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21st Century President Act

Public Law 117-272 · H.R. 3285 · 117th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Joe Biden (D) on Dec 27, 2022 · Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor: Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI-2)

Cosponsors (52): Rep. Ted Deutch,

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.

21st Century President Act

This act revises the definition of immediate family for purposes of a criminal offense involving a threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on a former President or a member of the immediate family of a former President.

Specifically, it replaces gender-specific references to a former President's wife and widow with the gender-neutral terms spouse and surviving spouse.

Committees

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

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Crime and Federal Government Surveillance 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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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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 20 actions.

  1. Dec 27, 2022Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 117-272.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 23, 2022FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Dec 21, 2022FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. Dec 20, 2022FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. CommitteeCommittee · Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  7. Jun 22, 2022CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  8. Jun 21, 2022FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  9. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
  10. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3285.
  11. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  12. FloorFloor · Mr. Cicilline moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  13. CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 291.
  14. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 117-380.
  15. Jun 15, 2022CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  17. CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Discharged.
  18. Nov 9, 2021CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
  19. May 17, 2021CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  20. 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.