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A bill to authorize the Smithsonian Institution to purchase land in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.

Public Law 98-73 · S. 930 · 98th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Aug 11, 1983 · Arts, Culture, Religion

Sponsor: Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ)

Cosponsors (2): Sen. Scoop Jackson,

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.

Authorizes the Smithsonian Institution to purchase land in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, for the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory.

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. 13 actions.

  1. Aug 11, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-73.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Aug 2, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Aug 1, 1983FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
  5. Jul 28, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Committee on House Administration
  6. Jul 26, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Committee on House Administration
  7. May 26, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Committee on House Administration
  8. May 25, 1983FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
  9. May 16, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  10. May 12, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  11. Apr 20, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  12. Mar 24, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  13. 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.

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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.