Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act
Creates a congressional time capsule for the nation's 250th anniversary.
What this law changes
From a secondary sourceCreates a congressional time capsule for the nation's 250th anniversary.
This account is written from the official description of the bill. We have saved the law's official text and have not finished checking the account against it.
Transparency Score
The Transparency Score is the share of this law’s dollars that goes to what the law says it is for.
Transparency Score
Share of the text within the stated purpose:Not checked yetThe text of this law provides and authorizes no dollar amount. The score is the share of its text within the stated intent. That share is "Not checked yet": no reading of this law is approved by a person yet.
How this is counted
- Transparency Score: dollars in sections a person approved as within the stated intent, divided by total dollars in the law. Shown as a percentage. Higher means more of the money goes to what the law says it is for.
- Beside it, the same two numbers the other way round: total dollars divided by dollars within the stated intent. 1.00 means every dollar is within the stated intent. When no dollar is within the stated intent this ratio cannot be computed, and the answer says so.
- Total dollars: appropriated dollars plus authorized dollars, read from the law's text by the rules below. Dollars in a section whose reading is unclear or was not read count in the total and are shown apart as unclear.
- A law whose text provides and authorizes no dollar amount reads "No money in this law". Its score is the share of its words that are in sections within the stated intent.
- The score reads "Not checked yet" until a person approves the law's reading of which sections are within the stated intent. The dollar totals need no reading and are shown before that.
- The dollar totals read "Not checked yet" when more than 10 percent of the dollars read could not be sorted by the rules.
- Every dollar amount in our saved text of the law is read: "$1,234,567", "$5 billion", "$2.5 million". Margin notes, page marks and the table of contents are left out. Each amount is kept with the words printed around it.
- Appropriated: the sentence says "there is appropriated", "is hereby appropriated" or "out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated"; or the amount is the one an appropriations paragraph ("For ..., $X") provides under an account heading of an appropriations act.
- Authorized: the sentence says "authorized to be appropriated". An authorization lets a later law provide the money. It provides none itself.
- A list under such a sentence ("there is appropriated the following: (1) ...; (2) ..."): an amount that begins an item is counted the same way as the sentence says, unless the sentence gives a total first. Then the items are parts of that total.
- "$X for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030" is counted as X times the number of years named (here 5). The yearly figure, the years and the product are all kept. "For each fiscal year" with no years named is counted once, and the answer says so.
- Open-ended: "such sums as may be necessary" names no amount. It is counted as an item and adds no dollars.
- Rescinded: "is hereby rescinded", "permanently cancelled", or an item of a list headed "the following funds are hereby rescinded". Shown apart. Not subtracted from the total.
- Not spending, and left out of the total: an amount after "not to exceed", "not more than", "up to", "less than", "in excess of" and like words; a fine or penalty; a limit the law raises ("the limitation is increased by $X"); a figure the law strikes from another law; and a figure inside words it writes into another law ("striking $X and inserting $Y"), unless the same sentence says the figure is authorized or appropriated.
- Counted once: an amount after "of which", after "Provided, That", or after "of the amounts made available" is a part of a total already counted. Where a paragraph ends "in all, $X", that total is counted and the amounts before it are its parts.
- An amount the rules cannot sort is "not classified". It is listed with its words and left out of the total. Nothing is guessed.
- Total dollars: appropriated dollars plus authorized dollars. The two are also shown apart.
What the law says it is for
Confirmed from the official recordThese are the law’s own words, and the words of Congress’s records, about what the law is for.
Official title
“To provide for the creation of a congressional time capsule in commemoration of the semiquincentennial of the United States, and for other purposes.”
The words under "An Act", Public Law 119-79, official text · Saved October 5, 2026 · Fingerprint 6816a582c25a9ef5
Short title
“Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act”
The sentence that names the Act, Public Law 119-79, official text · Saved October 5, 2026 · Fingerprint 6816a582c25a9ef5
Congress's summary · Congressional Research Service
“Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act This act requires the Architect of the Capitol to create a congressional time capsule in honor of the 250 th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to be buried in the Capitol Visitor Center on or before July 4, 2026. The time capsule shall contain a joint letter from congressional leadership (the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate) and such other contents as they shall determine. The act directs the Architect of the Capitol to also install a plaque about the time capsule, subject to the approval of the Committee on House Administration of the House and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate. The time capsule shall be sealed until July 4, 2276.”
The quote stops here. The source has the full text.
Summary of the version: Public Law, Congressional Research Service summary: Public Law · Saved October 6, 2026 · Fingerprint 4b000be4e92e6da3
The law has no findings or purpose section.
The bill's record names no committee report.
Dollars in this law
Confirmed from the official recordThe text of this law provides and authorizes no dollar amount.
