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A bill to authorize appropriations for the American Folklife Center for fiscal years 1987, 1988, and 1989, and for other purposes.

Public Law 99-473 · H.R. 4545 · 99th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 16, 1986 · Arts, Culture, Religion

Sponsor: Rep. Mary Oakar (D-OH-20)

Cosponsors (53): Rep. Jake Pickle,

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.

Amends the American Folklife Preservation Act to extend through FY 1989 the authorization of appropriations for the American Folklife Center, located in the Library of Congress.

Repeals a restriction on the Center's use of FY 1985 or 1986 funds to pay for any personnel position established after August 21, 1984.

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. Oct 16, 1986Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 99-473.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 8, 1986PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 3, 1986FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Oct 1, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  6. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  7. Sep 18, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Rules and Administration Committee
  8. Sep 16, 1986FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  9. Aug 15, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Committee on House Administration
  10. Aug 7, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Committee on House Administration
  11. Jun 24, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by House Committee on House Administration
  12. Apr 9, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Committee on House Administration
  13. 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.

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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.