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American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994

Public Law 103-344 · H.R. 4230 · 103rd Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 6, 1994 · Native Americans

Sponsor: Rep. William Richardson (D-NM-3)

Cosponsors (2): Rep. Ed Pastor,

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.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to permit the traditional use of peyote for Indian religious purposes.

States that this Act shall not prohibit: (1) the Drug Enforcement Agency from reasonably regulating persons who cultivate, harvest, or distribute peyote; and (2) a Federal agency from reasonably limiting peyote use in circumstances of public safety.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 16 actions.

  1. Oct 6, 1994Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-344.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Sep 30, 1994PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Sep 28, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  5. Sep 27, 1994FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  6. Aug 9, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  7. Aug 8, 1994FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  9. FloorFloor · Mr. Richardson moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  10. Aug 5, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Natural Resources Committee
  11. Jul 27, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Natural Resources Committee
  12. Jul 22, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  14. Jun 10, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  15. Apr 14, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
  16. 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.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.