Laws fell 70% and pages rose 95% from the 80th to the 118th
Source. Brookings Vital Statistics, Table 6-4; 80th Congress = 100
Method and data
Method. Index = the Congress’s value divided by the 80th Congress’s value (906 laws, 2,236 pages) times 100. Pages are pages of public law in the Statutes at Large.
| Congress | Years | Public laws | Pages | Average pages per law (as printed) | Laws (80th = 100) | Pages (80th = 100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1947-1948 | 906 | 2,236 | 2.5 | 100 | 100 |
| 81 | 1949-1950 | 921 | 2,314 | 2.5 | 101.66 | 103.49 |
| 82 | 1951-1952 | 594 | 1,585 | 2.7 | 65.56 | 70.89 |
| 83 | 1953-1954 | 781 | 1,899 | 2.4 | 86.2 | 84.93 |
| 84 | 1955-1956 | 1,028 | 1,848 | 1.8 | 113.47 | 82.65 |
| 85 | 1957-1958 | 936 | 2,435 | 2.6 | 103.31 | 108.9 |
| 86 | 1959-1960 | 800 | 1,774 | 2.2 | 88.3 | 79.34 |
| 87 | 1961-1962 | 885 | 2,078 | 2.3 | 97.68 | 92.93 |
| 88 | 1963-1964 | 666 | 1,975 | 3 | 73.51 | 88.33 |
| 89 | 1965-1966 | 810 | 2,912 | 3.6 | 89.4 | 130.23 |
| 90 | 1967-1968 | 640 | 2,304 | 3.6 | 70.64 | 103.04 |
| 91 | 1969-1971 | 695 | 2,927 | 4.2 | 76.71 | 130.9 |
| 92 | 1971-1972 | 607 | 2,330 | 3.8 | 67 | 104.2 |
| 93 | 1973-1974 | 649 | 3,443 | 5.3 | 71.63 | 153.98 |
| 94 | 1975-1976 | 588 | 4,121 | 7 | 64.9 | 184.3 |
| 95 | 1977-1978 | 634 | 5,403 | 8.5 | 69.98 | 241.64 |
| 96 | 1979-1980 | 613 | 4,947 | 8.1 | 67.66 | 221.24 |
| 97 | 1981-1982 | 473 | 4,343 | 9.2 | 52.21 | 194.23 |
| 98 | 1983-1984 | 623 | 4,893 | 7.9 | 68.76 | 218.83 |
| 99 | 1985-1986 | 664 | 7,198 | 10.8 | 73.29 | 321.91 |
| 100 | 1987-1988 | 713 | 4,839 | 6.8 | 78.7 | 216.41 |
| 101 | 1989-1990 | 650 | 5,767 | 8.9 | 71.74 | 257.92 |
| 102 | 1991-1992 | 590 | 7,544 | 12.8 | 65.12 | 337.39 |
| 103 | 1993-1994 | 465 | 7,553 | 16.2 | 51.32 | 337.79 |
| 104 | 1995-1996 | 333 | 6,369 | 19.1 | 36.75 | 284.84 |
| 105 | 1997-1998 | 394 | 7,269 | 18.4 | 43.49 | 325.09 |
| 106 | 1999-2000 | 580 | 5,045 | 8.7 | 64.02 | 225.63 |
| 107 | 2001-2002 | 377 | 5,584 | 14.8 | 41.61 | 249.73 |
| 108 | 2003-2004 | 498 | 6,923 | 13.9 | 54.97 | 309.62 |
| 109 | 2005-2006 | 482 | 7,323 | 15.2 | 53.2 | 327.5 |
| 110 | 2007-2008 | 460 | 7,689 | 16.72 | 50.77 | 343.87 |
| 111 | 2009-2010 | 383 | 7,617 | 19.89 | 42.27 | 340.65 |
| 112 | 2011-2012 | 283 | 4,415 | 15.6 | 31.24 | 197.45 |
| 113 | 2013-2014 | 296 | 5,289 | 17.87 | 32.67 | 236.54 |
| 114 | 2015-2016 | 329 | 6,170 | 18.75 | 36.31 | 275.94 |
| 115 | 2017-2018 | 442 | 7,872 | 17.81 | 48.79 | 352.06 |
| 116 | 2019-2020 | 344 | 8,432 | 24.51 | 37.97 | 377.1 |
| 117 | 2021-2022 | 362 | 8,742 | 24.15 | 39.96 | 390.97 |
| 118 | 2023-2024 | 274 | 4,350 | 15.88 | 30.24 | 194.54 |
