About the bill
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first significant overhaul of telecommunications law in more than sixty years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. The Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, represented a major change in American telecommunication law, since it was the first time that the Internet was included in broadcasting and spectrum allotment. One of the most controversial titles was Title 3 ("Cable Services"), which allowed for media cross-ownership. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the goal of the law was to "let anyone enter any communications business – to let any communications business compete in any market against any other." The legislation's primary goal was deregulation of the converging broadcasting and telecommunications markets. However, the law's regulatory policies have been questioned, including the effects of dualistic …
Sponsor and status
104th Congress (1995–1996)
Enacted — Signed by the President on Feb 8, 1996
This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on February 8, 1996.
History
|
Mar 23, 1995
|
|
Ordered Reported
A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee. |
|
Mar 30, 1995
|
|
Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.
|
|
Jun 15, 1995
|
|
Passed Senate (House next)
The bill was passed in a vote in the Senate. It goes to the House next. |
|
Jun 23, 1995
|
|
Text Published
Updated bill text was published as of Public Print. |
|
Aug 4, 1995
|
|
Alternative Bill —
Passed House (Senate next)
This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 1555 (104th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on S. 652 (104th). |
|
Oct 12, 1995
|
|
Passed House
The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill. The vote was without objection so no record of individual votes was made. |
|
Oct 12, 1995
|
|
Text Published
Updated bill text was published as of Passed the House with an Amendment. |
|
Feb 1, 1996
|
|
Conference Report Agreed to by House (Senate next)
A conference committee was formed, comprising members of both the House and Senate, to resolve the differences in how each chamber passed the bill. The House approved the committee's report proposing the final form of the bill for consideration in both chambers. The Senate must also approve the conference report. |
|
Feb 1, 1996
|
|
Conference Report Agreed to by Senate
The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill. |
|
Feb 1, 1996
|
|
Rules Change —
Agreed To
This activity took place on a related bill, H.Res. 353 (104th). |
|
Feb 8, 1996
|
|
Enacted — Signed by the President
The President signed the bill and it became law.
|
S. 652 (104th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 652. This is the one from the 104th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 104th Congress, which met from Jan 4, 1995 to Oct 4, 1996. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:
“S. 652 — 104th Congress: Telecommunications Act of 1996.” www.GovTrack.us. 1995. September 22, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/s652>
- show another citation format:
- APA
- Blue Book
- Wikipedia Template
Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
