Statutes at Large

Last updated on 09-16-2024

Statutes at Large, 1789 (Vol. 1, 1st Congress) to Present

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About the United States Statutes at Large

What is it?

The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress. The Statutes at Large is prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Every public and private law passed by Congress is published in the Statutes at Large in order of the date it was enacted into law. The laws are arranged by Public Law number and are cited by volume and page number. Also included in the United States Statutes at Large are concurrent resolutions, proclamations by the President, proposed and ratified amendments to the Constitution, and reorganization plans. Until 1948, treaties and international agreements approved by the Senate were also published in the Statutes at Large.

The private firm, Little, Brown, and Company, began publishing the Statutes at Large in 1845 under authority granted by a joint resolution of the 28th Congress. In 1874, the authority to publish was transferred to the U.S. Government Publishing Office under the direction of the Secretary of State. In 1950, the Department of State's responsibility for publishing the Statutes at Large was transferred to the General Services Administration and the OFR. Upon the establishment of NARA in 1985, the Archivist of the United States was given the authority to publish the Statutes at Large, acting through the OFR and the Congressional Printing Management Division of GPO.

Under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 112, the printed edition of the Statutes at Large is legal evidence of the laws, concurrent resolutions, proclamations by the President, and proposed and ratified amendments to the Constitution.

What is available?

  • Volumes 1-64 (1789-1952): The Statutes at Large includes the text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, amendments to the Constitution, treaties with Indians and foreign nations, and presidential proclamations, and prior to 1948, also included all treaties and international agreements approved by the Senate. These volumes were made available through digitization efforts lead by GPO.
  • Volumes 65-116 (1951-2002) are made available through digital imaging efforts on behalf of the Library of Congress. Each section of a volume can be browsed by Bills Enacted into Laws, Private Laws, Presidential Proclamations, Public Laws, Treaties, and other levels of granularity.
  • GPO provides access to the collection of day-forward Statutes at Large from 2003 to present.

USLM XML

USLM XML format is currently available on GovInfo for Statutes at Large volumes back to volume 117 (2003). GPO will be making the USLM XML format available for the digitized Statutes at Large volumes from volume 116 (2002) back to volume 1 (1789). Development to provide public access to the digitized Statutes at Large volumes in USLM XML format is scheduled to take place in an upcoming GovInfo release cycle, and GPO plans to release the volumes in USLM XML format incrementally.


Searching the United States Statutes at Large

You can find and search the Statutes at Large by:

  • Using Basic Search for keyword and metadata fielded searches,
  • Using Advanced Search; fields specific to the Statutes at Large will display after you select United States Statutes at Large in the Refine by Collection column,
  • Using Citation Search to retrieve a single Statutes at Large document in PDF format if you know the volume and page number of the document,
  • Refining search results by clicking on links in the Refine Your Search panel on the left-hand side of the page (the sections under Refine Your Search correspond to the metadata available for the documents), and
  • Browsing the Statutes at Large browse page.

General GovInfo Search Tips

Search Examples

Search by Statutes at Large Citation – For example, 120 stat. 1257.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute citation:"120 stat. 1257"
  • Using Advanced Search, select Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Citation from the first box and enter "120 stat. 1257" in the next box

Search by Public Law Citation – For example, Public Law 109-28.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute plawcitation:"Public Law 109-28"
  • Using Advanced Search, select Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Public Law Citation from the first box and enter "Public Law 109-28" in the next box

Search by Associated Bill Citation – For example, H.R. 1.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute associatedbills:"H.R. 1"
  • Using Advanced Search, select Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Associated Bill Citation from the first box and enter "H.R. 1" in the next box

Search by United States Code Citation – For example, 22 U.S.C. 2151 as the United States Code citation.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute uscodecitation:"22 U.S.C. 2151"

Search by Keyword – For example, documents with compensation in the full text of the publication.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute compensation
  • Using Advanced Search, select Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection, then under Search In enter compensation in the second box

Search by Popular Name – For example, documents with The Patriot Act as the popular title.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute popularname:"The Patriot Act"
  • Using Advanced Search, select Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Popular Name from the first box and enter The Patriot Act in the next box

Search by Legislation Type – For example, Proclamations.

  • Using Basic Search, enter: collection:statute legtype:proclamation
  • Using Advanced Search, select Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Legislation Type from the first box and select Proclamations from the next box

Sample United States Statutes at Large URLs

GovInfo uses two key pieces of information to construct predictable URLs to documents and Details pages.

  • The Package ID is used to identify an individual yearly volume of the United States Statutes at Large.
  • The Granule ID is used to identify individual documents that exist within the volume.

