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White House Conference on Small Business Authorization Act

Public Law 98-276 · H.R. 5298 · 98th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on May 8, 1984 · Commerce

Sponsor: Rep. Parren Mitchell (D-MD-7)

Cosponsors (53): Rep. Joseph McDade,

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.

White House Conference on Small Business Authorization Act - Calls upon the President to conduct a National White House Conference on Small Business, not earlier than January 1, 1985, and not later than September 1, 1986, to: (1) increase public awareness of the contributions of small business; (2) identify small business problems; (3) examine the status of minority and women small business owners; (4) assist small business in carrying out its role as the nation's job creator; (5) assemble small businesses to develop specific recommendations for executive and legislative action; and (6) review the status of recommendations adopted at the Conference.

Authorizes and directs Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to provide support and assistance to the planning of such conference.

Requires a final report of the Conference, within six months from the date such conference is convened, to be submitted to the President and the Congress. Requires the Small Business Administration to report annually to the Congress for the next three years following the submission of the final report of the Conference.

Authorizes appropriations.

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. 9 actions.

  1. May 8, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-276.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Apr 26, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Apr 11, 1984FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Apr 9, 1984FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  6. Apr 5, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Small Business Committee
  7. Apr 4, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Small Business Committee
  8. Mar 29, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Small Business Committee
  9. 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.