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Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Act of 2020

Public Law 116-288 · H.R. 8354 · 116th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Jan 5, 2021 · Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Sponsor: Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16)

Cosponsors (7): Rep. Van Taylor,

Passage votesYeaNay

  • HouseRecorded vote: 400 yea, 1 nay400–1
  • 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.

Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Act of 2020

This bill establishes the Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The initiative shall

• serve as legal and policy advisor on DOJ's efforts to enforce criminal and civil laws that impact service members, veterans, and their families;

• develop policy recommendations for improved enforcement of federal law to support service members, veterans, and their families;

• serve as the liaison and point of contact between DOJ and the military departments;

• provide counsel for the Office of Justice Programs to ensure that funding decisions take into account service members, veterans, and their families;

• serve as a liaison and point of contact with the Consumer Protection Branch of DOJ's Civil Division with respect to the prosecution of federal crimes involving fraud that target service members; and

• serve as a liaison and point of contact with other DOJ components as needed to support the enforcement of other federal laws that protect service members and veterans.

Who voted for it

Every House member of the 116th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 400 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.

400 yea1 nay28 present or did not vote

ProEstablishmentAnti
Economic left–right
More liberalMore conservative

Democrats who voted yea(229)

Republicans who voted yea(171)

Data notes

The House’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 938 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.

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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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Related bills

2 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • S. 4915Identical bill

    Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Act of 2020.

  • S. 5010Related bill

    Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Act of 2020.

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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 19 actions.

  1. Jan 5, 2021Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 116-288.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 24, 2020FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Dec 16, 2020FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. Dec 15, 2020FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Dec 9, 2020CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
  7. Dec 8, 2020FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 400 - 1 (Roll no. 239).House roll call 239
  9. FloorFloor · Considered as unfinished business.
  10. FloorFloor · At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  11. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 8354.
  12. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  13. FloorFloor · Ms. Escobar moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  14. Dec 7, 2020CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 507.
  15. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 116-618.
  16. Sep 29, 2020CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
  17. CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  18. Sep 23, 2020CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  19. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
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.

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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.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.