Identifier

Structure/Metadata Field

Example

Package ID

STATUTE-{Volume Number}

STATUTE-120

Granule ID

Front Matter:

{Package ID}-FrontMatter-Pg{First Page Number}

 

Other Granules:

{Package ID}-Pg{First Page Number}{Sequence Number}

 

Back Matter:

{Package ID}-BackMatter-Pg{First Page Number}

 

Note: Sequence Number is only used if there are more than one granule with the same First Page Number. The first granule will not have a Sequence Number and the second would have a Sequence Number of 2.

 

Front Matter:

STATUTE-120-FrontMatter-Pgi

 

Other Granules:

STATUTE-120-Pg3754

STATUTE-120-Pg3754-2

 

Back Matter:

STATUTE-120-BackMatter-Pg3926

Tip: You can also use the link service and API to construct predictable links.

Details Page for a United States Statutes at Large Volume

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}

Example:https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/STATUTE-120

 

PDF File for a United States Statutes at Large Volume

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Package ID}.pdf

Example:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-120/pdf/STATUTE-120.pdf

 

Details Page for a United States Statutes at Large Volume Granule

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/{Package ID}/{Granule ID}

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/STATUTE-120/STATUTE-120-Pg185

 

PDF File for a United States Statutes at Large Volume Granule

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/pdf/{Granule ID}.pdf

Example:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-120/pdf/STATUTE-120-Pg185.pdf

 

HTML File for a United States Statutes at Large Volume Granule

Structure: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/{Package ID}/html/{Granule ID}.htm

Example: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-120/html/STATUTE-120-Pg185.htm


United States Statutes at Large Metadata Fields and Values

Metadata fields and values can be used to increase the relevancy of your searches. Metadata fields and values are used throughout GovInfo for

  • Narrowing Your Search,
  • Browsing Government Publications,
  • Field Operators,
  • Advanced Search, and
  • Display on Details Pages.

Metadata fields and values can be entered into the Basic Search box using field operators. The field operators available for the Statutes at Large are listed in the table below, along with examples for each metadata field. Using Field Operators

Some of these metadata fields are made available for use in Advanced Search. The metadata values can be entered in the same format for the fields available on the Advanced Search Page. Using Advanced Search

Metadata Field Display Name

Metadata Field Definition

Field Operator

Field Operator Example

Collection

The collection to which the document belongs. Typically the same as the publication or series.

collection:

 

collection:statute

 

"statute" is used for United States Statutes at Large

Government Author

The names of the Government organizations responsible for authoring or assembling the document.

governmentauthor:

governmentauthor:"national archives and records administration"

Publication Date

The date the document was first made available to the public.

publishdate:

publishdate:1999-09-30

 

Date format is YYYY-MM-DD

Language

The language code of the original document, from the ISO639-2b standard.

language:

language:eng

Former Package ID

The document ID of the "package" as originally specified on www.gpoaccess.gov.

mods:identifier:(@type:"former package identifier":______)

mods:identifier:(@type:"former package identifier":"f130stats-1")

Former Identifier

The document ID of the document on the former www.gpoaccess.gov website.

formerid:

formerid:"f130stats-1"

SuDoc Class Number

The SuDoc class number from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents which classifies Government publications by publishing agency.

sudocclass:

sudocclass:"AE 2.111:"

 

The SuDoc Class Numbers in GovInfo are generally at the class stem level, not the book number level.

Ingestion Date

The date the document was ingested into the preservation repository.

ingestdate:

ingestdate:2022-11-29

 

Date format is YYYY-MM-DD

Electronic Location (URL)

The URL where the document or the document in context (the content detail page) is located.

url:

url:"STATUTE-130-Pg2969"

Publisher

The government organization who publishes the document or publication. Not typically the Government Publishing Office (who serves as the printer and distributor), except in the case of Congressional publications.

publisher:

publisher:"u.s. government printing office"

Branch

The branch of Government responsible for the document's contents.

branch:

branch:legislative

 

Possible values: executive, legislative, judicial

Type of Resource

The media type for the document, typically "text". Defined as part of the Library of Congress MODS standard.

typeofresource:

typeofresource:text

WAIS Database Name

The name of the WAIS database to which the document belonged in the former GPO Access system.

waisdbname:

waisdbname:109_statutes2_at_large

Record Origin

How the record was originally generated. Typically "machine generated."

recordorigin:

recordorigin:"machine generated"

Publication Title

The title of the publication. Individual Statues at Large documents can be searched using the title field operator.

title:

title:"An act for the relief of Lindita Idrizi Heath"

Popular Name

Popular names for laws or other legislation. Examples include "The Patriot Act" or acronyms like "SAFETEA".

popularname:

popularname:"the patriot act"

