United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1978
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that all committee reports accompanying public bills or joint resolutions which authorize or appropriate specific sums for any fiscal year contain a computation of the annual tax impact of such legislation on the individual taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1978
Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to rescind the authority of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to designate a type of disability as qualifying as a "severe handicap" for purposes of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1978
Expresses United States determination (1) to prevent the aggressive activities of the Soviet Union and Cuba in the Western Hemisphere, (2) to prevent the creation of externally supported Cuban military capability, and (3) to work with the Organization of American States for hemisphere security.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1978
Expresses the sense of the House that the national motto, "In God We Trust," shall continue to be engraved and printed on the currency of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1978
Legislative Oversight Act - Title I: Requirements for Authorization Bills - Requires all legislation considered by either House of Congress which authorizes new budget authority or increased tax expenditures to include a statement of objectives of the program to be authorized or established and a requirement that the agencies administering the program report annually to Congress to assist it in determining whether such program should be amended. Requires such agency reports to list the costs and accomplishments of each program. Title II: Requirements for Reports Accompanying Authorization Bills - Requires committee reports accompanying such legislation to identify expected economic and social costs and benefits of new programs authorized or established by such legislation, potentially duplicative programs, and previous efforts to accomplish the objectives of the program being considered. Requires reports to contain, if the legislation continues an existing program, authorization, or tax expenditure, an assessment of the degree to which such program or tax expenditure has met previously stated objectives. Requires the Comptroller General to publish and periodically update a descriptive catalog of interrelated Federal activities which compares program costs and accomplishments and describes program interrelationships, including the extent to which programs are duplicative. Title III: Presidential Budget Recommendations - Requires the President's budget to describe the relationship between the President's recommended program budgets and the program accomplishments reported by Federal agencies under this Act. Title IV: Authorization Time Limit; Certain Obligations not Impaired - Prohibits congressional consideration of any legislation which authorizes new budget authority or provides new or increased tax expenditures, or new spending authority for a period exceeding five years. Exempts from this prohibition national debt service and payments to individuals from Federal trust funds to which such individuals have contributed. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions; Effective Date - Recognizes the authority of either House to amend this Act. Sets the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1978
Directs the House Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach Griffin B. Bell, Attorney General of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1978
Small Business Tax Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small businesses to compute taxable income under the cash method and without regard to inventories. Increases the corporate surtax exemption and reduces the corporate tax rates. Provides for limited recognition of the gain from the sale or exchange of a sole proprietorship prior to the age of 55, and non-recognition after age 55. Allows the amortization over a 36-month period of expenses of a business for property acquired to put the business in compliance with Federal law and which does not have any economic usefulness to the business. Increases the additional first year depreciation allowance for small businesses. Increases the investment tax credit for investments in certain small manufacturing facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to deduct all current expenditures for plants and facilities which are otherwise chargeable to capital account and which are certified as required by Federal law and as not significantly increasing the plant's or facility's value or productivity.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Requires recomputation at a specified rate of the retired pay of any person who completed service as a sergeant major of the Marine Corps before December 16, 1967.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Allows enlised members (regular and reserve) of the Army and the Air Force to retire after 20 years of service. Stipulates that at such time regular enlisted members shall become members of the reserve until their total creditable years of service equals 30.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Revises the method of computing the retired or retainer pay for members of the armed forces who were called to active duty after October 1, 1963, served on such active duty for a continuous period of at least two years and who were released from such duty before October 1, 1973.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Entitles members of the armed forces reserves who were on active duty after August 13, 1961, and before May 31, 1963, or after August 4, 1964, and before March 28, 1973, or who completed at least 20 years of service after August 15, 1945, to retired pay.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to take a credit or an additional deduction for contributions to or for the use of any qualified organization the primary purpose of which is the support of the Arts and Humanities.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to terminate foreign assistance and military sales unless the President certifies that the recipient country is taking adequate measures to control illegal narcotics trade.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that the sovereign rights of the United States in the Panama Canal Zone shall not be transferred, and that no Federal funds shall be made available for negotiation or implementation of any treaty or other agreement which may impair the sovereign rights of the United States in the Canal Zone.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1977
