A bill to provide that the Territory of American Samoa be represented by a non-voting Delegate to the United States House of Representatives, and for other purposes.
Public Law 95-556 · H.R. 13702 · 95th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 31, 1978 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Phillip Burton (D-CA-6)
Cosponsors (24): Rep. Lloyd Meeds, Rep. Morris Udall,
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 the Territory of American Samoa shall be represented in the United States Congress by a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives. Sets forth the procedures for the election of such delegate.
Limits the clerk hire allowance for the Delegate to a single per annum gross rate that is 50 percent of the clerk hire allowance of a Member of the House of Representatives.
Entitles the Delegate to the same privileges and immunities that are, or hereinafter may be, granted to the nonvoting Delegate from the Territory of Guam.
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 31, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-556.
- Oct 24, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Oct 13, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 4, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 3, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Aug 9, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Natural Resources Committee
- Aug 2, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources 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.