This is a chronological, but still incomplete, list of United States federal legislation. Congress has enacted approximately 200–600 statutes during each of its 119 biennial terms so more than 30,000 statutes have been enacted since 1789.
At the federal level in the United States, legislation (i.e., "statutes" or "statutory law") consists exclusively of Acts passed by the Congress of the United States and its predecessor, the Continental Congress, that were either signed into law by the President or passed by Congress after a presidential veto. Legislation is not the only source of regulations with the force of law. However, most executive branch and judicial branch regulations must originate in a congressional grant of power. See also: Executive orders issued by the President; Code of Federal Regulations for rules issued by executive branch departments and administrative agencies; and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure of the federal courts.
Publication of the law Statutes at Large (Stat.) Acts of Congress are published in the United States Statutes at Large. Volumes 1 through 18, which have all the statutes passed from 1789 to 1875, are available online at the Library of Congress, here. In the list below, statutes are listed by X Stat. Y, where X is the volume of the Statutes at Large and Y is the page number, as well as either the chapter or Public Law number. See examples below.
Sessions (Sess.) and Chapters (ch.) Each Congress has two to four sessions. Under the numbering system used from 1789 until 1957, the Acts in each session are numbered sequentially as Chapters. This numbering included both laws applicable to the general public and laws relating to specific individuals, e.g., to grant pensions to disabled veterans.See, e.g., Act of Aug. 11, 1790, ch. 44,
Examples The Militia Act of 1862 of July 17, 1862, Sess. 2, ch. 201, was the 201st Act of the second session of the 37th Congress. The National Banking Act of February 25, 1863, Sess. 3, ch. 58, was the 58th Act of the third session of the 37th Congress. The Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 of October 16, 2004, , , was the 332nd Act of Congress (statute) passed in the 108th Congress. It can be found in volume 118 of the U.S. Statutes at Large, starting at page 1282. The Help America Vote Act of October 29, 2002, , , was the 252nd Act of the 107th Congress. It can be found in volume 116 of the U.S. Statutes at Large, starting at page 1666.
Congress of the Confederation
September 22, 1783: Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783 April 23, 1784: Land Ordinance of 1784 May 21, 1785: Land Ordinance of 1785 July 13, 1787: Ordinance of 1787: The Northwest Territorial Government ("Northwest Ordinance")
United States Congress 1789 to 1901: 1st through 56th Congresses
Start date End date List of enacted legislation Public laws Private laws 1789-03-04 1791-03-03 List of acts of the 1st United States Congress 94 0 1791-03-04 1793-03-03 List of acts of the 2nd United States Congress 62 0 1793-03-04 1795-03-03 List of acts of the 3rd United States Congress 1795-03-04 1797-03-03 List of acts of the 4th United States Congress 1797-03-04 1799-03-03 List of acts of the 5th United States Congress 1799-03-04 1801-03-03 List of acts of the 6th United States Congress 1801-03-04 1803-03-03 List of acts of the 7th United States Congress 1803-03-04 1805-03-03 List of acts of the 8th United States Congress 1805-03-04 1807-03-03 List of acts of the 9th United States Congress 1807-03-04 1809-03-03 List of acts of the 10th United States Congress 1809-03-04 1811-03-03 List of acts of the 11th United States Congress 1811-03-04 1813-03-03 List of acts of the 12th United States Congress 1813-03-04 1815-03-03 List of acts of the 13th United States Congress 1815-03-04 1817-03-03 List of acts of the 14th United States Congress 1817-03-04 1819-03-03 List of acts of the 15th United States Congress 1819-03-04 1821-03-03 List of acts of the 