Sentencing Reform Amendments Act of 1985
Public Law 99-217 · H.R. 3837 · 99th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Dec 26, 1985 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Rep. John Conyers (D-MI-1)
Cosponsors (2): Rep. George Gekas, Rep. Rick Boucher
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.
Sentencing Reform Amendments Act of 1985 - Amends the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 to extend to 30 months (currently 18 months) after October 12, 1984, the deadline for the submission of the initial set of sentencing guidelines by the United States Sentencing Commission.
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. 11 actions.
- Dec 26, 1985Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 99-217.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Dec 19, 1985PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Dec 18, 1985FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Dec 16, 1985FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- Dec 4, 1985CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Dec 3, 1985CommitteeCommittee · 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.