United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1982
Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families to conduct a comprehensive study on their problems and to develop policies to coordinate governmental and private programs to address such problems. Provides that the committee shall not have legislative jurisdiction and shall terminate at the close of the Ninety-ninth Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1982
National Park System Resources Evaluation and Management Act of 1982 - Requires the Director of the National Park Service to prepare on a fiscal year basis a biennial State of the Parks report. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to transmit such report every two years to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Provides that such report shall include: (1) a description for each national park system unit of the condition of its natural and cultural resources, factors which alter or damage such resources, and ongoing and planned mitigation actions and their results; (2) a description of the systemwide efforts to address the resource protection requirements listed above; (3) a discussion of resource protection and management policies for natural and cultural park resources; (4) a description of the funds and staff to be allocated to such resource protection and management; (5) a discussion of the adequacy of administration budget requests and congressional appropriations in addressing specific mitigation measures; and (6) a description of funding needs with respect to implementing such policies and measures. Requires the National Park Service to solicit public involvement in the preparation of such report. Directs the Director to contract with the National Academy of Sciences for conduct of a study and a continuing advisory function on the protection of natural and cultural park resources. Requires a report based on such study to be submitted to the Director, the Secretary, and the relevant congressional committees. States that funding for such study and the Academy's advisory functions shall derive from funds specifically appropriated for such purpose to the National Park Service. Requires that resource management plans for each national park system unit be prepared and updated continually. Provides that general management plans for each park unit shall be based upon the park's resource management plan. Requires Federal agencies to notify the Secretary before the undertaking on areas adjacent to a park unit of any Federal project which threatens the park's natural or cultural resources. Directs the Secretary to recommend necessary changes for the proposed project within 60 days after receiving such notice. Requires the proposing Federal agency to adopt such recommendations so as to mitigate the adverse effects of the proposed project. Provides for the Secretary to cooperate with, and provide technical assistance to, governmental and other entities to protect national park system resources. Requires the superintendent of each park unit to work with governmental and other entities which influence or control lands, resources, and activities exterior to the park unit to develop a regional plan for the general area under which the activities of all entities can be undertaken in a mutually compatible way. Requires that at least one park unit for each administrative region of the national park system initiate such a regional plan as a pilot program within one year after enactment of this Act. Provides that all park units shall have such programs within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires that each park unit have on its staff a person to coordinate activities with respect to its regional plan. Requires the Director to initiate a training program for park personnel in cooperative land and resource planning. Provides that park units designated as biosphere reserves or world heritage sites shall receive priority attention and consideration for resource data gathering and monitoring, and resource protection efforts. Requires the Director to review the current land classification system for the preservation and use of lands within park units and adopt revisions necessary to assure the maximum protection of park resources, balanced with the use and appreciation of those resources by visitors. Requires the establishment of a public information program on the problems of protecting park resources and the solutions being implemented. Requires that the National Park Service be adequately staffed by personnel with knowledge and expertise in park resource protection and management. Makes scientific research subordinate to the resource protection and management needs of the park units. Requires the development of programs and guidelines for employee training programs, performance standards, qualification criteria, and career ladders in resource protection and management programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1982
Mortgage Interest Rate Reduction Act of 1982 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of qualified lenders 25 percent of the interest received on certain mortgage loans. Requires that the effective rate of interest on such financing not exceed 90 percent of the prevailing conventional mortgage rate. Specifies that such exclusion is not limited to the lender who originated the loan. Provides that for purposes of the bad debt deduction for commercial banks, qualified mortgage loans shall be included in computing the percentage of outstanding loans.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1982
Permits a reserve commissioned officer on active duty who is promoted to a higher reserve grade to continue to serve on active duty in such higher grade.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1982
