Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2018
Public Law 115-237 · S. 717 · 115th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Sep 4, 2018 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Cosponsors (11): Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen,
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.
Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2018 or the POWER Act
(Sec. 3) This bill requires the chief judge for each judicial district to conduct public events to promote pro bono legal services for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Additionally, the chief judge for a judicial district that contains an Indian tribe or tribal organization must conduct, at least once during each two-year period, a public event to promote pro bono legal services for Indian or Alaska Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
A chief judge must, in conducting public events, seek to maximize the local impact and the provision of high-quality pro bono legal services to survivors.
(Sec. 4) Chief judges must report to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on the public events they conduct. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts must compile and summarize the reports and submit them to Congress.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · referred toSubcommittee: Crime and Federal Government Surveillance 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.
Related bills
1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.
H.R. 1762Related bill
POWER Act
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 20 actions.
- Sep 4, 2018Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 115-237.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Aug 23, 2018FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Aug 16, 2018FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Aug 15, 2018Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to the House amendment to the Senate bill by Unanimous Consent.
- OtherOther · Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate agreed to the House amendment to the Senate bill by Unanimous Consent.
- Jul 18, 2018FloorFloor · Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill.
- Jul 17, 2018FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 717.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Goodlatte moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Aug 23, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
- Aug 4, 2017FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- Aug 2, 2017FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Aug 1, 2017FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
- Mar 23, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.