Congress buries a time capsule for 2276—a 250-year message to the future
S. 3705 — Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act · Filed by Thom Tillis (R-NC) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 27, 2026 · Signed
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill directs the Architect of the Capitol to create and bury a time capsule in the Capitol Visitor Center by July 4, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence. Congressional leadership (Speaker, Minority Leader of the House, and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders) will jointly decide what goes inside—a joint letter and other items made of durable materials—and the capsule will remain sealed until July 4, 2276, when Congress 250 years from now will decide what to do with it.
Why we flagged it
This is a straightforward commemorative measure creating a time capsule to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. It involves no regulatory change, no financial appropriation, and no substantive policy mechanism—only a symbolic artifact.
Who it affects
This is a commemorative measure with no direct cost to citizens or restriction of public rights. It creates a symbolic artifact for future generations and involves no financial outlay, regulatory change, or public burden. The bill is straightforward civic commemoration.
Named in the bill
Architect of the Capitol, Office of the Speaker of the House, Office of the Minority Leader of the House, Office of the Majority Leader of the Senate, Office of the Minority Leader of the Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, Committee on House Administration of the House, Smithsonian Institution, Capitol Visitor Center, US Semiquincentennial Commission
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Jan 27, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jan 27, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed…”
- Feb 9, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2046-2047)”
- Feb 9, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mrs. Bice moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Feb 12, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Feb 18, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-79”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,854 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress buries a time capsule for 2276—a 250-year message to the future” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3705 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.