Earl Warren appointed a Special Committee on Evidence to study the issue of adopting uniform rules of evidence for the federal courts. This Advisory Committee decided to retain the common law approach, with revised exceptions to the rule excluding hearsay. Although the Supreme Court approved the Rules in November 1972, Congress passed a law which deferred the effectiveness of the Rules until they were formally approved by Congress.
The Congressional debate over the residual exceptions focused upon whether they should even be included in the proposed federal rules and, if so, the extent of their scope. At the basis of the debate was the contention of opponents that the residual exceptions would destroy the traditional rule prohibiting hearsay evidence. Nothing was discussed concerning a scheme for applying the residual exception.
The version of the residual exception proposed by the Supreme Court read: "A statement not specifically covered by any of the foregoing exceptions but having compar
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