July 05, 2004

When Congress passes a bill and the President fails to veto it, the journey into our pocketbooks and lives has just begun. There are two type of laws: public and private, but we shall look just at "public laws." What is the difference between a public and private law?

• Public Laws: Most laws passed by Congress are public laws. Public laws theoretically affect society as a whole. Public laws citations include the abbreviation, Pub.L., the Congress number (e.g. 107), and the number of the law. For example: Pub.L. 107-006. (This is usually abbreviated even more, as PL 107-6.) (Currently we are supporting the 108th Congress, since "Congresses" last for two years - P.L. 108-3 was the third public law passed by the 108th Congress during the current term of 2003-2005).
• Private laws: Supposedly affect just an individual, family, or small group. Private laws are enacted to assist citizens that have been injured by government programs or who are appealing an executive agency ruling such as deportation. Private laws citations include the abbreviation, Pvt.L., The Congress number (e.g. 107), and the number of the law. For example: Pvt.L. 107-006.

A public law is known by its bill number (such as SB (Senate Bill) or HR (House Resolution), its popular name, (Such as the Taft-Hartley Act or PATRIOT Act), its long title (which can be really long), and its number. The subject of titles is worth pursuing but we shall concentrate on the basics: the number. Public Laws are numbered by the number of the Congress which passes them. Most, but not all, Public Laws are "general and permanent," which brings us to the next type. Public Laws are sometimes divided into "Titles", which often are entire separate (and not necessarily related) laws: for example, "SARA Title III" is also known as the "Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act" or EPCRA, but was passed as part of the "Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act."

At the end of each session of Congress, the laws passed are compiled into bound volumes called the Statutes at Large, and they are known as "session laws." The Statutes at Large present a chronological arrangement of the laws in the exact order that they have been enacted. Because the text of laws published as public laws and Statutes at Large are the same, this step isn't usually known, but is still important, since laws are transcribed and "annotated" (that is, previous laws and "codified laws" [see next] which are amended) are listed. Every six years, public laws are incorporated into the United States Code. The U.S. Code is arranged by subject matter, and it shows the present status of laws that have been amended on one or more occasions.

The United States Code (USC) is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 50 titles (another meaning from the one discussed above) and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 1926, the United States Code has been published every six years. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information. US Code laws are cited by a standard system, such as 42 USC 4001(which deals with Congressional Findings related to National Flood Insurance); Title 42 has to do with Public Health and Welfare. Title 22 laws deal with "Foreign Relations and Intercourse." Codes are broken into "Chapters" and "Subchapters" but are numbered by Sections. Section 4001 is in Chapter 50, for example.

Laws are sometimes listed as "Statutes" short for Statutes at large - mostly found in the "Revised Statutes" of 1875 - yeah, 1875. They are numbered as "32 Stat. 3" or the 3rd Act of the 32nd Congress, like Public Laws are today.

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation, just like the USC. BUT the titles are not the same: USC Title 50 is National Defense, but CFR Title 50 is Wildlife and Fisheries, for example. Yeah, it is confusing.

But the big difference between CFR and USC is often NOT understood: "Regulations" or "Rules" are written by unelected burro-crats, and NOT by Congriss-critturs. They are not laws, they implement laws (supposedly). There may be a requirement (or opportunity) for Congress to review Regulations, and for there to be public notice and comment periods before the burro-prats put them into force, but there is no vote, no review by the other two branches of government - it is all the executive branch.

One last term in our basic primer/review: FR citations: both laws and regulations are frequently cited as "23FR33929." FR stands for Federal Register, the official daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of US Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive Orders and other Presidential Documents. It can be accessed through the Internet (as can the others). A regulation (rule) is published in the FR, and until posted to the CFR, it is common to refer to it by the FR number: the first digits are the volumes of the Federal Register, one each year (the 2004 volume number is 69) and the last digits are the page number (for the first page of whatever is being cited: even with 5-point type and four columns, VERY few things only take one page). As of the end of March, there were already more than 15,000 pages in Vol 69!!!

Back to the commentary.

Archives

Free Immigration - Part 1

Communica-
tion - The Essentials of Self-Defense

Free Immigration Part 2

Tribal Wisdom vs Government

Water And Guns