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To amend title 28, United States Code, with respect to the enforcement of child custody and visitation orders.

Public Law 105-374 · H.R. 4164 · 105th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Nov 12, 1998 · Law

Sponsor: Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC-6)

Cosponsors (1): Rep. Rob Andrews

Passage votes

  • HouseUnanimous consent
  • 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 Federal judicial code to modify full faith and credit guidelines governing court determinations of: (1) child custody and visitation; and (2) modification of sister State court determinations.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · referred toSubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
  • Judiciary Committee · Senate · discharged from, referred to
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. 17 actions.

  1. Nov 12, 1998Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-374.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Nov 2, 1998PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 21, 1998Resolving differencesResolving differences · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  5. Resolving differencesResolving differences · On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection.
  6. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Mr. Solomon asked unanimous consent that the House agree to the Senate amendment.
  7. FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  8. FloorFloor · Amendment SP 3837 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
  9. FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
  10. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Judiciary Committee
  11. Jul 15, 1998CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
  12. Jul 14, 1998FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  13. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
  14. FloorFloor · Mr. Coble moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  15. Jul 7, 1998CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  16. Jun 25, 1998CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  17. 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.