To make improvements in the enactment of title 41, United States Code, into a positive law title and to improve the Code.
H.R. 5185 seeks to give Title 41 of the United States Code (the federal procurement and related commercial laws) a formal “positive law” status and to improve the overall Code by modernizing cross-references across the U.S. Code. In practical terms, the bill is a large-scale, housekeeping effort: it moves and updates numerous statutory references so that other laws point to the current Title 41 structure (and related titles) rather than to older or obsolete citations such as sections of the Revised Statutes or provisions in earlier procurement Acts. The effect is to create a more coherent, up-to-date, and self-contained set of statutes governing federal procurement, property, and related activities. The measure primarily affects how existing laws cite and rely on Title 41 and its cross-references; it does not appear to create new policy or programs, but rather to refine codification and citation practices across many titles. The bill begins with a table of contents and a stated purpose to convert Title 41 into positive law and to improve the Code. It then systematically amends numerous provisions across multiple titles (notably Titles 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 16) to replace old references (such as references to the Revised Statutes, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, and certain Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act provisions) with current citations to Title 41 or to related sections in Title 40 or other relevant titles. The overall aim is codification hygiene and alignment of cross-references with Title 41 as a positive law title.
Key Points
- 1Purpose and scope
- 2- The bill’s core goal is to render Title 41 a positive law title and to modernize the Code by aligning cross-references in many other titles to current Title 41 (and related chapters in Title 40 or other titles) rather than outdated statutory references.
- 3Widespread cross-reference updates
- 4- The legislation systematically updates references across a broad set of titles (beginning with Titles 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 16) to substitute older citations (e.g., the Revised Statutes, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, and various OFPP Act references) with current Title 41 citations (e.g., 6101 of Title 41, or specific chapters of Title 41 such as chapter 5 or chapter 71).
- 5- Examples include replacing references to “section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5)” with “section 6101 of title 41, United States Code,” and substituting OFPP Act and related procurement provisions with corresponding Title 41 chapters or sections.
- 6Structure and codification notes
- 7- The bill presents a table of contents listing all the targeted titles (2 through 52) to be affected, signaling a comprehensive codification effort aimed at harmonizing the entire Code around Title 41.
- 8- It includes a formal “Purpose” section and a clearly delineated scope across numerous titles, indicating a long-range codification project rather than targeted policy changes.
- 9Policy impact vs. administrative effect
- 10- There is no explicit creation of new programs or substantive policy changes. The anticipated impact is administrative: more consistent and accessible statutory references, reducing confusion for the public and for government agencies relying on cross-referenced provisions.
- 11- By converting Title 41 to positive law and aligning references, the bill could improve legal certainty and the statutory framework governing federal procurement, property, and related activities.