An original bill to permit certain funds allocated for official expenses of Senators to be utilized to procure additional office equipment.
Public Law 97-19 · S. 1123 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jul 6, 1981 · Congress
Sponsor: Sen. Charles Mathias (R-MD)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
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 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1973, to include additional office equipment expenses among the official expenses of a Senator to be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate.
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.
- Jul 6, 1981Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-19.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jun 25, 1981PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Jun 24, 1981FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Committee on House Administration
- Jun 17, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Committee on House Administration
- May 18, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Committee on House Administration
- May 14, 1981FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- May 6, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Reported original measure by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
- Apr 30, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
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.