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Congressional Information

Slip Law

Once a law is signed by the President, it is assigned a public law number and issued in print as a "slip law."

"Pub.L' is the abbreviation for "Public Law"

Ex: "105-276" is a public law number

Citation Example: Pub.L. 105-176

U.S. Statutes at Large

The Statutes at Large is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress.


At the end of each session of Congress, slip laws are compiled into bound volumes called the Statutes at Large, and they are known as "session laws." The Statutes at Large present a chronological arrangement of the laws in the exact order that they have been enacted.

A Statutes at Large citation includes the volume number, the abbreviation "stat," and the number of that particular law as assigned in the Statutes at Large.

Citation example: 112 stat 3280

U.S. Code

"The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.

The U.S. Code was first published in 1926. The next main edition was published in 1934, and subsequent main editions have been published every six years since 1934. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information."

A U.S. Code citation includes a title number, the abbreviation "USC" or "U.S.C." and a section number.

Citation example: 31 USC 511

Legislative Histories

Regulatory Publications

The Federal Register is published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration  (NARA). It is the official publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices from Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.  The Federal Register is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
 
Each citation includes a volume number, an abbreviation for Federal Register, and a page number.

Citation example:  64FR618

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
 
Each citation includes the title number, "cfr" which stands for Code of Federal Regulations, the part number, and  the section number.
 
Citation example:  7 CFR 246.11

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