A bill to amend section 15 (d) of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 to increase the amount of debt which may be incurred by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Public Law 96-97 · S. 436 · 96th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 31, 1979 · Energy
Sponsor: Sen. Howard Baker (R-TN)
Cosponsors (2): Sen. Jennings Randolph, Sen. Thad Cochran
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 Tennessee Valley Authority Act to increase the amount of debt which may be incurred by the Tennessee Valley Authority from $15,000,000,000 to $30,000,000,000.
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. 12 actions.
- Oct 31, 1979Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-97.
- Oct 23, 1979PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Oct 22, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed House, in lieu of H. R. 2686.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Jun 20, 1979FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- May 15, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Feb 21, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Environment and Public Works 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.