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War Crimes Act of 1996

Public Law 104-192 · H.R. 3680 · 104th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Aug 21, 1996 · Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor: Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC-3)

Cosponsors (18): Rep. Martin Hoke,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • 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.

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Summary

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

War Crimes Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that anyone, whether inside or outside the United States, who commits a grave breach of the Geneva conventions, where the person who commits such breach or the victim of such breach is a member of the U.S. armed forces or a U.S. national, shall be fined or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, or, if death results to the victim, be subject to the death penalty.

Committees

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

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement 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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.

  1. Aug 21, 1996Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-192.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Aug 9, 1996PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Aug 2, 1996FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Jul 29, 1996FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  6. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
  7. FloorFloor · Mr. Smith (TX) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  8. Jul 24, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  9. Jul 16, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  10. Jun 27, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  12. Jun 24, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  13. Jun 19, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  14. 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.