A bill to amend the National Portrait Gallery Act to redefine "portraiture."
Public Law 94-209 · S. 1657 · 94th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Gerald Ford (R) on Feb 5, 1976 · Arts, Culture, Religion
Sponsor: Sen. Hugh Scott (R-PA)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Frank Moss
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.
States that for purposes of the National Portrait Gallery Act the term "portraiture" includes portraits and reproductions thereof made by any means or process, whether invented or developed heretofore or hereafter.
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. 12 actions.
- Feb 5, 1976Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 94-209.
- Jan 26, 1976PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Jan 19, 1976FloorFloor · Measure passed House in lieu of H.R. 6397.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Jul 28, 1975CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Committee on House Administration
- Jul 25, 1975FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Jul 23, 1975CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
- May 6, 1975CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Rules and Administration 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.