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A bill to clarify the rules governing removal of cases to Federal court, and for other purposes.

Public Law 104-219 · S. 533 · 104th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 1, 1996 · Law

Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Cosponsors: None

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.

Amends the Federal judicial code to require that a motion to remand the case on the basis of any defect other than lack of subject matter jurisdiction (currently, any defect in removal procedure) be made within 30 days after the filing of the notice of removal.

Committees

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

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
  • Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported by
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. 18 actions.

  1. Oct 1, 1996Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-219.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Sep 20, 1996PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Sep 17, 1996FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  5. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
  6. FloorFloor · At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Moorhead objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.
  7. FloorFloor · Mr. Moorhead moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  8. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  9. Sep 11, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  10. Jul 23, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  12. Jul 28, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  13. Jul 11, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  14. Jun 30, 1995FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  15. Mar 16, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
  17. Mar 10, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
  18. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
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.