626
Opinion of the Court
more than "abstract injuries," Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U. S. 95, 101-102 (1983).10
In a final effort to save his claim, Doe points to a pair of statutes with remedial provisions that are worded similarly to § 552a(g)(4). See Tax Reform Act of 1976, § 1201(i)(2)(A), 90 Stat. 1665-1666, 26 U. S. C. § 6110( j)(2)(A); § 1202(e)(1), 90 Stat. 1687, 26 U. S. C. § 7217(c) (1976 ed., Supp. V) (repealed 1982); Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, § 201, 100 Stat. 1866, 18 U. S. C. § 2707(c). He contends that legislative history of these subsequent enactments shows that Congress sometimes used language similar to 5 U. S. C. § 552a(g)(4) with the object of authorizing true liquidated damages remedies. See, e. g., S. Rep. No. 94-938, p. 348 (1976) (discussing § 1202(e)(1) of the Tax Reform Act); S. Rep. No. 99-541, p. 43 (1986) (discussing § 201 of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act). There are two problems with this argument. First, as to § 1201(i)(2)(A) of the Tax Reform Act, the text is too far different from the language of the Privacy Act to serve as any sound basis for analogy; it does not include the critical limiting phrase "entitled to recovery." But even as to § 1202(e)(1) of the Tax Reform Act and § 201 of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the trouble with Doe's position is its reliance on the legislative histories of completely separate statutes passed well after the Privacy Act. Those of us who look to legislative history have been wary about expecting to find reliable interpretive help outside the record of the statute being construed, and we have said repeatedly that " 'subsequent legis-10 We also reject the related suggestion that the category of cases with actual damages not exceeding $1,000 is so small as to render the minimum award meaningless under our reading. It is easy enough to imagine pecuniary expenses that might turn out to be reasonable in particular cases but fall well short of $1,000: fees associated with running a credit report, for example, or the charge for a Valium prescription. Since we do not address the definition of actual damages today, see n. 12, infra, this challenge is too speculative to overcome our interpretation of the statute's plain language and history.
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