If we’re being pedantic, which is no fun, the actual closing lines are the words "Approved, May 20, 1862." But that’s not what you’re looking for.

Maybe something more like this:

And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the government, as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting preemption rights. (Section 8)

Now that’s more like it.

Not that Section 8 actually sounds like an ending; it reads like there’s more coming. But, no, the final section of the Homestead Act, in true bureaucratic style, deals specifically with shortcuts to getting the title to the land without following the rules and regs laid out in the rest of the document.

Let’s just invalidate everything already written into law, provided the homesteader had enough money. Way to go, Congress.