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A bill to recognize the organization known as American Ex-Prisoners of War.

Public Law 97-234 · H.R. 5380 · 97th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Aug 10, 1982 · Government Operations and Politics

Sponsor: Rep. Carlos Moorhead (R-CA-22)

Cosponsors (48): Rep. Cleveland Benedict,

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.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Grants a Federal charter to the organization known as American Ex-Prisoners of War.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee
  • Judiciary Committee · Senate · discharged from, referred to
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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.

  1. Aug 10, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-234.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Jul 30, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Jul 28, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Judiciary Committee
  6. Jul 22, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
  7. Jul 20, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  8. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  9. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  10. Jun 23, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  12. Feb 2, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  13. Jan 27, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  14. 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.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.