A bill to permit civil suits under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983) against any person acting under color of any law or custom of the District of Columbia who subjects any person within the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia to the deprivation of any right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution and laws.
Public Law 96-170 · H.R. 3343 · 96th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 29, 1979 · Law
Sponsor: Rep. Stewart McKinney (R-CT-4)
Cosponsors (6): Rep. Don Edwards, Rep. Ronald Dellums,
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.
Permits civil suits under the Civil Rights Act by an individual against any person acting under color of any law or custom of the District of Columbia who subjects any person within the jurisdiction of the District to the deprivation of any right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution and laws.
Deems, for purposes of this Act, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
Extends the original jurisdiction of Federal district courts to encompass such actions.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
District of Columbia Committee · House · referred to, reported by
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.
- Dec 29, 1979Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-170.
- Dec 20, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 19, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 18, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- Nov 27, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Oct 24, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House District of Columbia Committee
- Mar 29, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House District of Columbia 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.