Initially introduced in 2014 following the Umbrella Movement and 2014 democracy protests in Hong Kong, the legislation was re-introduced to the next three successive Congresses, but did not gain a vote until 2019, following the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill proposal and the ensuing protests against it. A House version of the bill unanimously passed in the United States House of Representatives through a voice vote in October 2019. In November 2019, the Senate version of the bill, with amendments that differ from the House bill, unanimously passed the Senate on a voice vote. The House accepted the Senate version of the bill later that month, sending it to the desk of President Donald Trump, who signed it one week later. The bill was accompanied by a companion bill restricting U.S. exports of crowd control devices to the Hong Kong police forces, which passed both chambers of Congress unanimously and signed by Trump on the same occasion.