Emergency Aid for Returning Americans Affected by Coronavirus Act
Public Law 116-148 · S. 4091 · 116th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Jul 13, 2020 · Social Welfare
Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Ron Wyden
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateVoice vote
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.
Emergency Aid for Returning Americans Affected by Coronavirus Act
This bill increases the maximum amount of funding available in FY2020 for, and revises certain requirements pertaining to, temporary assistance for U.S. citizens and their dependents who are returning from foreign countries due to a crisis and are without available resources. Under current law, the Department of Health and Human Services may provide assistance such as money payments and medical care to these individuals on a temporary basis.
In providing temporary assistance during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency declared on January 31, 2020, only certain members of the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service shall have direct, in-person contact with those receiving assistance. Specifically, they must be uniformed, active-duty members of the Regular Reserve Corps or the Ready Reserve Corps. In addition, they must have received training on infection prevention and control and have access to personal protective equipment.
Committees
The record shows no committee referral for this bill.
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
The record lists no related bills.
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. 11 actions.
- Jul 13, 2020Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 116-148.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jul 1, 2020FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Jun 29, 2020FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Gomez asked unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- FloorFloor · Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote.
- 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.