TOPN: Table of Popular Names


What's in a popular name?

Laws acquire popular names as they make their way through Congress. Sometimes these names say something about the substance of the law (as with the '2002 Winter Olympic Commemorative Coin Act'). Sometimes they are a way of recognizing or honoring the sponsor or creator of a particular law (as with the 'Taft-Hartley Act'). And sometimes they are meant to garner political support for a law by giving it a catchy name (as with the 'USA Patriot Act' or the 'Take Pride in America Act') or by invoking public outrage or sympathy (as with any number of laws named for victims of crimes). History books, newspapers, and other sources use the popular name to refer to these laws. Why can't these popular names easily be found in the US Code?

How the US Code is built.

The United States Code is meant to be an organized, logical compilation of the laws passed by Congress. At its top level, it divides the world of legislation into fifty topically-organized Titles, and each Title is further subdivided into any number of logical subtopics. In theory, any law -- or individual provisions within any law -- passed by Congress should be classifiable into one or more slots in the framework of the Code. On the other hand, legislation often contains bundles of topically unrelated provisions that collectively respond to a particular public need or problem. A farm bill, for instance, might contain provisions that affect the tax status of farmers, their management of land or treatment of the environment, a system of price limits or supports, and so on. Each of these individual provisions would, logically, belong in a different place in the Code. (Of course, this isn't always the case; some legislation deals with a fairly narrow range of related concerns.) The process of incorporating a newly-passed piece of legislation into the Code is known as "classification" -- essentially a process of deciding where in the logical organization of the Code the various parts of the particular law belong. Sometimes classification is easy; the law could be written with the Code in mind, and might specifically amend, extend, or repeal particular chunks of the existing Code, making it no great challenge to figure out how to classify its various parts. And as we said before, a particular law might be narrow in focus, making it both simple and sensible to move it wholesale into a particular slot in the Code. But this is not normally the case, and often different provisions of the law will logically belong in different, scattered locations in the Code. As a result, often the law will not be found in one place neatly identified by its popular name. Nor will a full-text search of the Code necessarily reveal where all the pieces have been scattered. Instead, those who classify laws into the Code typically leave a note explaining how a particular law has been classified into the Code. It is usually found in the Note section attached to a relevant section of the Code, usually under a paragraph identified as the "Short Title".

How the LII Table of Popular Names works.

Our Table of Popular Names is organized alphabetically by popular name. You'll find three types of link associated with each popular name (though each law may not have all three types). One, a reference to a Public Law number, is a link to the bill as it was originally passed by Congress, and will take you to the LRC THOMAS legislative system, or GPO FDSYS site. So-called "Short Title" links, and links to particular sections of the Code, will lead you to a textual roadmap (the section notes) describing how the particular law was incorporated into the Code. Finally, acts may be referred to by a different name, or may have been renamed, the links will take you to the appropriate listing in the table.

Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act

Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act

Gallatin Land Consolidation Act of 1998

Gallatin Range Consolidation and Protection Act of 1993

Gambling Devices Act of 1962

Gambling Devices Transportation Act

Game and Wildlife Act

Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act

GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017

GAO Civilian Task and Delivery Order Protest Authority Act of 2016

GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004

GAO-IG Act

GAO Mandates Revision Act of 2012

GAO Mandates Revision Act of 2016

Garfield Act (Compulsory Railway Connection)

Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982

Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act

Garrison Diversion Unit Reformulation Act of 1986

Gas Related Activities Act of 1990

Gasohol Competition Act of 1980

Gasoline Tax and Postage Rate Act

Gasque Spanish War Pensions Act

Gateway Arch National Park Designation Act

Gateway National Recreation Area Act

Gateway Visitor Center Authorization Act of 1999

Gay Act (Public Lands in Louisiana)

Gaylord A. Nelson Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Wilderness Act

Geary Act (Chinese Exclusion)

General Accounting Act of 1974

General Accounting Office Act of 1980

General Accounting Office Act of 1996

General Accounting Office Personnel Act of 1980

General Accounting Office Personnel Amendments Act of 1988

General and Special Risk Insurance Funds Availability Act of 2010

General Appropriation Act, 1951

General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994

General Bridge Act of 1906

General Bridge Act of 1946

General Education Provisions Act

General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1956

General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1957

General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1958

General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1959

General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1960

General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1961

General Government Matters, Department of Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1962

General Land Office Act

General Mining Act of 1872

General Services Administration Modernization Act

General Shelton Congressional Gold Medal Act

Generalized System of Preferences Renewal Act of 1984

Generic Animal Drug and Patent Term Restoration Act

Generic Drug Enforcement Act of 1992

Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012

Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2017

Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2022

Genesee River Protection Act of 1989

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

Geneva Distinctive Emblems Protection Act of 2006

Genocide Accountability Act of 2007

Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987 (the Proxmire Act)

George Bill

George Bush School of Government and Public Service Act

George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Act

George Washington Commemorative Coin Act

Georgia Wilderness Act of 1986

Geospatial Data Act of 2018

Geothermal Energy Act of 1980

Geothermal Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1974

Geothermal Steam Act Amendments of 1988

Geothermal Steam Act of 1970

Gerald B. H. Solomon Freedom Consolidation Act of 2002

Gerardo Hernandez Airport Security Act of 2015

Gerry Act (Corrupt Practices)

Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act

GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977

GI Bill National Emergency Extended Deadline Act of 2022

GI Fiancées Act

Gifted and Talented Children&aposs Education Act of 1978

Gila River Indian Community Federal Rights-of-Way, Easements and Boundary Clarification Act

