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False Identification Crime Control Act of 1982

Public Law 97-398 · H.R. 6946 · 97th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Dec 31, 1982 · Government Operations and Politics

Sponsor: Rep. William Hughes (D-NJ-2)

Cosponsors (6): Rep. Henry Hyde,

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.

False Identification Crime Control Act of 1982 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for: (1) knowingly and unlawfully producing or transferring an identification document or false identification document; (2) possessing five or more false identification documents; (3) possessing false identification documents with the intent to defraud the United States; or (4) possessing an identification document that appears to be a U.S. document with knowledge that it is stolen or produced without authority.

Prohibits any person from producing, transferring, or possessing any document-making implement used for the production of false identification.

Defines "identification document" as a document made or issued by or under the authority of the United States Government, a State, local, or foreign government, a subdivision of a foreign government, or an international governmental or an international quasi-governmental organization, which, when completed with information concerning a particular individual, is of a type commonly accepted for the purpose of identification.

Prohbits persons engaged in the business of furnishing identification documents through the mails from furnishing such document bearing a birth date or age purported to belong to the person named without a disclaimer printed clearly on both sides of the document stating: NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT.

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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 20 actions.

  1. Dec 31, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-398.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 21, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Dec 19, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to conference report by Voice Vote.
  5. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference report agreed to in Senate: Senate agreed to conference report by Voice Vote.
  6. Dec 17, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Conference Report by Voice Vote.
  7. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference report agreed to in House: House Agreed to Conference Report by Voice Vote.
  8. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference Report 97-975 Filed in House.
  9. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference report filed: Conference Report 97-975 Filed in House.
  10. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conferees agreed to file conference report.
  11. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Conference committee actions: Conferees agreed to file conference report.
  12. Oct 1, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Request for Conference and Speaker Appointed Conferees: Rodino, Hughes, Kastenmeier, Glickman, Sawyer, Fish, Kindness, Hyde.
  13. Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Disagreed to Senate Amendments by Unanimous Consent.
  14. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate insists on its amendments, asks for a conference, appoints conferees Thurmond; Laxalt; Hatch; Simpson; Humphrey; Biden; DeConcini; Heflin.
  15. FloorFloor · Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
  16. Sep 14, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  17. Sep 10, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  18. Aug 10, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  19. Aug 5, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  20. 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.