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Classification Tables

The Classification Tables can also be used to find the latest laws affecting the Code. The Classification Tables indicate which sections of the Code have been affected by recently enacted laws. They show where the newly enacted laws and amendments will eventually appear in the United States Code. The researcher can view the tables either in Public Law order or in U.S. Code order. The text of public laws listed as Pending Updates or appearing in the Classification Tables can be found in a number of sources, such as the Government Printing Office’s FDSys (Federal Digital System) or Congress.gov.

Searching the US Code Database

The US Code Portal offers a link to the main page of the U.S.Code database and a link to the Parallel Table of Authorities. An user can browse a numerical list of Titles, perform a Quick search by citation (by Title and Section), or enter keywords/phrases into the Search US Code search box. There is also the option of a Keyword search of a specific Title.

The US Code Portal provides with 2 search options. One of them uses Google Boolean and phrase and proximity searching.

Navigating through US Code Results and Updating

Clicking the Title, its currency is shown. There is a link to the Public Laws of the Current Congress that goes to the most recent Public Laws pages on Thomas. In the Updates section, the reader can see recent classification updates and the most recent update of which the Portal is aware. To read pending changes, click on the Public Law link or the Statutes at Large link. In the Notes section there is general background notes about the Title the user is reading.

CFR Rules and Regulations

To link to the rules and regulations in the CFR that relate to the United States Code section being viewed, click on the Authorities (CFR) link. If there are any related authorities, they will be displayed. Note that the U.S. Code title and section numbers and the CFR parallel authority title and section numbers do not always match up, but they are, nevertheless, related. Sometimes you will see a completely different Title number.

Searching the US Code Portal Database

Researchers can keyword or phrase search through all of Titles from the search box on the US Portal’s home page. There are Advance search information at this site. Researchers can also browse the Titles and Popular Names, or retrieve them by citation via links available on the home page.

The US Portal queries are similar to typical search engine such as Google because the US Portal uses the same Boolean connectors (AND, OR, -) and phrase searching (using quotation marks) as Google. Clicking the More information link displays Metadata. Metadata refers to information about the document.