A bill to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to assist, on an emergency basis, in the eradication of plant pests and contagious or infectious animal and poultry diseases.
Public Law 97-46 · H.R. 4416 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Sep 25, 1981 · Agriculture and Food
Sponsor: Rep. Kika de la Garza (D-TX-15)
Cosponsors (7): Rep. George Brown, Rep. Anthony Coelho,
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.
Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer Department funds on an emergency basis to eradicate plant pests or animal and poultry disease outbreaks.
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.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 10 actions.
- Sep 25, 1981Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-46.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Sep 14, 1981PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Sep 11, 1981FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Sep 10, 1981FloorFloor · Received in the Senate held at the desk by unanimous consent.
- Sep 9, 1981FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Agriculture Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · 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.