F:\M14\BRATVA\BRATVA_020.

XML

.....................................................................
(Original Signature of Member)

114TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

H. R. ll

To provide the public with access to the laws of the United States, and
for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. BRAT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on llllllllllllll

A BILL
To provide the public with access to the laws of the United
States, and for other purposes.
1

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the Statutes at Large

5 Modernization Act.
6

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

8
9

(1) The United States was established as a

government of laws, and not of men.

f:\VHLC\110415\110415.157.xml
November 4, 2015 (4:29 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

16:29 Nov 04, 2015

Jkt 000000

(610611|11)
PO 00000

Frm 00001

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\KLMERY~1\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\BRATVA~1.

F:\M14\BRATVA\BRATVA_020.XML

2
1
2

(2) The rule of law requires that the laws be

available to the people.

(3) Active, permanent laws are codified in the

United States Code, which is maintained by the Of-

fice of the Law Revision Counsel at http://

uscode.house.gov/.

(4) The United States Code usually does not in-

clude, however, repealed laws, original statutes that

have since been amended, or those with limited du-

10

ration such as appropriations acts. Furthermore, un-

11

codified titles of the United States Code are merely

12

evidence of the law before the judicial branch, so

13

attorneys must consult the United States Statutes at

14

Large.

15

(5) The United States Statutes at Large is

16

compiled by the National Archives and Records Ad-

17

ministration. It is legal and permanent evidence of

18

all the laws enacted during a session of Congress be-

19

ginning with the First Congress in 1789. It also

20

contains

21

plans, proposed and ratified amendments to the

22

Constitution of the United States, and proclamations

23

by the President.

resolutions,

reorganization

24

(6) The Statutes at Large collection is pub-

25

lished under the direction of the Office of the Fed-

f:\VHLC\110415\110415.157.xml
November 4, 2015 (4:29 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

concurrent

16:29 Nov 04, 2015

Jkt 000000

(610611|11)
PO 00000

Frm 00002

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\KLMERY~1\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\BRATVA~1.

F:\M14\BRATVA\BRATVA_020.XML

3
1

eral Register through the Congressional Printing

Management Division of the United States Govern-

ment Publishing Office.

(7) The Law Library of Congress has begun to

digitize the Statutes at Large. It has published all

volumes in a text-over-PDF format. They appear as

scanned PDF images with basic search capability.

(8) More resources are needed to adequately re-

fine and structure the embedded data elements that

10

enable advanced search functions, machine read-

11

ability, and other useful options.

12

(9) The National Archives and Records Admin-

13

istration is the appropriate entity to lead the online

14

digitization of the Statutes at Large in collaboration

15

with other Federal and private entities with exper-

16

tise in developing formatting conventions for legisla-

17

tive materials.

18

(10) Incorporating relevant digital information

19

into www.Congress.gov would make it a more useful

20

and comprehensive research resource.

21

SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE LAWS OF THE UNITED

22
23

STATES.

(a) ARCHIVIST REQUIREMENT

TO

MAKE LAWS

24 AVAILABLE.Section 112 of title 1, United States Code,

25 is amended by adding at the end the following new sen-

f:\VHLC\110415\110415.157.xml
November 4, 2015 (4:29 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

16:29 Nov 04, 2015

Jkt 000000

(610611|11)
PO 00000

Frm 00003

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\KLMERY~1\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\BRATVA~1.

F:\M14\BRATVA\BRATVA_020.XML

4
1 tence: The Archivist shall make available anything com2 piled, edited, indexed, and published under this section to
3 the public at no cost on a website in a searchable, non4 proprietary format. The Archivist shall ensure that the
5 searchable online edition of the United States Statutes at
6 Large is prepared in consultation and coordination with
7 entities that develop formatting conventions used for en8 rolled bills and other legislative materials, which may in9 clude the Library of Congress, the Office of the Clerk of
10 the House, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the
11 Office of the Legislative Counsel of the House of Rep12 resentatives, the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the
13 Senate, the Office of the Law Revision Council, the Con14 gressional Research Service, the Government Publishing
15 Office, and such other entities that the Archivist considers
16 appropriate..
17
18

(b) LIBRARIAN
CORPORATE

OF

CONGRESS REQUIREMENT

SEARCHABLE STATUTES

AT

TO IN-

LARGE INTO

19 LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM.Sec20 tion 209 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act,
21 1996 (2 U.S.C. 180) is amended by adding at the end
22 the following new subsection:
23

(f) In addition to the legislative information de-

24 scribed in subsection (b), the relevant electronic informa25 tion made available under section 112 of title 1, United

f:\VHLC\110415\110415.157.xml
November 4, 2015 (4:29 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

16:29 Nov 04, 2015

Jkt 000000

(610611|11)
PO 00000

Frm 00004

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\KLMERY~1\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\BRATVA~1.

F:\M14\BRATVA\BRATVA_020.XML

5
1 States Code, shall be incorporated into the legislative in2 formation service to the extent practicable..
3

(c) AUTHORIZATION

OF

APPROPRIATIONS.There is

4 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fis5 cal years 2016 through 2020 to carry out the provisions
6 of this Act.

f:\VHLC\110415\110415.157.xml
November 4, 2015 (4:29 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

16:29 Nov 04, 2015

Jkt 000000

(610611|11)
PO 00000

Frm 00005

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\KLMERY~1\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\BRATVA~1.