Statutes are laws that have been created via the legislative process.
A bill starts in one branch of the United States Congress, goes to the other branch for approval and goes through numerous steps and processes before becoming a law. Bills are what will become laws or statutes if they are passed. A bill will be given a number and that number will stay with the bill, even if it becomes a law, forever. Each legislative session, there are new bills that may have the same number, but are completely different, than bills from the last legislative session. It is for this reason that it is imperative to know what year the bill was proposed.