Gila River Indian Community Judgment Fund Distribution Act of 2003

Gila River Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2004

Gillespie-Tillman Resolution (Transportation of Coal and Oil)

Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act

Girls Count Act of 2015

Glacier Bay National Park Boundary Adjustment Act of 1998

Glacier Bay National Park Resource Management Act of 2000

Glacier National Park Act

Glass Ceiling Act of 1991

Glass Federal Reserve Note Act

Glass-Steagall Act, 1932

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Act

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Boundary Revision Act

Glendo Unit of the Missouri River Basin Project Contract Extension Act of 2005

Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000

Global AIDS Research and Relief Act of 2000

Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004

Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act of 2022

Global Change Research Act of 1990

Global Child Thrive Act of 2020

Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1990

Global Climate Protection Act of 1987

Global Environmental Protection Assistance Act of 1989

Global Food Security Act of 2016

Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2017

Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022

Global Fragility Act of 2019

Global Health Innovation Act of 2017

Global Health Security and International Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Act of 2022

Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act

Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021

Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act

GLRI Act of 2019

Goals 2000: Educate America Act

Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985

Gold Clause Act

Gold Hoarding Act

Gold Labeling Act of 1976

Gold Medal Technical Corrections Act of 2014

Gold Repeal Joint Resolution

Gold Reserve Act of 1934

Gold Standard Act

Gold Star Families Voices Act

Gold Star Fathers Act of 2015

Gold Star Mothers Act

Golden Eagle Protection Act

Golden Gate National Recreation Area Act

Golden Gate National Recreation Area Addition Act of 1992

Golden Gate National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act of 2000

Golden Nematode Act

Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986

GONE Act

Good Accounting Obligation in Government Act

Good Neighbor Environmental Act of 1992

Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act

Gould Amendment (Food and Drugs)

Government Accountability Office Act of 2008

Government-Aided Railroad and Telegraph Act

Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012

Government Corporation Control Act

Government Corporations Appropriation Act, 1948

Government Corporations Appropriation Act, 1949

Government Corporations Appropriations Act, 1947

Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019

Government Employee Rights Act of 1991

Government Employees Incentive Awards Act

Government Employees Salary Reform Act of 1964

Government Employees Training Act

Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008

Government in the Sunshine Act

Government Losses in Shipment Act

Government Management Reform Act of 1994

Government Paperwork Elimination Act

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993

Government Printing Office Inspector General Act of 1988

Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014

Government Securities Act Amendments of 1993

Government Securities Act of 1986

Government Surplus Airports and Equipment Act

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (Alabama)

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (Florida)

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (Georgia)

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (Mississippi)

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (North Carolina)

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (South Carolina)

Governor&aposs Appointment Proclamation (Texas)

GPRA Modernization Act of 2010

Graduate Public Health Training Amendments of 1964

Graduation Act of 1854 (Public Lands)

Grain Quality Improvement Act of 1986

Grain Quality Incentives Act of 1990

Grain Standards and Warehouse Improvement Act of 2000

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act

Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992

Grand Portage Band Per Capita Adjustment Act

Grand Ronde Reservation Act Amendment of 2023

Grand Ronde Restoration Act

Grand Teton National Park Extension Act of 2007

Grand Teton National Park Land Exchange Act

Granger-Thye Act

Granite Watershed Enhancement and Protection Act of 1998

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act of 1998

Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency Act of 2019

Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act

Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act

Graton Rancheria Restoration Act

GREAT Act

Great American Outdoors Act

Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000

Great Basin National Heritage Route Act

Great Basin National Park Act of 1986

Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act

Great Falls Historic District Study Act of 2001

Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Act of 2002

Great Lakes Coastal Barrier Act of 1988

Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990

Great Lakes Environmental Sensitivity Index Act of 2020

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1998

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2006

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Reauthorization Act of 2022

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Tissue Bank Act

Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956

Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002

Great Lakes Legacy Reauthorization Act of 2008

Great Lakes Oil Pollution Research and Development Act

Great Lakes Pilotage Act of 1960

Great Lakes Planning Assistance Act of 1988

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019

Great Lakes Shoreline Mapping Act of 1987

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act of 2000

Greatest Generation Commemorative Coin Act

Greek Loan of 1929 Settlement Act

Greek-Turkish Assistance Act of 1948

Green Jobs Act of 2007

Green Mountain Lookout Heritage Protection Act

Greens Creek Land Exchange Act of 1995

Greer Spring Acquisition and Protection Act of 1991

Greg LeMond Congressional Gold Medal Act

Grey Towers National Historic Site Act of 2004

Griffith Project Prepayment and Conveyance Act

GSP Renewal Act of 1996

Guam Development Fund Act of 1968

Guam Elective Governor Act

Guam Excess Lands Act

Guam Foreign Investment Equity Act

Guam Omnibus Opportunities Act

Guam Organic Act Amendments of 1998

Guam War Claims Review Commission Act

Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act

Guaranteeing Equipment Safety for Firefighters Act of 2020

Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities Authorization Act, 1976

Guard and Reserves Forces Facilities Authorization Act, 1977

Guatemala Relief and Rehabilitation Act of 1976

Guayule Rubber Act

Gulf Islands National Seashore Act

Gulf Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act

Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006

Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005

Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act

Gun Control Act of 1968

Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990

Gun-Free Schools Act

Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994

Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act

Gunn McKay Nature Preserve Act

Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005