A bill to amend the Act incorporating the American Legion so as to redefine eligibility for membership therein.
Public Law 96-155 · S. 1874 · 96th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 21, 1979 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Sen. Birch Bayh (D-IN)
Cosponsors (25): Sen. Alan Cranston, Sen. Strom Thurmond,
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.
Amends the Act incorporating the American Legion to change the dates of military or naval service applicable to membership eligibility in such organization.
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. 11 actions.
- Dec 21, 1979Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-155.
- Dec 18, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 17, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed House, in lieu of H. R. 5583.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Dec 14, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Dec 5, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 11, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Referred to 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.