Federal Employees Voluntary Reduced Worktime Act - Requires each executive agency to establish a voluntary reduced worktime program. Directs each agency, not more than 90 or less than 30 days before a proposed reduction in force takes effect, to notify each employee competing for job retention of: (1) the specific action to be taken with respect to that employee; (2) the purpose of the reduction in force; (3) the area of the agency affected and other information used to determine the employee's standing in the competition for retention; (4) the availability of the regulations and records pertaining to the employee; (5) the reasons for any exceptions to the general release order; (6) the employee's right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board; (7) the availability and terms and conditions of the voluntary reduced worktime program; and (8) the extent of the reduction in force without such program. Directs each agency, upon providing such notice, to survey competing employees to determine: (1) the interest in participating in a voluntary reduced worktime program; and (2) the amount of time by which employees are willing to have their worktime reduced. Requires that competing employees be promptly informed of the survey results and afforded an opportunity to apply for participation in such a program. Provides for a reduction in the pay of a participating employee. Requires the length of service of a participating employee to be determined as if no reduction in worktime had occurred. Prohibits an agency from involuntarily separating an employee in a reduction in force unless the savings in personnel costs or other purposes of the reduction in force cannot be achieved through such a program. Prohibits an agency from appointing an individual to a position in an area where any employee is employed on a reduced worktime basis unless: (1) each such employee has been given an opportunity to return to such employee's former work schedule in the same or a higher position; (2) no such employee will accept appointment to such position; or (3) the position cannot be modified to permit the appointment of such an employee. Requires that employees on reduced work schedules be counted as fractions in administering personnel ceilings. Exempts specified employees from coverage under an agency's voluntary reduced worktime program. Requires the head of each executive agency to notify the Comptroller General of: (1) the extent and basis of any proposed reduction in force; and (2) the effectiveness of the agency's voluntary reduced worktime program. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress: (1) upon determining that any reduction in force is unnecessary or premature; and (2) at least annually on the effectivenss of such programs. Prohibits a Federal employee who has authority over personnel actions from coercing any employee into participating in such a program. Directs the Office of Personnel Management to promulgate regulations to implement this Act within 30 days after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1982
Extends for one year the authority of the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to contract for hospital care or medical services in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands without reference to patient loads or incidence of provision of medical services for veterans treated by the Veterans' Administration in the contiguous 48 states.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1982
Family Housing Production Act of 1982 - Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, through the Government National Mortgage Association, to enter into five-year contracts to provide periodic assistance payments on behalf of homeowners to mortgagees and other lenders. Directs the Secretary to give priority to assisting persons who have not owned a home within the last three years. Permits payments to be made only to a mortgagor who satisfies requirements for creditworthiness and has a family income not exceeding 140 percent of the area median income and who: (1) is the original owner of a manufactured home the loan for which is incurred under the National Housing Act; or (2) has a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage which is secured by a home built after enactment of this Act, has no prepayment penalty, and requires increased payments beginning with the second year which shall be applied to the principal obligation until it is paid off. Limits the amount of assistance payments to the difference between the amount of the monthly payment for principal, interest, and loan insurance under the first year of the loan and the amount the monthly payment for principal and interest would be if the interest rate on the loan were: (1) ten percent (12 percent for a manufactured home); or (2) four percentage points less than the rate specified in the loan, whichever rate is higher. Requires that the mortgagor pay at least 25 percent of his or her income toward the monthly loan payment. Declares that manufactured homes shall comprise not more than 20 percent of the units assisted under this Act. Directs the Secretary to allocate the amount available to carry out this Act on the basis of the population, decline in housing starts, and unemployment rate in each State relative to all States. Directs the Secretary to recapture the lesser of the amount of assistance provided under this Act or an amount equal to 50 percent of the net appreciation of the property whenever the mortgagor sells the property or rents it for a period exceeding one year. Authorizes the Secretary to insure mortgages assisted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1982
Declares that if Israel or any other democratic state is denied its rights and privileges in the United Nations General Assembly the United States will suspend its participation in the General Assembly and will withhold its contribution to the United Nations until the action is reversed.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1982
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to change the dutiable status of watches and watch movements imported from insular possessions of the United States. Defines the insular possessions as the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Authorizes duty-free importation of watches and watch movements built in the insular possessions without regard to the value of the foreign materials they contain if they meet specified conditions. Imposes a quota on the number of such watches and watch movements that may be imported duty-free during calendar year 1983. Directs the Secretaries of Commerce and of the Interior to establish quotas for subsequent calendar years. Sets forth guidelines for determining such quotas. Allocates the number of duty-free imports of watches, and watch movements among the three possessions for calendar year 1983. Authorizes the Secretaries to establish new territorial shares for subsequent calendar years. Directs the Secretaries to allocate the duty exemptions among producers located in the insular possessions. Directs the Secretaries to verify the wages paid by producers to permanent residents of the insular possessions in the preceding calendar year. Directs the Secretaries to issue a certificate for a portion of such amount to each producer. Sets forth a formula for determining the value of a producer's certificate. States that such certificates entitle the certificate holder to a refund of duties equal to the face value of the certificate on imported watches, watch movements, and parts. Makes such certificates negotiable. Requires such certificates to expire one year after issuance. Permits the certificates to be applied against duties on articles imported within two years before their issuance.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1982
