An original bill to establish within the Department of Justice the position of Associate Attorney General.
Public Law 95-139 · S. 2089 · 95th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 19, 1977 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Sen. James Eastland (D-MS)
Cosponsors: None
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.
Authorizes the President to appoint an Associate Attorney General, who is to perform the duties of the Attorney General when neither the Attorney General nor the Deputy Attorney General is available.
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.
- Oct 19, 1977Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-139.
- PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Oct 18, 1977FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up under motion to suspend rules and pass in House.
- Sep 21, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- Sep 20, 1977FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- Sep 14, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary 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.