Child Protection Act of 1984
Public Law 98-292 · H.R. 3635 · 98th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on May 21, 1984 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Rep. Harold Sawyer (R-MI-5)
Cosponsors (101): Rep. William Hughes, Rep. Hamilton Fish,
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.
Child Protection Act of 1984 - Amends the Federal criminal code dealing with the sexual exploitation of children. Increases the penalties for the sexual exploitation of children from $10,000 to $100,000 and, on a subsequent conviction, from $15,000 to $200,000. Sets a fine of $250,000 for organizations.
Prohibits the distribution of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors even if the material is not found to be "obscene."
Eliminates the requirement that persons distributing such material in interstate commerce do so for purposes of sale.
Raises the age of a minor to include any person under the age of eighteen.
Redefines "sexually explicit conduct."
Permits authorization for the interception of wire or oral communications in the investigation of such offenses.
Requires the Attorney General to report annually to Congress on the prosecutions, convictions and forfeitures under this Act.
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.
- May 21, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-292.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- May 10, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- May 8, 1984Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Senate Amendments by Unanimous Consent.
- Mar 30, 1984FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
- Nov 14, 1983FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Yea-Nay Vote: 400 - 1 (Record Vote No: 494).House roll call 494
- Nov 10, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- Oct 4, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 21, 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.