Individual Housing Account Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction from gross income for cash contributions to a tax-exempt savings account established for the benefit of the taxpayer (or the taxpayer and spouse if married) for the exclusive purpose of purchasing such taxpayer's first principal residence. Limits the maximum annual deduction to $5,000, with a maximum lifetime deduction of $20,000. Excludes distributions from such account from gross income as long as they are used exclusively for the purpose of purchasing the first principal residence of the taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1982
Establishes in the Department of State an Assistant Secretary of State for Language Services to be the head of the Bureau of Language Services. Sets forth the duties of the Assistant Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1982
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should instruct the U.S. representatives at the arms reduction talks to inform the Soviets that: (1) the United States is willing to reduce its total strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and its total MIRVed launchers, ballistic missiles, and ICBM's by specified numbers if the Soviet Union will make corresponding reductions in its strategic force levels; and (2) each country should begin the reductions immediately and that the reductions should be verifiable. States that both countries should agree to a mutual ban on testing and deploying: (1) intercontinental and intermediate range ballistic missiles with new reentry vehicles; and (2) cruise missiles armed with multiple warheads. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should propose to the Soviet Union at the intermediate range nuclear weapons negotiations that: (1) both countries agree to a limit on the number of such weapons; (2) such limit be reduced by 50 percent by 1990 and by an additional 25 percent by 1992; and (3) both countries agree to eliminate all such weapons from Europe by 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1982
Community Air Service Act of 1982 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to continue Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) authority to require air carriers to establish just and reasonable joint fares. Transfers the authority of the CAB over joint rates, fares, and charges to the Department of Transportation. Sets forth procedures concerning the establishment and division of such joint fares. Terminates the authority of the CAB and the Secretary in regard to such joint rates six years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1982
Establishes a Commission on Federal Laws to survey the Federal laws and recommend to Congress: (1) which laws that apply to Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa should be made inapplicable to them and which should continue to apply; and (2) which laws that do not apply to such territories should be made applicable to them. Sets forth the composition of the Commission. Requires the Commission to transmit its final report to the President and to Congress not later than April 1, 1983. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission 15 days after submission of its final report.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1982
Amends the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 to prohibit the Government from charging recreational fees for fishing or hunting on Federal lands or waters.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1982
Amends the Arms Export Control Act to prohibit the Government, without express congressional approval, from: (1) entering agreements for the coproduction or licensed production outside the United States of defense articles of U. S. origin; (2) approving commercial technical assistance or manufacturing licensing agreements involving the manufacture outside the United States of such articles; and (3) selling, licensing, or otherwise approving for export any technical data for use under any other agreement in the manufacture outside the United States of such articles. States that this Act does not apply during a war declared by Congress. Makes this Act applicable to certain agreements executed on or after January 1, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1982
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt American nationals residing in a State, territory, or possession from language and history naturalization requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1982
Coast Guard Authorization Act for 1983 and 1984 - Authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for FY 1983 and 1984 for: (1) operation and maintenance expenses; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; and (3) research, development, testing, and evaluation. Permits the Coast Guard an end-year strength of 41,500 active duty personnel. Authorizes average military training student loads. Revises the authority of the Coast Guard to establish and operate aids to maritime navigation on the inland waterways by contract with persons or public bodies or instrumentalities. Recommends that such services be provided by civilian rather than military members of the Guard. Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to report to Congress within a year on the exercise of such contracting authority and on increased civilian participation. Eliminates the Secretary's annual report to Congress concerning the utilization of authority to lease housing facilities for military personnel and their dependents. Amends the Presidential Protection Assistance Act of 1976 to eliminate a semi-annual report on expenditures from the Commandant of the Coast Guard to the appropriate committees of Congress. Repeals the current provisions concerning the guaranty, apportionment, and payment of cost for the alteration of bridges. Permits the Secretary, before ordering a bridge altered or relocated, to require equitable contributions from any interested party or political sub-division for such alteration, whether necessitated by its obstruction of navigation or other causes. (Currently, contributions by other than the bridgeowner are required only for other causes.) Amends the General Bridge and other Acts to exclude from specified bridge construction and operation provisions bridges over waters not subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and not used in interstate or foreign commerce. Eliminates the misdemeanor of unreasonable delay in opening a drawbridge. Requires that violations of regulations for bridges over navigable waters be willful to be punishable. Prohibits a vessel owner or operator from signaling a drawbridge to open for any nonstructural vessel appurtenance which is not essential to navigation. Establishes a civil penalty for violations of specified bridge regulations and orders of the Army Chief of Engineers. Requires the owner or operator of a bridge or causeway to keep it in proper repair so that it does not obstruct or make navigation hazardous. Requires that complete files of vessel inspections or examinations delegated to the American Bureau of Shipping or a similar agent be kept in the United States and accessible by the Coast Guard. Revises personnel and manning standards for foreign vessels. Increases the amount of penalties under the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971. Directs the Commandant of the Coast Guard to review policies and procedures for towing and salvaging disabled vessels to minimize competition with private enterprise. Establishes an end strength level for full-time civilian employees for FY 1983 and 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1982
Increases the monthly rate of dependency and indemnity compensation payable to the surviving spouse of a veteran who died from a service-connected or compensable disability by the amount such spouse would have received under the Social Security Act were she caring for a child under 16 (when such child is actually between 16 and 18 years of age). Directs the Administrator to make monthly payments equivalent to the child's insurance benefit under the Social Security Act before the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to children of such deceased veterans between the ages of 18 and 22 attending institutions of higher learning.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1982
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for an additional $10,000 in contributions to an individual retirement account without regard to whether the individual has earned income. Permits withdrawals from such account without tax penalty if the funds withdrawn are used in connection with the acquisition of a dwelling by the individual for whose benefit the account is maintained. Requires that the dwelling purchased must be: (1) the first dwelling owned by such individual; and (2) the principal residence of such individual.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1982
National Park System Protection Act of 1982 - Permits the Secretary of the Interior to issue leases for, authorize use or development of, or sell or dispose of, lands or waters within, adjacent to, or related to, any National Park System unit only after a determination that the exercise of such authority will not impair the values for which the park unit was established. Requires Federal agencies conducting activities affecting a park unit to insure that such activities will not injure or degrade any of the park unit's resources or values. Prohibits the commencement of any activity affecting a park unit after enactment of this Act unless the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, determines that no injury or degradation of the park unit's resources or values will result. Requires an applicant for a license or permit to conduct activity affecting a park unit or for financial assistance for any such activity to include with the application a certification approved by the Secretary that the proposed activity will not injure or degrade the park unit's resources or values. Permits a person to bring an action against the Secretary or a Federal agency for any violation of this Act. Requires the Secretary to bring an action against any person, including a State or local government, whose activities will harm a park unit's resources. Sets forth procedural requirements for such actions. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary should select for the post of Director of the National Park Service someone with the highest level of professional experience and expertise in fields relevant to the post's administrative duties. Requires the Secretary to direct the National Park Service to conduct a research program on the natural and cultural resources of the National Park System. Provides for the maintenance of the data and information obtained through such program in a National Park System resource data center. Makes such data and information available to the public and Congress. Requires the Secretary to submit biennial reports to Congress on the state of the National Park System. Directs the Secretary to submit to specified congressional committees an analysis of the most critical natural and cultural resource threats in the system. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance, upon request, to local governments which have land use control authority over private lands adjacent to any park unit to help develop land use plans and zoning ordinances. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to local governments for such purposes. Provides for the cessation of all disbursements from the Treasury to the Secretary if the Secretary has failed or refused to comply with any requirements of this Act. Provides for termination of the cessation if the Comptroller General determines that the Secretary has complied with the provision involved. Provides that any officer or employee subject to such cessation order shall be considered to be on furlough status during the period of time for which disbursements have ceased. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1982
Declares that the House of Representatives considers Arland D. Williams, Junior, to be a national hero for his heroic sacrifice after the airplane crash in the Potomac River on January 13, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1982
