Veterans' Cemetery Protection Act of 1997
Public Law 105-101 · S. 813 · 105th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Nov 19, 1997 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
Cosponsors (5): Sen. John McCain, Sen. Daniel Inouye,
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.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Veterans' Cemetery Protection Act of 1997 - Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide a sentencing enhancement of not less than two levels for any offense against the property of a national cemetery.
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.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.
- Nov 19, 1997Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-101.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Nov 10, 1997PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Nov 8, 1997FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. McCollum moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Nov 4, 1997FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Oct 23, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 9, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
- Jul 25, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
- May 23, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Veterans' Affairs 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.