An act to authorize certain employees of the United States Department of Agriculture charged with the enforcement of animal quarantine laws to carry firearms for self-protection and to improve the quality of table grapes for marketing in the United States.
Public Law 97-312 · H.R. 2035 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 14, 1982 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Abraham Kazen (D-TX-23)
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.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Authorizes certain Department of Agriculture employees engaged in animal disease control work ("tick inspectors") to carry firearms for self-protection in the performance of their official duties, in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Attorney General.
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as reenacted and amended by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to include table grapes among the imported agricultural commodities required to meet Federal marketing order quality standards.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Agriculture Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture 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. 17 actions.
- Oct 14, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-312.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 2, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Sep 30, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Senate Amendments by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 29, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Voice Vote.
- Sep 22, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- Sep 15, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- May 20, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- May 18, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- May 14, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Agriculture Committee
- Apr 29, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Agriculture Committee
- Mar 25, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- Mar 4, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- Feb 27, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- Feb 24, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Agriculture Committee
- 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.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.