IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1654 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MARCH 13, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend title 44, United States Code, to modernize the 
Federal Register, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Register Mod-
ernization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION. 
(a) REFERENCES TO PRINTING.—Chapter 15 of title 
44, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in section 1502— 
(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘print-
ing’’ and inserting ‘‘publishing’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘printing and distribution’’ 
and inserting ‘‘publishing’’; 
(2) in section 1507— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the duplicate originals or 
certified copies of the document have’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the document has’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘print-
ed’’ and inserting ‘‘published’’; and 
(3) in section 1509, in subsections (a) and (b), 
by striking ‘‘printing, reprinting, wrapping, binding, 
and distributing’’ and inserting ‘‘publishing’’, each 
place it appears. 
(b) PUBLISH DEFINED.—Section 1501 of title 44, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of the defini-
tion for ‘‘person’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 
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(2) by inserting after the definition for ‘‘per-
son’’ the following: 
‘‘ ‘publish’ means to circulate for sale or dis-
tribution to the public; and’’. 
(c) FILING DOCUMENTS WITH OFFICE AMEND-
MENT.—Section 1503 of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of 
time; public inspection; transmission for 
publishing 
‘‘The original document required or authorized to be 
published by section 1505 shall be filed with the Office 
of the Federal Register for publication at times estab-
lished by the Administrative Committee of the Federal 
Register by regulation. The Archivist of the United States 
shall cause to be noted on the original of each document 
the day and hour of filing. Upon filing, the document shall 
be immediately available for public inspection in the Of-
fice. The original shall be retained by the National Ar-
chives and Records Administration and shall be available 
for inspection under regulations prescribed by the Archi-
vist, unless such original is disposed of in accordance with 
disposal schedules submitted by the Administrative Com-
mittee and authorized by the Archivist pursuant to regula-
tions issued under chapter 33; however, originals of proc-
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lamations of the President and Executive orders shall be 
permanently retained by the Administration as part of the 
National Archives of the United States. The Office shall 
transmit to the Government Publishing Office, as provided 
by this chapter, each document required or authorized to 
be published by section 1505. Every Federal agency shall 
cause to be transmitted for filing the original of all such 
documents issued, prescribed, or promulgated by the agen-
cy.’’. 
(d) FEDERAL
REGISTER
AMENDMENT.—Section 
1504 of title 44, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘§ 1504. ‘Federal Register’; publishing; contents; dis-
tribution; price 
‘‘Documents required or authorized to be published 
by section 1505 shall be published immediately by the 
Government Publishing Office in a serial publication des-
ignated the ‘Federal Register’. The Director of the Gov-
ernment Publishing Office shall make available the facili-
ties of the Government Publishing Office for the prompt 
publication of the Federal Register in the manner and at 
the times required by this chapter and the regulations pre-
scribed under it. The contents of the daily issues shall be 
indexed and constitute all documents, required or author-
ized to be published, filed with the Office of the Federal 
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