A bill to name the headquarters building in the Geological Survey National Center under construction in Reston, Va., as the "John Wesley Powell Federal Building."
Public Law 93-183 · S. 1618 · 93rd Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Richard Nixon (R) on Dec 15, 1973 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Sen. William Scott (R-VA)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Harry Byrd
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
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.
Designates the headquarters building in the Geological Survey National Center under construction in Reston, Virginia, as the "John Wesley Powell Federal Building".
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.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 9 actions.
- Dec 15, 1973Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 93-183.
- Dec 5, 1973PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 3, 1973FloorFloor · Measure passed House in lieu of H.R. 6862.
- Jun 28, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Jun 27, 1973FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Jun 25, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Apr 17, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- 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.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.