Resources

Information on US laws and regulations is available online.

• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

  These are the detailed rules set by the executive branch, based on the laws passed by Congress. Source: Code of Federal Regulations.

  To find out what applies to you, determine what agencies regulate your organization. Look up the corresponding CFR volume. For example, the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are in volume 21.

• Congressional Bills

  These are the laws passed by the legislative branch. Several sources exist. We have found the Library of Congress to be the most user-friendly: THOMAS service (select "Bill Text" under "LEGISLATION").

  The most direct way of finding the full text of a bill requires a preliminary search to determine the Congress that passed it and the bill number. Here is this information for bills that have been at the origin of major new regulation recently.

  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act: 107th Congress (2001-2002), H.R. 3763 (ENR)

    "To protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures ..."

  • USA PATRIOT Act: 107th Congress (2001-2002), H.R. 3162 (ENR)

    "To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, ..."

  • Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: 106th Congress (1999-2000), S. 900 (ENR)

    "To enhance competition in the financial services industry by providing a prudential framework for the affiliation of banks, securities firms, insurance companies, and other financial service providers, ..."

  • HIPAA: 104th Congress (1995-1996), H.R. 3103 (ENR)

    "...[T]o improve portability and continuity of health coverage in the group and individual markets, to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance and health care delivery, to promote the use of medical savings accounts, to improve access to long-term care services and coverage, to simplify the administation of health insurance, ..."

  Notes: ENR ("enrolled") designates the final version of a bill, as passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. H.R. is for legislation introduced in the House of Representatives, S. for Senate-originated texts.