A bill to amend section 1 of the Act of June 5, 1920, as amended, to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to settle claims for damages of less than $2,500 arising by reason of acts for which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is responsible.
Public Law 98-176 · H.R. 594 · 98th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Nov 29, 1983 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Sam Hall (D-TX-1)
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 the Secretary of Commerce to settle claims not exceeding $2,500 for damages caused by acts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Administrative Law and Governmental Relations 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. 14 actions.
- Nov 29, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-176.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Nov 17, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Nov 15, 1983FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Nov 11, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Judiciary Committee
- May 5, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- May 3, 1983FloorFloor · Passed House by Unanimous Consent.
- Apr 14, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- Apr 6, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
- Mar 16, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Feb 4, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Administrative Law and Governmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Jan 6, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary 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.