Congress buries a time capsule to open in 2276.
S. 3705 — Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act · Filed by Thom Tillis (R-NC) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 27, 2026 · Signed
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill tells the Architect of the Capitol to make a time capsule. It will be buried in the Capitol Visitor Center by July 4, 2026. The capsule marks 250 years since America became independent. The Speaker and leaders of both parties in Congress will decide what goes inside. Items will be a joint letter and other things that last a long time. The capsule stays sealed until July 4, 2276. Congress 250 years from now will open it.
Who it affects
This bill does not cost money or change any rules for citizens. It creates a symbol for people in the future to see.
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.
Words to know
- Architect of the Capitol — The person in charge of the Capitol building and its grounds.
- time capsule — A sealed container filled with items from today to show future people how we lived.
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 14,206 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 2026-09-17.
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