A bill to amend section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 in order to include Hawaii in the same category as other States for the purposes of such section.
Public Law 96-590 · S. 3261 · 96th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 24, 1980 · Science, Technology, Communications
Sponsor: Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
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.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to include Hawaii as a part of the continental United States for the purposes of provisions concerning the consolidation and merger of telegraph carriers.
Directs the Federal Communications Commission to determine and prescribe what charge, classification, regulation, or practice relating to intercarrier arrangement of any carrier serving Hawaii will be just and nondiscriminatory.
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 24, 1980Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-590.
- Dec 16, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 15, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 12, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Energy and Commerce Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
- Dec 11, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- Dec 10, 1980IntroducedIntroduced · 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.