The capsule stays sealed until July 4, 2276, then goes to the 244th Congress
To provide for the creation of a congressional time capsule in commemoration of the semiquincentennial of the United States, and for other purposes, section 2, Sec. 2.
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The capsule stays sealed until July 4, 2276, then goes to the 244th Congress
The document says “shall”Who acts: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Majority Leader of the SenateHow: statuteSec. 2 in the PDF
What the document says
“The Time Capsule shall be sealed until July 4th, 2276, on which date the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall present the Time Capsule to the 244th Congress”
Section 2(d) keeps the Time Capsule sealed until July 4, 2276. On that date the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate are to present it to the 244th Congress, and the section leaves it to that Congress to determine how the contents should be preserved or used.
What the document actually says
“The Time Capsule shall be sealed until July 4th, 2276, on which date the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall present the Time Capsule to the 244th Congress”
That sentence, in plain words
The box stays shut until July 4, 2276. On that day two leaders hand it to the Congress sitting then. That Congress decides what to do with what is inside.
What this is about
That date is 250 years after 2026. The law calls that body the 244th Congress. A new Congress starts every two years.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act, Public Law 119-79, sec. 2, 140 Stat. 748 (2026). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ79/html/PLAW-119publ79.htm
This page
“The capsule stays sealed until July 4, 2276, then goes to the 244th Congress,” Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act, section 2, Sec. 2. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/semiquincentennial-congressional-time-capsule-act/proposal/sec02-unsealing/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).
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