Amends the Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 1977, to repeal the prohibition of expenditure of funds for claims for nonemergency inpatient hospital care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) when such care was available at a facility of the uniformed services within a 40-mile radius of the patient's residence.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1977
Stipulates that the $5,000 increase in the official expenses allowance for Members of the House of Representatives shall not take effect until the House of Representatives adopts a resolution determining specific guidelines for what constitutes an official expense.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1977
Grants a Federal Charter to the Gold Star Wives of America. Stipulates that the purpose of such organization is to honor the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1977
Directs the Secretary of Defense to place a plaque and a permanent display of medals, ribbons, and tributes of the Vietnam era on the crypt at the National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, reserved for an unknown American serviceman who lost his life in Southeast Asia. Directs the Secretary to perform the duties required by this Act even though the remains of such serviceman have not yet been placed in the crypt.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1977
Amends the charter of the Boy Scouts of America to stipulate that the annual report of the Boy Scouts shall be printed each year as a separate House document.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1977
Expresses the displeasure of the House of Representatives toward any policy of the Internal Revenue Service which changes through administrative interpretation long-standing applications of the Internal revenue laws. Expresses the sense of the House that the Internal Revenue Service refrain from changing its policy with respect to taxation of benefits given to employees, without submission of any proposed changes to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1977
Tuition Tax Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals alternative, limited income tax credits or deductions for the tuition paid for the primary, secondary or higher education of the taxpayer, his spouse, or his dependents.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that State and local government retirement systems shall be tax exempt organizations. Exempts these systems from the reporting requirements pertaining to deferred compensation. Treats all such systems as qualified pension plans under the code.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1977
Urges the International Whaling Commission to adopt a ten-year moratorium on the commercial killing of whales, and to undertake the management of unprotected, small cetacean. Encourages specified nations to comply voluntarily with a ten-year moratorium on such killing, as endorsed by the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1977
Retirement Savings Equal Treatment Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain individuals whose employers make contributions to pension plans a deduction for their contributions to employer pension funds, and to allow a deduction to certain individuals who establish modified individual retirement plans when the employer-employee pension contributions are small.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for an alternative 12-month period to the existing 60-month period of amortization for a new, identifiable certified pollution control facility acquired, or whose construction began, after December 31, 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1977
Prohibits any agency or agent of the United States from issuing, implementing, or enforcing any rule or regulation with respect to quotas related to race, creed, color, national origin, or sex which requires any individual or entity to take any action with respect to hiring, promotion, or admissions policies or practices.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1977
Illegal Alien Control Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish a border patrol force of not less than 3,800 officers. Directs the Attorney General to report to the President and the Congress on the feasibility of: (1) establishing a system for issuing machine readable identification cards to aliens entering the United States; and (2) utilizing the most current technology in electronic sensing devices in patrolling land borders. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude from the definition of the term "immigrant" those persons entering the United States for a period of not more than one year to perform temporary services or labor if the Secretary of Labor has determined and certified to the Attorney General that there are not sufficient workers available at the aliens' destination who are willing and able to perform such services. Directs the Secretary to refer to employers who request such certification, workers in the number desired, able and qualified, and who agree to present themselves to commence employment on the date and for the period specified. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to issue social security cards for aliens who may be employed or receive public assistance in the United States. Specifies the information which an alien must provide when applying for a social security card. Requires the applicant to supply either proof of the individual's citizenship or alien status, or an affidavit that the individual was assigned a social security account number at least five years before the date of application for the card. Prohibits the employment or provision of public assistance to an individual specified in this Act unless such individual presents a social security card to the employer or agency and the employer or agency submits required information to the Secretary. Establishes a civil penalty for the violation of such prohibition. Prohibits the employment or provision of public assistance to an alien whose status under the Immigration and Nationality Act does not permit such alien to work or receive public assistance. Establishes penalties for presenting a false social security card or providing fraudulent information in order to obtain employment or public assistance. Amends the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 to prohibit the use of Federal financial aid to provide job training or employment opportunities to aliens who are not authorized to work or who are illegally in the United States. