A bill to amend the Panama Canal Act of 1979 to authorize quarters allowances for certain employees of the Department of Defense serving in the area formerly known as the Canal Zone.
Public Law 98-600 · H.R. 6101 · 98th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 30, 1984 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Mary Oakar (D-OH-20)
Cosponsors (9): Rep. William Ford, Rep. Douglas Bosco,
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.
Amends the Panama Canal Act of 1979 to authorize the Department of Defense to grant a quarters allowance to the following persons if adequate Government owned or leased quarters are not made available to them: (1) any Defense Department employee who is a U.S. citizen and who, before October 1, 1979, was employed by an agency in the area formerly known as the Canal Zone; and (2) any other Defense Department employee in the Canal Zone who is a U.S. citizen and who is or was recruited within the United States. Limits the amount of the quarters allowance.
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- Post Office and Civil Service Committee · House · referred toSubcommittee: Compensation and Employee Benefits 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. 16 actions.
- Oct 30, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-600.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 18, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 5, 1984FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Oct 4, 1984FloorFloor · Held at the desk by unanimous consent.
- Oct 1, 1984FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Sep 25, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Sep 11, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Aug 29, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Compensation and Employee Benefits Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Aug 21, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Aug 8, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Post Office and Civil Service 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.