Research Guide: Foreign and International Law

The U.S. Constitution grants the president the power to enter into treaties, but the treaty must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate in order to become effective and enforceable. U.S. Const. art. II § 2.

This page includes information on how to find the text of a U.S. treaty, how to determine its current status, and how to find U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Reports concerning it.

The official source for treaties to which the United States is a party is United States Treaties and Other International Acts (UST), published by the State Department since 1950. U.S. treaties are initially published in slip form in Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS). No longer published in print, both are available in HeinOnline's U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library. In addition, TIAS is now published online by the State Department on the website of the Office of Treaty Affairs.

Prior to 1950, international agreements of the United States were published in the United States Statutes at Large, which can be found on HeinOnline.

Another helpful treaty collection for pre-1950 U.S. treaties is the State Department's Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949 (Bevans), which is also available in HeinOnline's U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library.

When the president sends a treaty to the Senate for ratification, the treaty is printed as a Treaty Document. Prior to the 97th Congress (1981-82), a treaty sent to the Senate would be printed as a Senate Executive Document. Both can be found on ProQuest Congressional. Treaty Documents are also available on GPO FDSys going back to the 104th Congress (1995-96), and Congress.gov going back to the 94th Congress (1975-76).

Treaties are referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. That Committee issues recommendation to the rest of the Senate, in the form of a Senate Executive Report. These can be found both on ProQuest Congressional as well as on GPO FDsys.

Treaties in Force, a State Department publication, is an index of U.S. treaties containing information on when particular treaties came into force, who the parties to the agreement are, and whether a party state entered a reservation or declaration. Treaties in Force can be found in Westlaw, Lexis Advance, and HeinOnline, as well as on the website of the State Department's Office of Treaty Affairs.

Another helpful treaty index is the commercially-published Kavass's Guide to the United States Treaties in Force, available in HeinOnline's U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library.