A joint resolution to grant posthumously full rights of citizenship to William Penn and to Hannah Callowhill Penn.
Public Law 98-516 · S.J.Res. 80 · 98th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 19, 1984 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Sen. Henry Heinz (R-PA)
Cosponsors (25): Sen. Arlen Specter, Sen. Wendell Ford,
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.
Requests the President to grant posthumous citizenship to William Penn, founder of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and his wife, Hannah Callowhill Penn.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement 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. 13 actions.
- Oct 19, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-516.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 10, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 4, 1984FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Judiciary Committee
- Dec 1, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Nov 18, 1983FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- Nov 17, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Apr 12, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
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.