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit income tax deductions for wages paid to aliens illegally working in the United States. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit the Secretary of Labor, when adjudicating the petition of an alien for admission to perform skilled or unskilled labor, from considering the work experience gained by the alien in the United States during any time while in an immigration status in which employment was not authorized for the alien. Authorizes the seizure and forfeiture of vessels, vehicles, and aircraft used to illegally transport aliens into the United States. Sets forth exceptions to such seizure and forfeiture provision, including a vessel, vehicle, or aircraft used as a common carrier unless the owner or other person in charge was at the time of the alleged illegal act a consenting party or privy thereto. Amends the Social Security Act to prohibit the payment of Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits and Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens. Adds border crossing cards, alien registration receipt cards, and other documents prescribed by regulation for entry into the United States to the list of documents the false making of which shall be punished by fine or imprisonment or both.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that artistic compositions, copyrights, and the like shall not be included in the estate tax valuation of the creator's estate.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1977
Designates service as a Member of the Women's Air Forces Service Pilots as active duty for the purposes of all laws administered by the Veterans' Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1977
Consumer Communications Reform Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that the authorization of lines, facilities, or services of specialized carriers which duplicate the lines, facilities, or services of other telecommunications common carriers fosters inefficiencies in the utilization of national telecommunications resources and has an adverse impact on the national objectives of maintaining stability of consumer price levels. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that no compensatory charges for or in connection with such communication service may be found to be unjust or unreasonable on the ground that it is too low. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from holding the charge of a carrier up to a particular level to protect the traffic or revenues from a communication service offered or provided by another carrier if such charge proposed by the carrier is compensatory. Provides that the Commission shall not grant or authorize any construction permit, license, or certificate for the construction, acquisition, or operation of any communication or transmission line or facility, or extension thereof, or any modification or renewal thereof, unless the Commission shall find, after full opportunity for evidentiary hearing on the record, that such permit, license, or certificate, will not result in increased charges or unnecessary duplication or communication lines.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow up to a $200 income tax deduction for one half of the expenses incurred for the installation and purchase of a teletypewriter for use by individuals whose sight, hearing, or speech is impaired.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1977
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any right to, title to, or interest in the property of the United States Government agencies in the Panama Canal Zone or any real property and improvements thereon located in the zone should not be conveyed, relinquished, or otherwise disposed of to any foreign government without specific authorization of such conveyance, relinquishment, or other disposition by any Act of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1977
Amends the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to obligate for fiscal years 1979 and 1980 not less than $30,000,000 of the funds authorized to be appropriated under such Act for improving air navigation facilities for the purpose of establishing no fewer than 45 automated flight service stations. Defines "flight service stations" as air navigation facilities used to assist pilots in the safe conduct of flight.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
Amends Title XVI (Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled) of the Social Security Act to make benefits under such Title payable to a resident alien only if such alien has continuously resided in the United States for at least six years. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish procedures to prevent payment of benefits to individuals who become ineligible due to their departure from the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction to any taxpayer engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution, lease, or sale of any product for contributions to his product liability loss reserve account.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
National Crude Oil Supply and Transportation Act - Expresses the intent of Congress that the continuation of a transportation system to deliver Alaskan crude oil to Northern Tier or inland States be accomplished through expedited administrative procedures. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a time schedule for the completion of required environmental impact statements in order to select a crude oil transportation system by February 1, 1978. Establishes criteria to be considered by the Secretary in selecting a transportation route. Directs the Secretary and other appropriate Federal officials to take all actions necessary to provide rights of way, permits, leases, and other authorizations necessary for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the transportation system approved under this Act. Declares that the actions of Federal officers and agencies under this Act shall not be subject to judicial review by the courts. Allows for claims that: (1) actions under this Act will deny Constitutional rights; and (2) actions taken are beyond the scope of authority conferred by this Act, provided that such claims are filed within 60 days following the date of the challenged action. Vests exclusive jurisdiction to hear such claims in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, acting as a special court. Stipulates that any judicial proceedings should be completed at the earliest possible date. Declares that nothing in this Act shall authorize or imply an exemption from provisions of the antitrust laws.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
