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Congressional Publications

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Finding Federal Laws

Introduction and guide to publications and records of the U.S. Congress, including legislation, Congressional Record, Committee Hearings and Reports and more.

Codification of Legislation

  1. Bills must be passed in identical form by House & Senate
  2. Final version sent to the President for signature
  3. If signed, printed as Slip Law (cited as Public Law)
  4. Public Laws published yearly in the Statutes at Large
  5. U.S. Code offers subject compilation of public laws under 50 categories

U.S. Code

The U.S. Code is the official record of active, public laws in the country.  It is arranged by subject into 50 "titles."  Public Laws are often broken up into the appropriate title of the Code and citations are provided to the Public Law and the Statutes at Large (where legislative histories can be found).

Finding Public and Private Laws

Popular Names of US Laws

Finding laws can sometimes be difficult if the name by which the law is popularly known differs from its official name.  The links below allow one to search by the popular name in order to determine the actual name.

Legislative Histories