An act to amend sections 351 and 1751 of title 18 of the United States Code to provide penalties for crimes against Cabinet officers, Supreme Court Justices, and Presidential staff members, and for other purposes.
Public Law 97-285 · S. 907 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 6, 1982 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Edward Zorinsky
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 Federal criminal code to make it a Federal crime to kill, assault, or kidnap a cabinet officer or second ranking official in each executive department, Director or Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, U.S. Supreme Court justice, or nominees for any of these offices, or a senior presidential or vice presidential adviser.
Allows for extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Provides that in a prosecution for such an offense, the government need not prove that the defendant knew that the victim of the offense was an official protected by this Act.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information 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.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 22 actions.
- Oct 6, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-285.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Sep 28, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Sep 22, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendment. By Voice Vote.
- Sep 14, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
- Sep 9, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Jun 21, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- May 24, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- May 21, 1982FloorFloor · Considered by House Senate Request for the Return of Papers Agreed to.
- May 5, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Voice Vote.
- Mar 10, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Feb 2, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Dec 2, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Sep 22, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Apr 15, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Apr 8, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary 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.