A bill to amend the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985, to provide that members of the Commission on Merchant Marine and Defense shall not be considered to be Federal employees for certain purposes, to extend the deadline for reports of the Commission, and to extend the availability of funds appropriated to the Commission.
Public Law 99-426 · H.R. 4530 · 99th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Sep 30, 1986 · Armed Forces and National Security
Sponsor: Rep. Charles Bennett (D-FL-3)
Cosponsors: None
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.
Amends the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985 to: (1) provide that members of the Commission on Merchant Marine and Defense shall not be considered Federal employees except for purposes of Federal workers' compensation or tort claims regulations; and (2) extend certain reporting dates of the Commission and the availability of funds to the Commission until specified periods after a quorum of such Commission has been obtained.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Armed Services Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Seapower and Strategic and Critical Materials 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. 12 actions.
- Sep 30, 1986Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 99-426.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Sep 19, 1986PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Sep 12, 1986FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- May 19, 1986FloorFloor · Passed House by Unanimous Consent.
- May 13, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Armed Services Committee
- May 7, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Armed Services Committee
- Apr 29, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Seapower and Strategic and Critical Materials Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Seapower and Strategic and Critical Materials Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee
- Apr 17, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Seapower and Strategic and Critical Materials Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee
- Apr 9, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Armed Services 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.