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War Crimes Disclosure Act

Public Law 104-309 · H.R. 1281 · 104th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 19, 1996 · Government Operations and Politics

Sponsor: Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-14)

Cosponsors (29): Rep. Jim Saxton,

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.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. Government agencies in possession of records about individuals who are alleged to have committed Nazi war crimes should make these records public.

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. 21 actions.

  1. Oct 19, 1996Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-309.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 10, 1996PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 3, 1996FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Sep 24, 1996FloorFloor · The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
  6. FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  7. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  8. FloorFloor · Mr. Horn moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  9. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Intelligence (Permanent Select) Committee
  10. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Judiciary Committee
  12. Jul 25, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  13. Jul 16, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  14. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  15. Jun 14, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  16. Apr 24, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  17. Mar 23, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  18. Mar 21, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Intelligence (Permanent Select) Committee
  19. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  20. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  21. 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.