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Religious Workers Act of 1997

Public Law 105-54 · S. 1198 · 105th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 6, 1997 · Immigration

Sponsor: Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI)

Cosponsors (7): Sen. Ted Kennedy,

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 Immigration and Nationality Act to extend the special migrant religious worker program through October 1, 2000.

Directs the Secretary of State to waive or reduce the nonimmgrant visa fee for an alien coming to the United States to do charitable work.

Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend the deadline by six months for certain paperwork revisions in the employer sanctions program.

Committees

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

  • Judiciary Committee · House · referred toSubcommittee: Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement 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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.

  1. Oct 6, 1997Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-54.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 2, 1997PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 1, 1997Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendments by Unanimous Consent.
  5. FloorFloor · The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
  6. FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  7. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  8. Sep 29, 1997FloorFloor · At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Traficant objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.
  9. FloorFloor · Mr. Smith (TX) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  10. Sep 24, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. Sep 22, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  12. Sep 18, 1997FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  13. FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
  14. 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.

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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.