EDITORIAL RECLASSIFICATION
ELIMINATION OF TITLE 50, APPENDIX, UNITED STATES CODE

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHANGES

In 2015, the Appendix to title 50 of the United States Code was eliminated and most of the non-obsolete provisions were transferred to new Chapters 49 to 57 of Title 50, War and National Defense. A small number of provisions were transferred to other titles of the Code. After study, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel concluded that the elimination of the Appendix and the corresponding transfer of its non-obsolete provisions would improve the organizational structure of the Code and that the benefits of eliminating the Appendix outweighed the short-term inconvenience of adjusting to new Code citations. For the online version of the United States Code, the reorganization occured on December 1, 2015, after which the new Code citations were effective. For the printed version of the United States Code, the reorganization occured effective with supplement III of the 2012 edition.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR CHANGE

The United States Code included an Appendix to Title 50, War and National Defense, effective with the 1940 edition. In the decades that followed, a substantial number of laws and executive branch documents were classified to the Appendix, rather than to title 50 itself. Many of those laws and executive branch documents were emergency-related or of temporary duration and eventually became obsolete or were repealed. However, a relatively small number of those laws and executive documents were not temporary. After 75 years, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel decided to transfer the general and permanent provisions from the Appendix to the proper subject-matter title of the Code (predominantly title 50). The Appendix as it existed prior to its elimination can still be accessed in prior versions of the United States Code, both online and in print.

HIGHLIGHTS OF REORGANIZATION -- NEW CHAPTERS IN TITLE 50

     * Chapter 49, Military Selective Service (50 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.]
     * Chapter 50, Servicemembers Civil Relief (50 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.]
     * Chapter 51, War Claims (50 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 2001 et seq.]
     * Chapter 52, Restitution for World War II Internment of Japanese-Americans and Aleuts (50 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 1989 et seq.]
     * Chapter 53, Trading with the Enemy (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.]
     * Chapter 54, Merchant Ship Sales (50 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 1735 et seq.]
     * Chapter 55, Defense Production (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.]
     * Chapter 56, Export Administration (50 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 2401 et seq.]
     * Chapter 57, Claims under the Clarification Act (50 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.) [former 50 U.S.C. App. 1291 et seq.]

RESOURCES FOR TRANSITION

Comprehensive Chart - old/new Code citations for all transferred provisions.

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

Questions and comments may be directed to:

Office of the Law Revision Counsel

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515