bills: 1 STAT. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 130 (16 July 1790) and 1 STAT. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 129 (16 July 1790). The Residence Bill, establishing a new federal district on the banks of the Potomac River for the permanent capital, had been under debate in Congress since 31 May, but the struggle over the location for the capital long preceded the bill’s advent in Congress. GW’s close personal involvement in the matter will be fully treated in the correspondence volumes. Under the terms of the Residence Act the president was authorized to appoint three commissioners who would “under the direction of the President” oversee the surveying and construction of the new city, a provision which guaranteed GW’s continued close involvement with the Federal City for the rest of his administration. The act also provided that the capital would move from New York to Philadelphia by Dec. 1790 and remain there until Dec. 1800 when the new Federal City would presumably be finished.