An act to amend the Tariff Schedules of the United States to increase the quantity of cigarettes that may be accorded duty-free treatment if acquired in the insular possessions and entered by returning United States residents.
Public Law 96-578 · H.R. 7709 · 96th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 23, 1980 · Foreign Trade and International Finance
Sponsor: Rep. James Jones (D-OK-1)
Cosponsors (2): Rep. Melvin Evans, Rep. William Frenzel
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 Tariff Schedules of the United States to increase the quantity of cigarettes which may be entered duty-free by U.S. residents, for their personal use, returning from specified insular possessions after 30 days from enactment of this Act.
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.
- Dec 23, 1980Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-578.
- Dec 17, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- Dec 16, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 15, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Finance Committee
- Nov 19, 1980CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Finance Committee
- Nov 17, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up under motion to suspend rules and pass in House.
- Sep 22, 1980CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Ways and Means Committee
- Jul 1, 1980CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Ways and Means 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.