Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act of 1998
Public Law 105-183 · S. 1244 · 105th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Jun 19, 1998 · Finance and Financial Sector
Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Cosponsors (5): Sen. Jeff Sessions, Sen. Rod Grams,
Passage votesYeaNay
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateRecorded vote: 100 yea, 0 nay100–0
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.
Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act of 1998 - Amends Federal bankruptcy law with respect to avoidance by the trustee in bankruptcy of fraudulent transfers and obligations to cite circumstances under which a transfer of a charitable contribution to a qualified religious or charitable unit shall not be considered fraudulent. Prohibits the trustee from avoiding such charitable contributions when acting as lien creditor and successor to certain creditors and purchasers.
States that a claim by any person to recover a transferred charitable contribution shall be preempted by the commencement of the case in bankruptcy.
Redefines "disposable income," for purposes of bankruptcy plan confirmation, to include charitable contributions which do not exceed 15 percent of the debtor's gross income for the year in which the contributions are made.
Prohibits the bankruptcy court, when it determines whether to dismiss a case, from taking into consideration whether a debtor makes charitable contributions to any qualified religious or charitable entity.
Who voted for it
Every senator of the 105th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 99 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.
99 yea1 nay
Democrats who voted yea(44)
- Sen. Paul WellstoneD-MN
Sen. Ted KennedyD-MA- Sen. Paul SarbanesD-MD
Sen. Tom HarkinD-IA
Sen. Jack ReedD-RI- Sen. Dale BumpersD-AR
Sen. Richard DurbinD-IL
Sen. Daniel AkakaD-HI
Sen. Russell FeingoldD-WI
Sen. Frank LautenbergD-NJ
Sen. Carl LevinD-MI
Sen. Barbara BoxerD-CA
Sen. John KerryD-MA- Sen. John GlennD-OH
Sen. Barbara MikulskiD-MD
Sen. Byron DorganD-ND
Sen. Patty MurrayD-WA- Sen. Tom DaschleD-SD
Sen. Kent ConradD-ND
Sen. Daniel InouyeD-HI
Sen. Tim JohnsonD-SD
Sen. Patrick LeahyD-VT
Sen. Jay RockefellerD-WV- Sen. Carol Moseley BraunD-IL
Sen. Christopher DoddD-CT
Sen. Ron WydenD-OR
Sen. Jeff BingamanD-NM- Sen. Robert TorricelliD-NJ
- Sen. Fritz HollingsD-SC
Sen. Robert ByrdD-WV- Sen. Wendell FordD-KY
- Sen. Maxwell ClelandD-GA
Sen. Dianne FeinsteinD-CA
Sen. Harry ReidD-NV
Sen. Joseph BidenD-DE- Sen. Robert KerreyD-NE
- Sen. Richard BryanD-NV
- Sen. Daniel MoynihanD-NY
Sen. Mary LandrieuD-LA
Sen. Max BaucusD-MT- Sen. Bob GrahamD-FL
- Sen. Charles RobbD-VA
Sen. Joseph LiebermanD-CT- Sen. John BreauxD-LA
Republicans who voted yea(55)
Sen. Arlen SpecterR-PA- Sen. Jim JeffordsR-VT
- Sen. John ChafeeR-RI
Sen. Olympia SnoweR-ME- Sen. Alfonse D’AmatoR-NY
Sen. Susan CollinsR-ME
Sen. Ted StevensR-AK- Sen. William RothR-DE
Sen. Gordon SmithR-OR
Sen. Pete DomeniciR-NM- Sen. Ben CampbellR-CO
Sen. Thad CochranR-MS
Sen. Robert BennettR-UT- Sen. Slade GortonR-WA
Sen. Richard LugarR-IN- Sen. Mike DeWineR-OH
Sen. Kit BondR-MO
Sen. Orrin HatchR-UT
Sen. John WarnerR-VA- Sen. Bill FristR-TN
- Sen. Frank MurkowskiR-AK
Sen. Chuck GrassleyR-IA- Sen. Rick SantorumR-PA
Sen. Chuck HagelR-NE
Sen. Pat RobertsR-KS- Sen. Spencer AbrahamR-MI
- Sen. Connie MackR-FL
Sen. John McCainR-AZ- Sen. Conrad BurnsR-MT
Sen. Kay HutchisonR-TX- Sen. Paul CoverdellR-GA
- Sen. Strom ThurmondR-SC
Sen. Trent LottR-MS
Sen. Judd GreggR-NH
Sen. Richard ShelbyR-AL- Sen. Dirk KempthorneR-ID
- Sen. Fred ThompsonR-TN
Sen. Daniel CoatsR-IN
Sen. Mitch McConnellR-KY- Sen. Craig ThomasR-WY
Sen. Larry CraigR-ID
Sen. Michael EnziR-WY- Sen. Rod GramsR-MN
Sen. Sam BrownbackR-KS- Sen. Tim HutchinsonR-AR
Sen. Wayne AllardR-CO- Sen. Don NicklesR-OK
Sen. Jon KylR-AZ
Sen. Jeff SessionsR-AL- Sen. Phil GrammR-TX
- Sen. Lauch FairclothR-NC
Sen. Jim InhofeR-OK- Sen. Jesse HelmsR-NC
- Sen. John AshcroftR-MO
- Sen. Bob SmithR-NH
Data notes
The Senate’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 430 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.
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.
- Jun 19, 1998Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-183.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jun 10, 1998PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Jun 3, 1998FloorFloor · A similar measure H.R. 2604 was laid on the table without objection.
- FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Gekas asked unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- May 13, 1998FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 100-0. Record Vote No: 132.Senate roll call 132
- FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
- Feb 26, 1998CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 1, 1997CommitteeCommittee · 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.