united-states statutes public-law
How to find Statutes at Large pincite for a new law?
<p>Is it possible to find the page in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Statutes_at_Large" rel="nofollow noreferrer">United States Statutes at Large</a> that corresponds with the Public Law section for a <em>new</em> statute?</p>
<p>The specific law in question is:</p>
<p>Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-315, 134 Stat. 4932.</p>
<p>For an article on my educational website, I resorted to using underscores for the Statute at Large pincites. For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>Key Points for C&amp;P Exams</h3>
<p>The first three Key Points are all found in <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7105/text/enr#toc-H2375B4CDF8A349989F082603BF9E6416" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 2002</a> of the bill, the full citation of which is:</p>
<p>Matters relating to Department of Veterans Affairs medical disability
examinations, H.R. 7105, Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D.
Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, tit. II,
subtit. A, sec. 2002.</p>
<p><em>Note</em>: That is the citation for the <em>enrolled bill</em> as amended by the
House of Representatives on 16 Dec 2020. The citation for section 2002
of the <em>law</em> is:</p>
<p>Matters Relating to Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Disability
Examinations, Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health
Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-315, §
2002, 134 Stat. 4932, __ (Jan. 5, 2021).</p>
<p>Congress passed the bill on 16 Dec 2020, after the House agreed to a
Senate amendment:</p>
<p>Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the Senate amendment, Agreed to by
voice vote, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2020/12/16/CREC-2020-12-16.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">166 Cᴏɴɢ. Rᴇᴄ., no. 213</a>, H7169–7204 (daily ed. Dec.
16, 2020).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Using the above example, how can I find the page number(s) in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Statutes_at_Large" rel="nofollow noreferrer">United States Statutes at Large</a> that correspond with Pub. L. No. 116-315, § 2002?</p>
<p>I found the Statutes at Large citation for the law on the Potomac Publishing website, under &quot;<a href="http://www.potomacpublishing.com/techdata/asp/main/recent.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">New Laws</a>&quot;.</p>
<p>I am guessing that at present I would need to pay for a Lexis or West publication to find this information, but I wanted to make sure.</p>

<p>It wouldn't be at all uncommon to cite to a new public law with a section number in the public law but not a pinpoint citation.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Pub. L. No. 116-315, § 2002, 134 Stat. 4932 (January 5, 2021).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The citation form in the question is also acceptable:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, Pub. L. No.
116-315, § 2002, 134 Stat. 4932, __ (Jan. 5, 2021).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a similar to the form commonly used in citations to newly decided court cases that haven't yet been typeset for a hard cover volume of case reports.</p>
<p>It would be commonplace to omit a pinpoint citation from the published Statutes at Large, if the section number if provided, even in a law review journal or academic publication, in the case of a newly enacted statute.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, the relevant Bluebook (i.e. the leading guide to citation) addresses citations to statutes at large in Rule 12.4 but doesn't specifically address what to do when pinpoint citations are unavailable, although Bluebook Rule 10.8.1 provides some options for pending and unreported court opinions.</p>
<p>Almost all law libraries and most larger public libraries and university libraries also get hard copies of Statutes at Large on a subscription basis, although there is a considerable lag between passage and distribution of the dead tree version.</p>
