From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms
Official Title / Short Title / Popular Title / Popular Name
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Official Title: Statement of a measure’s subject and purpose, which appears before the enacting clause.
Popular Title: The informal, unofficial name or the short title by which a measure is known. A short title is how most people refer to a measure as it makes its way through the legislative process. See United States Code Table of Popular Names, aka Table of Acts Cited by Popular Name: an alphabetical list of popular and statutory names of Acts of Congress.
The United States Code has a useful finding aid for Public Laws called the “Acts Cited by Popular Name.” In print, this resource is located after Title 50. The Acts are listed alphabetically and the Statutes at Large citation is given after each one as well as the date that the Act became law, which allows you to find the full text of the law. Further details that are provided with some but not all of the Acts are the Public Law number and a U.S. Code citation (if an entry is classified mainly to a discrete part of the Code such as a chapter or subchapter).
Also see Statutes at Large; U.S. Code; § 12.01 Bill as Introduced in the House, in Congressional Deskbook.
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More
- Popular Name Tool (Table of Acts Cited by Popular Name) – Office of Law Revision Counsel
- Table of Popular Names – Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII)
- “Federal Statutes: What They Are and Where to Find Them,” CRS Report RL30812 (10-page PDF
) - “From Slip Law to United States Code: A Guide to Federal Statutes for Congressional Staff,” CRS Report R45190 (17-page PDF)
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CongressionalGlossary.com, from TheCapitol.Net
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