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To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

Public Law 105-198 · H.R. 2877 · 105th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Jul 16, 1998 · Labor and Employment

Sponsor: Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NC-10)

Cosponsors (23): Rep. Ralph Hall,

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.

Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to prohibit the Secretary of Labor from using the results of enforcement activities, such as the number of citations issued or penalties assessed, to: (1) evaluate employees directly involved in OSHA enforcement activities; or (2) impose quotas or goals with regard to the results of such activities.

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. 14 actions.

  1. Jul 16, 1998Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-198.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Jul 8, 1998PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Jun 24, 1998FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Mar 17, 1998FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  6. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  7. FloorFloor · Mr. Ballenger moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  8. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Education and Workforce Committee
  9. Mar 11, 1998CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Education and Workforce Committee
  10. Feb 4, 1998CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee
  12. Nov 25, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee
  13. Nov 7, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Education and Workforce Committee
  14. 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.