The citation for a new law is prefixed by the number of the congress during which the law is enacted. It was passed in 1980 during the 2nd session of that Congress. They are available in the Law Library at KF 50 A2, shelved after the Statutes at Large. In addition, many topical loose-leaf services reprint legislation within a few days of passage. They can be found in the following publications.
Legislation is arranged in chronological order in each volume by public or private law number.
Because publication of the slip laws may lag behind by some months, researchers frequently prefer using unofficial compilations such as the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News . Whichever set is used, however, researchers citing to a piece of legislation in the session laws must make reference to the official compilation. Researchers prefer using this set because legislation is made available quickly through advance sheet pamphlets. Also included are congressional materials useful for investigating legislative intent. Subject indexes and tables of sections affected are included in each pamphlet and in the bound volumes.