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District of Columbia Convention Center and Sports Arena Authorization Act of 1995

Public Law 104-28 · H.R. 2108 · 104th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Sep 6, 1995 · Government Operations and Politics

Sponsor: Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-DC)

Cosponsors (7): Rep. Tom Davis,

Passage votes

  • HouseUnanimous consent
  • 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.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Convention Center

Title II: Sports Arena

Title III: Waiver of Congressional Review

District of Columbia Convention Center and Sports Arena Authorization Act of 1995 - Title I: Convention Center - Allows revenues of the District of Columbia to be obligated or expended for operation and maintenance of the existing Washington Convention Center and pre-construction activities with respect to a new convention center in the District of Columbia without prior approval of the Congress.

Title II: Sports Arena - Authorizes the designated authority (the Redevelopment Land Agency or such other District of Columbia government agency or instrumentality designated by the Mayor of the District) to borrow funds through obligations which are secured by revenues pledged to finance, refinance, or reimburse the costs of specified arena preconstruction activities if it is granted such authority by the District government.

Provides that the borrowing of funds must be secured by such pledged revenues of the District which are attributable to the sports arena tax and which are transferred by the Mayor to the designated authority pursuant to the Omnibus Budget Support Act of 1994. Prohibits such debt from: (1) being considered a general obligation debt of the District; (2) constituting the lending of the public credit for private undertakings for purposes of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act; and (3) being a pledge of, or involve the full faith and credit of, the District.

Permits the District and the designated authority to pledge as security for any borrowing undertaken pursuant to this Act any District revenues which are attributable to the sports arena tax, upon the transfer of such revenues by the Mayor to such authority pursuant to the Omnibus Budget Support Act of 1994. Excludes such pledged revenues from the formula used to calculate the annual aggregate limit on the District's debt.

Allows the following activities to be carried out without the enactment of appropriations by the Congress: (1) borrowing conducted pursuant to this Act; (2) pledging of revenues as security for such borrowing; (3) payment of principal, interest, premium, debt servicing, contributions to reserves, or other costs associated with such borrowing; and (4) other obligations or expenditures made to carry out any arena preconstruction activity described in this Act.

Title III: Waiver of Congressional Review - Makes the Arena Tax Payment and Use Amendment Act of 1995 effective on this Act's enactment (thereby, waiving congressional review of such Act).

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. 19 actions.

  1. Sep 6, 1995Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-28.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Aug 28, 1995PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Aug 11, 1995FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Aug 10, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  6. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  7. Aug 9, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  8. Aug 7, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  9. Aug 4, 1995FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  10. FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
  11. FloorFloor · Mr. Davis asked unanimous consent to consider.
  12. FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
  13. Aug 2, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  14. Jul 27, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  15. Jul 26, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Reported by District of Columbia Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by District of Columbia Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  17. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to District of Columbia Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  18. Jul 25, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  19. 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.