarded in favor of other language.' " INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S. 421, 443 (1987) (quoting Nachman Corp. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 446 U. S. 359, 392-393 (1980)); Gulf Oil Corp. v. Copp Paving Co., 419 U. S. 186, 200 (1974) (same); Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U. S. 145, 157 (1973) (same). There is no special reason for doing so here.
C
The Tribes point to canons of interpretation that favor their position. The Court has often said that " 'every clause and word of a statute' " should, " 'if possible,' " be given " 'effect.' " United States v. Menasche, 348 U. S. 528, 538- 539 (1955) (quoting Montclair v. Ramsdell, 107 U. S. 147, 152 (1883)). The Tribes point out that our interpretation deprives the words "chapter 35" of any effect. The Court has also said that "statutes are to be construed liberally in favor
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