House bill · 112th Congress · Public Law 112-82

Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011

H.R. 515Introduced Jan 26, 2011Policy area: International Affairs

Became law on Jan 3, 2012.

Sponsor: Rep. Christopher Smith R-NJ

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Where it went

IntroducedJan 26, 2011
Committee actionApr 14, 2011
Passed HouseJul 6, 2011 · by voice vote
Passed SenateDec 14, 2011 · by voice vote
Resolving differencesDec 20, 2011
To the PresidentDec 23, 2011
Became lawJan 3, 2012

Latest action: Jan 3, 2012 — Became Public Law No: 112-82.

Cost and committee reports

Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 515.

CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 515, Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011” on May 2, 2011. CBO’s description reads “Cost estimate for the bill as amended by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 14, 2011”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, May 2, 2011 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/22124
CBO publication date
May 2, 2011
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 515, 112th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/112/hr/515
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 25, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
77dcd11b538d833944b6886501d7a9f9848f7bdb3b1f3c14816570d53f1f42cf
PORKER links to the estimate and does not repeat its dollar figures. Each estimate is for the version of the bill its description names; the bill may have changed since.
Constitutional authority statementThe sponsor’s statement of where the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass this bill. Statement by Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, as printed in the Congressional Record (Page H513):
The constitutional authorities on which this bill rests are those given in Article I, Section 5, Clause 2; Article I, Section 8, Clause 1; Article I, Section 8, Clause 4; Article I, Section 8, Clause 18.
Source: Congress.gov, record updated April 7, 2025 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
constitutionalAuthorityStatementText
Statement length
203 characters
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 515, 112th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/112/hr/515
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 25, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
77dcd11b538d833944b6886501d7a9f9848f7bdb3b1f3c14816570d53f1f42cf
PORKER shows the statement exactly as printed, with the page markup removed. It is the sponsor’s claim; it is not a legal finding.

Congress.gov’s record for this bill does not list a committee report (as of April 7, 2025). Not every bill gets one.

Sent to: Financial Services Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee, Foreign Relations CommitteeBills with a CBO estimate Bills with a committee report See it in the Data Web

From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 515, last updated April 7, 2025. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 25, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.

Vote results

No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).

Cosponsors

12 cosponsors — 7 Republicans, 5 Democrats

5 of 12 cosponsors (42%) are from the other party.

Dan Burton (R-IN), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Tom Marino (R-PA), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Mike Pompeo (R-KS), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Frank Wolf (R-VA).

More from the sponsor

Other 112th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith.

Sponsor’s state and district

New Jersey in Congress · NJ-4 district

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Data as of Sep 26, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.