16th United States Congress 1821-03-04 1823-03-03 List of acts of the 17th United States Congress 1823-03-04 1825-03-03 List of acts of the 18th United States Congress 1825-03-04 1827-03-03 List of acts of the 19th United States Congress 1827-03-04 1829-03-03 List of acts of the 20th United States Congress 1829-03-04 1831-03-03 List of acts of the 21st United States Congress 1831-03-04 1833-03-03 List of acts of the 22nd United States Congress 1833-03-04 1835-03-03 List of acts of the 23rd United States Congress 1835-03-04 1837-03-03 List of acts of the 24th United States Congress 1837-03-04 1839-03-03 List of acts of the 25th United States Congress 1839-03-04 1841-03-03 List of acts of the 26th United States Congress 1841-03-04 1843-03-03 List of acts of the 27th United States Congress 1843-03-04 1845-03-03 List of acts of the 28th United States Congress 1845-03-04 1847-03-03 List of acts of the 29th United States Congress 1847-04-04 1849-03-03 List of acts of the 30th United States Congress 1849-03-04 1851-03-03 List of acts of the 31st United States Congress 1851-03-04 1853-03-03 List of acts of the 32nd United States Congress 1853-03-04 1855-03-03 List of acts of the 33rd United States Congress 1855-03-04 1857-03-03 List of acts of the 34th United States Congress 1857-03-04 1859-03-03 List of acts of the 35th United States Congress 1859-03-04 1861-03-03 List of acts of the 36th United States Congress 1861-03-04 1863-03-03 List of acts of the 37th United States Congress 1863-03-04 1865-03-03 List of acts of the 38th United States Congress 1865-03-04 1867-03-03 List of acts of the 39th United States Congress 1867-03-04 1869-03-03 List of acts of the 40th United States Congress 1869-03-04 1871-03-03 List of acts of the 41st United States Congress 1871-03-04 1873-03-03 List of acts of the 42nd United States Congress 1873-03-04 1875-03-03 List of acts of the 43rd United States Congress 1875-03-04 1877-03-03 List of acts of the 44th United States Congress 1877-03-04 1879-03-03 List of acts of the 45th United States Congress 1879-03-04 1881-03-03 List of acts of the 46th United States Congress 1881-03-04 1883-03-03 List of acts of the 47th United States Congress 1883-03-04 1885-03-03 List of acts of the 48th United States Congress 1885-03-04 1887-03-03 List of acts of the 49th United States Congress 1887-03-04 1889-03-03 List of acts of the 50th United States Congress 1889-03-04 1891-03-03 List of acts of the 51st United States Congress 1891-03-04 1893-03-03 List of acts of the 52nd United States Congress 1893-03-04 1895-03-03 List of acts of the 53rd United States Congress 1895-03-04 1897-03-03 List of acts of the 54th United States Congress 1897-03-04 1899-03-03 List of acts of the 55th United States Congress 1899-03-04 1901-03-03 List of acts of the 56th United States Congress
1901 to 2001: 57th through 106th Congresses
Start date End date List of enacted legislation Public laws Private laws 1901-03-04 1903-03-04 List of acts of the 57th United States Congress 1903-03-04 1905-03-04 List of acts of the 58th United States Congress 1905-03-04 1907-03-04 List of acts of the 59th United States Congress 1907-03-04 1909-03-04 List of acts of the 60th United States Congress 1909-03-04 1911-03-04 List of acts of the 61st United States Congress 1911-03-04 1913-03-04 List of acts of the 62nd United States Congress 1913-03-04 1915-03-04 List of acts of the 63rd United States Congress 1915-03-04 1917-03-04 List of acts of the 64th United States Congress 1917-03-04 1919-03-04 List of acts of the 65th United States Congress 1919-03-04 1921-03-04 List of acts of the 66th United States Congress 1921-03-04 1923-03-04 List of acts of the 67th United States Congress 1923-03-04 1925-03-04 List of acts of the 68th United States Congress 1925-03-04 1927-03-04 List of acts of the 69th United States Congress 1927-03-04 1929-03-04 List of acts of the 70th United States Congress 1929-03-04 1931-03-04 List of acts of the 71st United States Congress 