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A bill to amend the Panama Canal Act of 1979 to allow the use of proxies by the Board of the Panama Canal Commission.

Public Law 98-217 · H.R. 3969 · 98th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Feb 14, 1984 · Government Operations and Politics

Sponsor: Rep. Walter Jones (D-NC-1)

Cosponsors (3): Rep. Carroll Hubbard,

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.

Amends the Panama Canal Act of 1979 to authorize the Secretary of Defense to act by proxy for any other member of the Board of the Panama Canal Commission.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee
  • Armed Services Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported by
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. 15 actions.

  1. Feb 14, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-217.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Feb 2, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Jan 31, 1984FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Nov 17, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Armed Services Committee
  6. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Armed Services Committee
  7. Nov 15, 1983FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
  8. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Armed Services Committee
  9. Nov 9, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  10. Nov 1, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  11. Oct 4, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  12. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  13. Sep 29, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  14. Sep 22, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  15. 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.