Editing United States Code (section)

===Process===
The official text of an [[Act of Congress]] is that of the "enrolled bill" (traditionally printed on [[parchment]]) presented to the [[President of the United States|president]] for his signature or [[Veto power in the United States|disapproval]]. Upon enactment of a law, the original bill is delivered to the [[Office of the Federal Register]] (OFR) within the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] (NARA).<ref>{{citation |title=Public and Private Laws: About |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]] |url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/about.html |quote=After the President signs a bill into law, it is delivered to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) … |access-date=March 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105231122/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/about.html |archive-date=January 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> After authorization from the OFR,<ref>{{citation |title=Public and Private Laws: About |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]] |url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/about.html |quote=Public and private laws are prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) … The database for the current session of Congress is updated when the publication of a slip law is authorized by OFR. |access-date=March 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105231122/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/about.html |archive-date=January 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> copies are distributed as "[[slip law]]s" (as unbound, individually [[Pagination|paginated]] [[pamphlet]]s) by the [[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Publishing Office]] (GPO).<ref name="Bast_Page_138">{{cite book |last1=Bast |first1=Carol M. |last2=Hawkins |first2=Margie A. |title=Foundations of Legal Research and Writing |date=2013 |publisher=Delmar |location=Clifton Park, New York |isbn=9781285402604 |page=138 |edition=5th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8foKAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=October 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029133122/https://books.google.com/books?id=8foKAAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA138&hl=en&source=newbks_fb |url-status=live }}</ref> The OFR assembles annual volumes of the enacted laws and publishes them as the ''[[United States Statutes at Large]].'' By law, the text of the ''Statutes at Large'' is "legal evidence" of the laws enacted by Congress.<ref>{{USC|1|112}}</ref> Slip laws are also competent evidence.<ref>{{USC|1|113}}</ref>

The ''Statutes at Large'', however, is not a convenient tool for legal research. It is arranged strictly in chronological order; statutes addressing related topics may be scattered across many volumes, and are not consolidated with later amendments.<ref name="Bast_Page_139">{{cite book |last1=Bast |first1=Carol M. |last2=Hawkins |first2=Margie A. |title=Foundations of Legal Research and Writing |date=2013 |publisher=Delmar |location=Clifton Park, New York |isbn=9781285402604 |page=139 |edition=5th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8foKAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=October 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029133123/https://books.google.com/books?id=8foKAAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA139&hl=en&source=newbks_fb |url-status=live }}</ref> Statutes often repeal or amend earlier laws, and extensive [[cross-reference|cross-referencing]] is required to determine what laws are in force at any given time.<ref name="Olson 1999 146" />

The United States Code is the result of an effort to make finding relevant and effective statutes simpler by reorganizing them by subject matter, and eliminating expired and amended sections. The Code is maintained by the [[Office of the Law Revision Counsel]] (LRC) of the U.S. House of Representatives.<ref name="Olson 1999 146" /> The LRC determines which statutes in the United States Statutes at Large should be codified, and which existing statutes are affected by amendments or repeals, or have simply expired by their own terms. The LRC updates the Code accordingly.

Because of this codification approach, a single named statute (like the [[Taft–Hartley Act]] or the [[Embargo Act of 1807|Embargo Act]]) may or may not appear in a single place in the Code. Often, complex legislation bundles a series of provisions together as a means of addressing a social or governmental problem; those provisions often fall in different logical areas of the Code. For example, an Act providing relief for family farms might affect items in Title 7 (Agriculture), Title 26 (Tax), and Title 43 ([[public land|Public Lands]]). When the Act is codified, its various provisions might well be placed in different parts of those various Titles. Traces of this process are generally found in the Notes accompanying the "lead section" associated with the popular name, and in cross-reference tables that identify Code sections corresponding to particular Acts of Congress.

Usually, the individual sections of a statute are incorporated into the Code exactly as enacted; however, sometimes editorial changes are made by the LRC (for instance, the phrase "the date of enactment of this Act" is replaced by the actual date). Though authorized by statute, these changes do not constitute [[positive law]].<ref name="house1">{{Cite web |title=DETAILED GUIDE TO THE UNITED STATES CODE CONTENT AND FEATURES |url=https://uscode.house.gov/detailed_guide.xhtml |access-date=2021-06-23 |website=uscode.house.gov |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126181652/http://uscode.house.gov/detailed_guide.xhtml |url-status=live }}</ref>