Cite all government acts that were passed in-text with the name of the act in the text of the paper and the year it was passed in parentheses. For example: National Park Act (1902). You can also put the act's name and the date in the text of the essay and disregard a parenthetical citation. For example: Conservation Act of 1978. For in-text citations of proposed government acts that weren't passed, put the House of Representatives or Senate number and the year in parentheses. For example: (H.R. 18, 1984).
Cite acts in the U.S. Code as the title of the act, the date it was passed, the U.S. Code number, the section number and the edition of the code referenced. Use the abbreviation of § to indicate the section number. The year the act was passed is included in the title so you will be citing the date twice. For example: National Park Act of 1902. 28 U.S.C. §1994. (1902).
Cite acts from the U.S. Statutes with the name, the year passed, the number of the Congress and the number of the law, and the location in the book of U.S. Statutes. For example: National Endangered Species Act of 1964. Pub. L. No. 98-277, 108 Stat. 3890 (1964). The "Pub. L. No." stands for "public law number". The first number "98" references which Congress the act was passed during and the second number "277" determines the act's number. The "108" is the volume of statutes and the "3890" determines the page number the act starts on.
Cite an act that did not pass with the act's name, the year it was introduced, which Congress it was introduced to and the Senate or House of Representatives number. For example: Water Preservation Act of 2003, S. 19, 107th Cong. (2003). The "S" is an abbreviation for the Senate and "H.R." is an abbreviation for the House of Representatives.