Drug and Household Substance Mailing Act of 1990
Public Law 101-493 · H.R. 5209 · 101st Congress · began in the House
Signed by George H. W. Bush (R) on Oct 31, 1990 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Francis McCloskey (D-IN-8)
Cosponsors (3): Rep. William Ford, Rep. Charles Hayes,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Drug and Household Substance Mailing Act of 1990 - Makes nonmailable any unsolicited sample of a drug or other hazardous household substance which does not comply with the child-resistant packaging requirements established for such substance by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Makes nonmailable any fragrance advertising sample which is not prepared in a manner reasonably designed to prevent individuals from being unknowingly or involuntarily exposed to the sample.
Requires the U.S. Postal Service to provide for disposal of such samples.
Directs the U.S. Postal Service to establish the standards or requirements a fragrance advertising sample must satisfy in order for it to be considered mailable.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Post Office and Civil Service Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Postal Operations and Services Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 15 actions.
- Oct 31, 1990Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 101-493.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 24, 1990PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 16, 1990FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Oct 1, 1990FloorFloor · The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. McCloskey moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Sep 26, 1990CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Sep 25, 1990CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Postal Operations and Services Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Jul 26, 1990CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Postal Operations and Services Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Jul 2, 1990CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Postal Operations and Services Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Jun 28, 1990CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.