An act to amend title 5, United States Code, to allow student interns of the Internal Revenue Service to have access to certain information required by such students in the performance of their official duties.
Public Law 97-437 · H.R. 6519 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jan 8, 1983 · Education
Sponsor: Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-CO-1)
Cosponsors: None
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.
Declares that students performing voluntary service for the Internal Revenue Service shall be considered to be Federal employees for purposes of specified provisions relating to: (1) the confidentiality and disclosure of tax returns, return information, and agency records; and (2) repayment by the Secretary of the Treasury for damages and costs recovered in a suit brought against an employee for anything done in the performance of his or her official duty. Permits such a student to have access to tax returns and return information only to the extent required to perform his or her duties.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Post Office and Civil Service Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Civil Service Subcommittee; Human Resources 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. 12 actions.
- Jan 8, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-437.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jan 3, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Dec 23, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Dec 14, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Dec 13, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Jun 7, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Civil Service Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- May 27, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Post Office and Civil Service 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.