National Product Liability Act - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to establish a substantive law of product liability for damages resulting from harm caused by products affecting interstate commerce and to establish a product liability action therefor. States that such product liability action preempts all existing causes and laws for the same purpose. Subjects whomever is engaged in interstate commerce and manufactures or sells: (1) a product which is in a defective condition; or (2) any product and fails to warn or protect against a dangerous condition in the use or reasonably foreseeable misuse or unintended use of the product or fails to provide proper instructions for the intended use of that product, to liability for the harm caused despite the fact that the manufacturer or seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and/or sale of the product. Allows any person harmed by a product who is a reasonably anticipated user or consumer of the product to bring an action in "product liability" against the manufacturer or seller of the product. Allows any person against whom a product liability action is brought to bring an action for indemnification or other appropriate relief against any third party whose misconduct has caused or contributed to the harm for which damages are sought. Limits the time for commencing a product liability action to two years from the date when the harm is first sustained, discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered. Stipulates that a product shall be deemed in defective condition only if it is unreasonably dangerous for its intended use at the time the product left the control of the party against whom the action is being brought. Prohibits the awarding of punitive or exemplary damages unless the trier of fact finds that the accused acted out of malice or willfully or wantonly acted in flagrant disregard of public health and safety. Allows the primary forum for trying cases brought under this Act to remain in the State courts.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
Prohibits rules promulgated by any Federal agency (except an emergency rule which must become immediately effective to prevent serious injury or the substantial frustration of legislative policies or intent) from becoming effective until such proposed rules have been submitted to Congress and a 60-day period has lapsed thereafter. Prevents such rules from becoming effective if disapproved by either House of Congress within such 60-day period. Permits disapproved of emergency rules. Prohibits the submission to Congress of any rule identical to one which has been disapproved unless submitted pursuant to new legislative authority which has been enacted affecting the agency's powers with respect to the subject matter of such rule. Renders agency rules dealing with emergency or routine matters or which will have an insignificant impact effective without publication of advance/notice of proposed rule making proceedings in the Federal Register as is currently required. Renders any rule granting an exemption to another rule or which is exempt from public notice and comment requirements effective immediately.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow up to a $200 income tax deduction for one half of the expenses incurred for the installation and purchase of a teletypewriter for use by individuals whose sight, hearing, or speech is impaired.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that our relations with the Republic of China should be continued, and that improved relations with the People's Republic of China can be accomplished without impairing our friendship with the Republic of China.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1977
Declares it the sense of the House of Representatives that the Attorney General should appoint a special prosecutor to serve in the Department of Justice to investigate and prepare prosecutions with respect to illegal acts to obtain influence for foreign governments from Federal elected or nonelected officials.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1977
Congressional Integrity Act - Requires the President to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute acts by agents of foreign governments to buy influence of elected officials and employees of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1977
Employee Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Congressional findings and policies declared in the National Labor Relations Act. Stipulates that only bargaining representatives who are chosen by secret ballot may be deemed exclusive representatives with whom employers have a duty to bargain collectively. Deems it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization to threaten or impose any fine or other economic sanction against any person in the exercise of rights under the National Relations Act. Permits a labor organization, employer, or ten percent of the members of the appropriate bargaining unit to request a referendum regarding a potential or existing strike. Deems it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization to call or maintain a strike if a majority of employees voting in such a referendum vote not to strike or if such a referendum is requested before a strike begins and the results have not yet been certified. Provides that if an employer, labor organization, or group of employees, submit a dispute to binding arbitration under an existing collective bargaining agreement, or have agreed to submit, arbitration shall be the exclusive forum and no unfair labor practice proceeding involving the same subject matter may be instituted before the National Labor Relations Board unless determinations of such arbitration are inconsistent with rights granted under the National Labor Relations Act. Permits any number of a religion, body, or sect which has traditionally objected to membership in and financial support of labor organizations to refrain from joining or supporting a union. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act to prohibit use of any procedure by which union dues and other assessments are deducted from employees paychecks in soliciting and collecting contributions for a segregated campaign fund.