Source: Public Law 119-79, official text · Saved October 5, 2026 · Fingerprint 6816a582c25a9ef5
Other measures
Each measure has its own status. None is added into the score.
- Dollars in sections added along the way
- No money in this law
- Member-requested dollars as a share of appropriated dollars
- Not checked yet
No list of member-requested spending is printed in the 20 official records saved for this law, and no committee report says there is none.
- Open-ended amounts (“such sums as may be necessary”)
- 0 passagesConfirmed from the official record
- Other bills whose text this law contains
- 0 billsConfirmed from the official record
- How the House passed it
- Voice vote, February 9, 2026Confirmed from the official record
- How the Senate passed it
- Unanimous consent, January 27, 2026Confirmed from the official record
- Committee report saved
- None in the official recordConfirmed from the official record
The bill's official record names no committee report.
- Hearing saved
- None in the official recordConfirmed from the official record
The bill's official record names no hearing.
A voice vote or unanimous consent leaves no record of how each member voted.
How these are counted
- Added along the way, sections: sections of the final law marked "added later", divided by the sections compared.
- Added along the way, words: words in those sections, divided by the words in the sections compared.
- Each text is read as a list of words. A run is 5 words in a row. For each section of the final law we count the share of its runs that appear anywhere in the first published text of the bill. 90 percent or more: in the first text. From 20 to 90 percent: changed. Under 20 percent: added later. A section with fewer than 20 words is not compared.
- Sections outside the stated intent: sections a person approved as outside the stated intent, divided by the sections read. The same count is given in words.
- Member-requested spending: the number of items in the lists Congress printed for the law, and the sum of their dollar amounts.
- A part that is not checked yet is shown as "Not checked yet". It is never counted as zero. No single blended number is given.
Added along the way
Confirmed from the official record0 of the 1 section compared are added after the first published text of the bill. None is changed. 1 is in the first text. 1 heading or short section is too short to compare.
A section counts as added later when under 20 percent of its wording appears in the first published text.
Congress published no introduced text of this bill. The comparison starts from the earliest text it published: Engrossed in Senate, January 27, 2026.
The first published text (Engrossed in Senate, January 27, 2026): S. 3705, Engrossed in Senate · Saved October 7, 2026 · Fingerprint 7387bb1df2031d7e
Published texts of this bill, in order: Engrossed in Senate (January 27, 2026), Considered and Passed Senate (January 27, 2026), Enrolled Bill.
Sections added later
No section compared is added later.
Amendments adopted
The record lists no adopted amendment to this bill.
Other bills whose text this law contains
The Congressional Research Service marks no other bill as one whose text this law contains.
Member-requested spending
No list foundNo list of member-requested spending is printed in the 20 official records saved for this law, and no committee report says there is none.
Sections outside the stated intent
Not checked yetA person reviews each reading before it appears here.
On the record
On the record: Not started.
Press releases by members of Congress
From a secondary sourceThese are press releases from members' official websites that name this law. We save a copy of each one.
3 press releases
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“As part of Congress’s efforts to celebrate America's 250th birthday, the Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act (P.L. 119-79) directs the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to create and prepare a congressional time capsule to be sealed in the Capitol Visitor Center. The capsule is an opportunity for each state and territory delegation to provide a joint submission that provides a”
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“As part of Congress’s efforts to celebrate America's 250 th birthday, the Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act (P.L. 119-79) directs the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to create and prepare a congressional time capsule to be sealed in the Capitol Visitor Center. The capsule is an opportunity for each state and territory delegation to provide a joint submission that provides”
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“As part of Congress’s efforts to celebrate America's 250 th birthday, the SemiquincentennialCongressional Time Capsule Act (P.L. 119-79) directs the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to create and prepare a congressional time capsule to be sealed in the Capitol Visitor Center. The capsule is an opportunity for each state and territory delegation to provide a joint submission that provides a”
Read from 539 of 539 members' sites, releases since January 3, 2025, through October 7, 2026.
Press releases by organizations
No saved press release from these organizations names this law.
Read from 510 of 510 organizations' sites, releases since January 3, 2025, through October 7, 2026.
What it touches
Kind of law: Honors and names. Budget effect: No direct effect on agency budgets.
Government
- Honors, names and commemoration
The economy
- No direct economic effect
Daily life
- Remembrance and honors
Agencies it funds or directs
Dollar amounts:Not checked yetHow it passed
The Senate passed it without objection on January 27, 2026. No individual votes are recorded.
The House passed it by voice vote on February 9, 2026. A voice vote records no individual votes.
How each member votes
Both chambers passed this law without a recorded vote, so no individual votes exist. The House: passed by voice vote (no individual votes recorded). The Senate: passed without objection (no individual votes recorded).
Where this comes from
The links below open the official files for this law. A code beside a file is its fingerprint, a short code that changes if the file's contents change.