Public Laws are enacted legislation (bills that survive the legislative process) identified by the number of the Congressional session and a sequential number, e.g., P.L. 113-1 is the first public law passed by the 113th Congress. Private laws are numbered separately and are rare. Both are issued first as individual "slip laws" and then reprinted in sequential (chronological) order in the United States Statutes at Large (Stat.), the "session laws" for each legislative session. Note: The statutes have volume numbers that do not correspond with the number of the Congress.
Available in Andersen Library's 1st-floor Federal Documents: AE 2.111: (since 1984), GS 4.111: (1964-1983), microfiche GS 4.111: for older, and online.
Public laws are codified into relevant subject titles of the official, government-printed federal code, the United States Code (U.S.C.), so that all current legislation on the same topic is gathered together, but this is a lengthy process. Each piece of legislation can add new language, delete or edit existing language, renumber sections, or any combination of these. Two well-known, privately-published (unofficial) versions of the U.S.C. are United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.).
Available in Andersen Library's 1st-floor Federal Documents, Y 1.2/5:, and online.
Documents produced during the legislative process can help understand Congressional intent or clarify statutory language. Documents include bill(s), floor debates (in the Congressional Record), and committee publications (hearings, prints, documents, reports). Additional materials that may help are reports from the Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and Congressional Research Service; and Presidential documents such as executive orders, messages when acting on legislation, or speeches.
The daily Federal Register contains executive agencies' proposed and finalized regulations, rules, orders, notices, and similar documents, as well as Presidential documents such as executive orders and proclamations of general applicability.
Adopted regulations are incorporated (codified) into the 50 subject titles of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.).
Administrative hearings explained:
Selected Executive Agency Administrative Hearing Links
Also available in Andersen Library: U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition to v.130 L.Ed. 2d [1995] (2nd-floor Law Collection), and U.S. Reports from v. 375 U.S. [1963] (1st-floor Federal Documents Collection, Ju 6.8:).
This link opens in a new windowAlso available in Andersen Library: Federal Reporter to v.160 F.3d [1998] (2nd-floor Law Collection)
This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window