while (<NEW_HIST>){
                /^(\w{3}\s+\w{3}\s+\d{1,2})/;
                my $pass_down_date = $1
                if (/$tool/){
                        print "$pass_down_date";
                        $print_checker = 1;
                }
                if (/$stop/){
                        $print_checker = 0;
                }
        if ($print_checker){
            print "$_ <br>\n";
        }
                            
 }
[download]

this is the actual code in the loop. $pass_down_date is being matched, it will print outside of any of the if loops. If I try to print it out inside any of the if loops, it comes back with what I believe is an empty string.
by the way, strict and -w are on. :)

Stuffy