Federal Employee Representation Improvement Act of 1996
Public Law 104-177 · H.R. 782 · 104th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Aug 6, 1996 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10)
Cosponsors (28): Rep. Tom Davis, Rep. Constance Morella,
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateUnanimous consent
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.
Federal Employee Representation Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal criminal code to permit a Government officer or employee, without compensation, to represent before the Government any cooperative, voluntary, professional, recreational, or similar organization or group not operated for profit, if a majority of the organization's or group's members are current officers or employees of the United States or the District of Columbia, except regarding a covered matter that: (1) is a claim against the Government; (2) is a judicial or administrative proceeding where the organization or group is a party; or (3) involves a grant, contract, or other agreement providing for the disbursement of Federal funds to the organization or group.
Provides that nothing in this Act prevents an employee from acting pursuant to specified provisions with respect to: (1) Federal labor-management relations; (2) employment with, or employee-management agreements in, the U.S. Postal Service; (3) labor-management provisions under the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 and the Foreign Service Act of 1980; or (4) any provision of any other Federal or District of Columbia law that authorizes labor-management relations between an agency or instrumentality of the United States or the District and any labor organization that represents its employees.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Constitution and Limited Government 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. 20 actions.
- Aug 6, 1996Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-177.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Aug 2, 1996PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Aug 1, 1996Resolving differencesResolving differences · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Resolving differencesResolving differences · On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection.
- Resolving differencesResolving differences · Mr. Canady asked unanimous consent that the House agree to the Senate amendment.
- Jul 25, 1996FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Mar 5, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Feb 29, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 25, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 24, 1995FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · The previous question was ordered on the amendment and the bill without objection.
- Aug 4, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 12, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
- Jun 21, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Mar 15, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Feb 1, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary 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.