The US electronic signature act, also called The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act or the E-Sign Act, is a federal law relating to the use of electronic signatures and records. It was passed and enacted by the United States Congress on June 30, 2000, and guarantees the legal validity of contracts signed with electronic signatures. The E-Sign electronic signature act clearly states that a signature or contract "may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form." Once passed, the E-Sign Act officially made electronic signatures equally as valid as physical signatures on paper documents. Separate US states have their own individual laws regarding electronic signatures, however the federal electronic signature act provides uniform guidelines for interstate or foreign e-commerce. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, or UETA, is another important federal electronic signature act. The goal of the UETA is to create a uniform set of guidelines relating to electronic signatures instead of individual state laws. As of 2009, 46 US states have adopted the UETA Act.