Expresses the sense of Congress that a Law of the Sea Treaty is of strategic importance to the United States. Urges the U.S. delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea to: (1) seek changes in the draft treaty that would protect U.S. interests while recognizing the other interests represented at the conference; and (2) conclude a treaty as soon as possible.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1982
Defense Industrial Base Revitalization Act - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to direct the President to take immediate action to assist in the modernization of industries related to defense. Limits such assistance to small and medium-sized businesses unless national security requires otherwise. Directs the Secretary of Defense to determine immediately and semiannually which industries should be given priority and the type of assistance which would be most helpful. Directs the President to assist persons expanding the domestic capability to produce or process critical and strategic materials. Sets forth the terms of such assistance, including qualification through public solicitation and the President's right to refuse delivery of items exceeding market price. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983-1987. Permits the President to utilize the borrowing authority of the Treasury as specified and to use unobligated funds in Department of Defense appropriations. Directs the President to implement a national program to train workers in skills necessary in key defense industries. Makes such assistance available through State vocational education programs in States with previously approved plans for a five-year program of skills training. Requires the States to make contributions to such program in specified percentages to qualify for extensions of such program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983-1987 for such purpose. Directs the President to implement a grant program to assist institutions of higher education in obtaining and installing modern equipment to train scientific and technical personnel needed in the key industries. Sets forth the terms of such assistance, including application procedures, limits on grants, and the requirement that such equipment be purchased through competitive bidding. Requires such equipment to be of U.S. origin. Authorizes appropriations for such purpose for FY 1983-1987. Directs the Comptroller General to monitor this program and submit an annual report to Congress. Requires each executive department and agency to follow the principle of geographical dispersal to the degree possible in constructing any Government-owned industrial facility. Directs such departments and agencies to continuously assess the capability of the defense industrial base to satisfy near-term and increased mobilization production requirements. Increases the maximum obligation of any guaranteeing agency for loans necessary to prevent personal insolvency or bankruptcy that would impede the production and delivery of materials or the performance of services for the national defense. Decreases from 60 to 30 days the period during which the appropriate committees of Congress must be notified of certain proposed loans before automatic approval. Permits such loans to be made immediately if both Houses adopt a concurrent resolution of approval. Extends to September 30, 1987, the termination date of certain provisions of the Defense Production Act of 1950, including certain priorities, allocations, and expansion of productive capacity and supply provisions. Repeals the National Commission on Supplies and Shortages Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1982
Declares that any action by the United Nations to prevent a democratic state from exercising its rights to participate in the United Nations will seriously and harmfully affect congressional support for the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1982
Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to Admiral Hyman George Rickover in recognition of his distinguished service and for his contributions to the development of safe nuclear energy and to the defense of the United States. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions. Authorizes appropriations to carry out such provision. Authorizes the Secretary to make available bronze duplicates of such medal for sale under regulations he prescribes and in accordance with provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1982
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish procedures for the imposition of the death penalty for Presidential assassination. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury (or finding by the court) that: (1) some aggravating factor exists; and (2) the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist. Directs the court to impose the death penalty upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Establishes procedures for appeal from the death sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1982
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1937, to terminate the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to enter into marketing agreements or issue marketing orders with respect to fruits, vegetables, hops, and tree nuts. Eliminates a provision providing for vegetable and fruit grade and size import restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1982
Extends congratulations from the Congress to the Italian Government and its antiterrorist police forces for the successful rescue of Brigadier General James L. Dozier. Extends to General Dozier and his family best wishes for a quick recovery and return to normal life.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1982
Requests the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to Lenny Skutnik, in recognition of his heroic rescue of one of the victims of the airline crash into the Potomac River on January 13, 1982. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to cause bronze duplicates of such medal to be coined for sale to the general public.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1982
Extends burial benefits to specified veterans with service-connected disabilities (formerly provided until October 1, 1981). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1982.
![Official portrait of Del. Won Pat, Antonio B. [D-GU-At Large]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000686_200.jpg)