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A bill to authorize the use of the frank for official mail sent by the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives.

Public Law 97-263 · H.R. 1710 · 97th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Sep 24, 1982 · Congress

Sponsor: Rep. William Ford (D-MI-15)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseUnanimous consent
  • 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.

Authorizes the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives to send official mail as franked mail.

Committees

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

  • Post Office and Civil Service Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported by
  • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services Subcommittee
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. 13 actions.

  1. Sep 24, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-263.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Sep 16, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Sep 14, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Aug 10, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  6. Mar 30, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  7. Nov 20, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services Subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  8. Nov 17, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
  9. Nov 16, 1981FloorFloor · Passed House by Unanimous Consent.
  10. Nov 5, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  11. Oct 28, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  12. Feb 5, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  13. 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.