Volume Number

The volume number of Statutes at Large publication. The value is incremented each session of congress (i.e. on a yearly basis).

volume:

volume:117

Congress Number

The number of the Congress responsible for the document. Congresses last for two years, so for example, the 110th Congress was in session from 2007 through 2008.

congress:

congress:108

Session Number

The session of congress which produced the report.

session:

session:2

 

Possible values: 1, 2

Congress Chamber

The chamber of congress responsible for the document. One of "House", "Senate" or "Joint".

chamber:

 

chamber:senate

 

Possible values: house, senate, joint

 

Date Begun

The starting date of the session of congress which was primarily responsible for the content in the Statutes at large.

datebegun:

datebegun:2005-01-04

Legislation Type

The type of legislation contained within the Statutes at Large volume should be included in the search. For example, Public Laws, Private Laws, Concurrent Resolutions, or Proclamations.

legtype:

legtype:proclamation

 

Possible values:

See Table below

Legislation Number

The law, concurrent resolution or proclamation number. For laws, this is the number after the congress number, for example, "132" in "Public Law 110-123"

docnumber

docnumber:123

Subject

Associated subject of the law, concurrent resolution or proclamation; as indicated on the index of Statutes at Large volume.

statutesubject:

statutesubject:abortion

Is Appropriation

Flag indicates that the law or concurrent resolution includes the words in the title which make it likely to be about appropriating funds.

isappropriation:

isappropriation:true

 

Possible values: True, False

Beneficiary Name

The private law’s organization or individual; to which the law refers.

beneficiary:

beneficiary:"parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo"

Legislative History

Complete text of the legislative history section of public and private laws.

legislativehistory:

legislativehistory:"No. 114-38"

Congressional Committee

Congressional committee name responsible for the legislation which became the public or private law. For example, "Committee on Foreign Relations".

committee:

 

committee:transportation

President

The full and official name of the President who issued the presidential proclamation, for example "William J. Clinton" or "George W. Bush".

president:

president:"George W. Bush"

President's Party

The party to which the president belongs, either "democratic", "republican", or "independent".

presidentparty:

presidentparty:republican

Citation

 

The GPO standard method for searching citation references from the selected publication.

citation:

citation:"119 Stat. 3822"

Associated Bill Citation

The reference to the congressional bill which passed by one or both chambers of Congresses which eventually became the public law specified in the Statutes at Large. For example, "S. 183, 110th Congress".

associatedbills:

associatedbills:"h.r. 99"

Congressional Bills Citation

Citation references to Congressional Bills. Examples include, "H.R. 99", "S. 99" "H.J. Res. 99", "S.J. Res. 99", "H. Con. Res. 99", "S. Con. Res. 99", "H. Res. 99" or "S. Res. 99".

billscitation:

billscitation:"h.r. 99"

Congressional Calendar Citation

Citation references to Congressional Calendars. For example, "Union Calendar No. 99", "House Calendar No. 99", "Private Calendar No. 9", or "Senate Calendar No. 99".

ccalcitation:

ccalcitation:"Senate Calendar No. 2"

Congressional Report

Citation

Citation references to Congressional Reports. For example, "H. Rept. 106-32".

crptcitation:

crptcitation:"h. rept. 94-422"

United States Code

Citation

Citation references to the United States Code. For example, "42 U.S.C. 5841" or "42 U.S.C. App. 99"

uscodecitation:

uscodecitation:"2 u.s.c. 661"

Statutes at Large Citation

Citation references to Statutes at Large. For example, "88 Stat. 1242".

statutecitation:

statutecitation:"64 Stat. 1267"

Public and Private Law Citation

Citation references to Public or Private Laws. For example, "Public Law 106-32" or "Private Law 106-3".

plawcitation:

plawcitation:"public law 106-62"

CFR Citation

Citation references, including title and part numbe,r from the Code of Federal Regulations, in standard citation format. For example "14 CFR Part 802" or "14 CFR Chapter IV".

cfrcitation:

cfrcitation:(25 cfr 61)

Reference Citation

Reference to another document within the text of a document.

refcitation:

refcitation:"25 cfr 61"

United States Statutes at Large Metadata Value Lists

Legislation Type

The table below lists the metadata values which can be used when limiting your search using the Legislative Type advanced search field or the legtype: field operator.

Metadata Value

User Readable Value

PUBLICLAW

Public Law

PRIVATELAW

Private Law

HCONRES

House Concurrent Resolution

SCONRES

Senate Concurrent Resolution

PROCLAMATION

Proclamation

CONSTAMEND

Constitutional Amendment

REORGPLAN

Reorganization Plans

BACKMATTER

Back Matter

SUBVOLUME

Sub-Volume

OTHER

Other

TREATY

Treaties and Other International Agreements

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