From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Official Title / Short Title / Popular Title / Popular Name Nat King Cole — Mona Lisa 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 … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Amending the Constitution How to Amend the U.S. Constitution One of the ways in which federalism is most clearly expressed in the Constitution is in the process for its amendment. Nine of the thirteen original states were required to ratify the … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Enacted / Enacted into Law Once legislation has passed both chambers of Congress in identical form, been signed into law by the President, become law without his signature, or passed over his veto, the legislation is enacted. Legislation to be enacted into law must pass … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Law / Public Law / Private Law Law: An act of Congress that has been signed by the president or passed over his veto by Congress. Public bills, when signed, become public laws, and are cited by “Pub. L.” or the letters PL and a … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Slip Laws photo credit: Digital Sextant A few days after a law has been enacted, it is officially published first as a “slip law.” The first official publication of a bill that has been enacted and signed into law. Each is published separately in unbound … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Statutes at Large (Stat.) photo credit: specialklikethecereal A chronological arrangement of the laws enacted in each session of Congress. Though indexed, the laws are not arranged by subject matter, and there is no indication of how they changed previously enacted laws. The United States Statutes … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms U.S. Code (U.S.C.) (USC) photo credit: AngryJulieMonday Following the assignment of a public-law number and statutory citation, and the publication of a slip law, the House of Representatives’ Office of Law Revision Counsel, working largely under the auspices of the Speaker of the House, organizes … Read more
When an enrolled bill becomes law, it is then sent to the Archives of the United States. If the bill becomes law by legislative override of an executive veto, Congress sends the bill to the Archives. If the bill becomes law through any other method, such as a pocket approval or signature approval, the White … Read more