An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Army to return to the Federal Republic of Germany ten paintings of the German Navy seized by the United States Army at the end of World War II.
Public Law 95-517 · H.R. 11945 · 95th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 25, 1978 · Arts, Culture, Religion
Sponsor: Rep. George Whitehurst (R-VA-2)
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 Secretary of the Army to transfer to the Federal Republic of Germany, without compensation, title to, and custody of, ten paintings by the artist Claus Bergen depicting the German Navy that were seized from the German Government by the United States Army after World War II.
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. 13 actions.
- Oct 25, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-517.
- Oct 24, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Oct 15, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Oct 13, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Armed Services Committee
- Oct 3, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Armed Services Committee
- Oct 2, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended.
- Sep 18, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Armed Services Committee
- Apr 6, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Armed Services Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
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.