A bill to extend the time for conducting the referendum with respect to the national marketing quota for wheat for the marketing year beginning June 1, 1982, and to eliminate the requirement that the Secretary of Agriculture waive interest on loans made on 1980 and 1981 crops of wheat and feed grains placed in the farmer-held grain reserve.
Public Law 97-24 · S. 1395 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jul 23, 1981 · Agriculture and Food
Sponsor: Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC)
Cosponsors (5): Sen. Dee Huddleston, Sen. Robert Dole,
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 Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to extend the deadline for conducting a referendum on wheat marketing quotas to October 15, 1981, or 30 days after Congress adjourns, whichever is sooner.
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to eliminate the mandatory interest waiver on loans for 1980 and 1981 wheat and feed grain crops in the farmer-held grain reserve.
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. 9 actions.
- Jul 23, 1981Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-24.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jul 13, 1981PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Jul 9, 1981FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
- Jun 25, 1981FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- Jun 19, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 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.