1931-03-04 1933-03-04 List of acts of the 72nd United States Congress 1933-03-04 1935-01-03 List of acts of the 73rd United States Congress 1935-01-03 1937-01-03 List of acts of the 74th United States Congress 849 730 1937-01-03 1939-01-03 List of acts of the 75th United States Congress 788 835 1939-01-03 1941-01-03 List of acts of the 76th United States Congress 894 651 1941-01-03 1943-01-03 List of acts of the 77th United States Congress 850 635 1943-01-03 1945-01-03 List of acts of the 78th United States Congress 568 589 1945-01-03 1947-01-03 List of acts of the 79th United States Congress 734 892 1947-01-03 1949-01-03 List of acts of the 80th United States Congress 906 457 1949-01-03 1951-01-03 List of acts of the 81st United States Congress 921 1103 1951-01-03 1953-01-03 List of acts of the 82nd United States Congress 594 1023 1953-01-03 1955-01-03 List of acts of the 83rd United States Congress 781 1002 1955-01-03 1957-01-03 List of acts of the 84th United States Congress 1028 893 1957-01-03 1959-01-03 List of acts of the 85th United States Congress 936 784 1959-01-03 1961-01-03 List of acts of the 86th United States Congress 800 492 1961-01-03 1963-01-03 List of acts of the 87th United States Congress 885 684 1963-01-03 1965-01-03 List of acts of the 88th United States Congress 666 360 1965-01-03 1967-01-03 List of acts of the 89th United States Congress 810 473 1967-01-03 1969-01-03 List of acts of the 90th United States Congress 640 362 1969-01-03 1971-01-03 List of acts of the 91st United States Congress 695 246 1971-01-03 1973-01-03 List of acts of the 92nd United States Congress 607 161 1973-01-03 1975-01-03 List of acts of the 93rd United States Congress 649 123 1975-01-03 1977-01-03 List of acts of the 94th United States Congress 588 141 1977-01-03 1979-01-03 List of acts of the 95th United States Congress 633 170 1979-01-03 1981-01-03 List of acts of the 96th United States Congress 613 123 1981-01-03 1983-01-03 List of acts of the 97th United States Congress 473 56 1983-01-03 1985-01-03 List of acts of the 98th United States Congress 623 54 1985-01-03 1987-01-03 List of acts of the 99th United States Congress 664 24 1987-01-03 1989-01-03 List of acts of the 100th United States Congress 713 48 1989-01-03 1991-01-03 List of acts of the 101st United States Congress 650 16 1991-01-03 1993-01-03 List of acts of the 102nd United States Congress 590 20 1993-01-03 1995-01-03 List of acts of the 103rd United States Congress 465 8 1995-01-03 1997-01-03 List of acts of the 104th United States Congress 333 4 1997-01-03 1999-01-03 List of acts of the 105th United States Congress 394 10 1999-01-03 2001-01-03 List of acts of the 106th United States Congress 580 24
2001 to present: 107th and subsequent Congresses
Start date End date List of enacted legislation Public laws Private laws 2001-01-03 2003-01-03 List of acts of the 107th United States Congress 377 6 2003-01-03 2005-01-03 List of acts of the 108th United States Congress 498 6 2005-01-03 2007-01-03 List of acts of the 109th United States Congress 482 1 2007-01-03 2009-01-03 List of acts of the 110th United States Congress 460 0 2009-01-03 2011-01-03 List of acts of the 111th United States Congress 383 2 2011-01-03 2013-01-03 List of acts of the 112th United States Congress 283 1 2013-01-03 2015-01-03 List of acts of the 113th United States Congress 296 0 2015-01-03 2017-01-03 List of acts of the 114th United States Congress 329 0 2017-01-03 2019-01-03 List of acts of the 115th United States Congress 442 1 2019-01-03 2021-01-03 List of acts of the 116th United States Congress 344 0 2021-01-03 2023-01-03 List of acts of the 117th United States Congress 362 3 2023-01-03 2025-01-03 List of acts of the 118th United States Congress 274 02025-01-032027-01-03List of acts of the 119th United States Congress1022
See also Authorization bill Appropriations bill (United States) List of sources of law in the United States List of Uniform Acts (United States) Lists by subject