S 3705 United States Senate · 119th Congress

Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act

Summary

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. On that date, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader shall present the time capsule to the 244th Congress.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Senate Passage

Jan 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

Feb 2026

Introduced Jan 27, 2026 Signed Feb 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Engrossed in Senate → Enrolled Bill · 5 edits

MODERATE

This diff reflects the transition of S 3705 from its Engrossed in Senate version to the Enrolled Bill version. No substantive policy changes were made; the differences are entirely formatting and presentation. The enrolled version adds standard GPO metadata, the formal session preamble, the 'Be it enacted' language, and signature blocks for the Speaker of the House and Vice President, while reformatting section headers into the standard inline enrolled bill style.

TECHNICAL

Added GPO metadata header including bill number (119 S 3705 ENR), session information, public domain notice, and converter version info.

Added the standard enrolled bill preamble identifying the One Hundred Nineteenth Congress, second session, and date of commencement (January 3, 2026).

Added the 'Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives' clause, which is required in the enrolled form.

Reformatted all section headers from multi-line heading style (e.g., '1.Short Title') to inline enrolled bill style (e.g., 'SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.') with em-dash separators for subsections.

Added signature lines at the end for the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Vice President of the United States / President of the Senate, indicating the bill is ready for presidential presentation.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2026

Signed into law

Signed by President.

executive

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2046-2047)

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S298; text: CR S298)

upper

Jan 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.

upper

Jan 27, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors