A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to update references in the classification of children for purposes of United States immigration laws.
Public Law 104-51 · S. 457 · 104th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Nov 15, 1995 · Immigration
Sponsor: Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL)
Cosponsors (17): Sen. Thad Cochran, Sen. Ted Kennedy,
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.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to redefine legitimate or illegitimate children as children born in or out of wedlock, respectively, for purposes of such Act.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee
Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Border Security and Immigration 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. 16 actions.
- Nov 15, 1995Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-51.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Nov 8, 1995PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 30, 1995FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Smith (TX) asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 28, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 18, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 17, 1995FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Jun 22, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Jun 8, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Border Security and Immigration Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Border Security and Immigration Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Feb 22, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- 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.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.