,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #agbi  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #bg1 #bjag,mr4
 ,brat 7for himself and ,mr4 ,moulton7  
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on ,house   
,administration  ,a ,,bill  ,to provide 
the public with access to the laws of   
the ,united ,states1 and for other      
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,statutes at ,large 
,modernization ,act4  #b4 ,findings     
,congress finds the following3  7#a7    
,the ,united ,states was established    
under a government of laws1 and not of  
men4  7#b7 ,the rule of law requires    
that the laws be available to the       
people4  7#c7 ,active1 permanent laws   
are codified in the ,united ,states     
,code1 which is maintained by the       
,office of the ,law ,revision ,counsel  
at http3_/_/uscode4house4gov_/4  7#d7   
,the ,united ,states ,code usually does 
not include1 however1 repealed laws1    
original statutes that have since been  

amended1 or those with limited duration 
such as appropriations acts4            
,furthermore1 uncodified titles of the  
,united ,states ,code are merely        
evidence of the law before the judicial 
branch1 so attorneys must consult the   
,united ,states ,statutes at ,large4    
7#e7 ,the ,united ,states ,statutes at  
,large is compiled by the ,national     
,archives and ,records ,administration4 
,it is legal and permanent evidence of  
all the laws enacted during a session of
 ,congress beginning with the ,first    
,congress in #aghi4 ,it also contains   
concurrent resolutions1 reorganization  
plans1 proposed and ratified amendments 
to the ,constitution of the ,united     
,states1 and proclamations by the       
,president4  7#f7 ,the ,statutes at     
,large collection is published under the
 direction of the ,office of the        
,federal ,register through the          
,congressional ,printing ,management    
,division of the ,government ,publishing
 ,office4  7#g7 ,the ,law ,library of   

,congress has begun to digitize the     
,statutes at ,large4 ,it has published  
all volumes in a text-over-,,pdf format4
 ,they appear as scanned ,,pdf images   
with basic search capability4  7#h7     
,more resources are needed to adequately
 refine and structure the embedded data 
elements that enable advanced search    
functions1 machine readability1 and     
other useful options4  7#i7 ,the        
,government ,publishing ,office is the  
appropriate entity to lead the online   
digitization of the ,statutes at ,large 
in collaboration with other ,federal and
 private entities with expertise in     
developing formatting conventions for   
legislative materials4  7#aj7           
,incorporating relevant digital         
information into www4,congress4gov would
 make it a more useful and comprehensive
 research resource4  #c4 ,public access 
to the laws of the ,united ,states  7a7 
,online availability of ,statutes at    
,large through ,government ,publishing  
,office ,section #gbh of title #dd1     

,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7
 in the first undesignated paragraph1 by
 striking ,the ,director and inserting  
7a7 ,printing and ,distribution4--,the  
,director2  7#b7 in the second          
undesignated paragraph1 by striking ,the
 ,director and inserting 7b7 ,treaties  
and ,other ,international               
,agreements4--,the ,director2 and  7#c7 
by adding at the end the following new  
subsection3  7c7 ,online access to      
,statutes at ,large  7#a7 ,in general   
,the ,director shall make the ,statutes 
at ,large available to the public at no 
cost on a website in a searchable1      
non-proprietary format4  7#b7           
,consultation and coordination ,the     
,director shall ensure that the         
searchable online edition of the ,united
 ,states ,statutes at ,large made       
available under this subsection is      
prepared in consultation and            
coordination with entities that develop 
formatting conventions used for enrolled
 bills and other legislative materials1 

which may include the ,library of       
,congress1 the ,office of the ,clerk of 
the ,house of ,representatives1 the     
,office of the ,secretary of the        
,senate1 the ,office of the ,legislative
 ,counsel of the ,house of              
,representatives1 the ,office of the    
,legislative ,counsel of the ,senate1   
the ,office of the ,law ,revision       
,counsel1 the ,congressional ,research  
,service1 the ,national ,archives and   
,records ,administration1 and such other
 public and private entities that the   
,director considers appropriate4  4  7b7
 ,requiring ,librarian of ,congress ,to 
incorporate searchable ,statutes at     
,large ,into ,legislative ,information  
,retrieval ,system ,section #bji of the 
,legislative ,branch ,appropriations    
,act1 #aiif 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #ahj7 is      
amended by adding at the end the        
following new subsection3  7f7 ,in      
addition to the legislative information 
described in subsection 7b71 the        
relevant electronic information made    

available by the ,director of the       
,government ,publishing ,office under   
section #gbh7;c7 of title #dd1 ,united  
,states ,code1 shall be incorporated    
into the legislative information service
 to the extent practicable4  4  7c7     
,authorization of appropriations ,there 
is authorized to be appropriated        
#e1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years     
#bjah through #bjbb to carry out the    
provisions of this ,act4