United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1988
Prohibits the Administrator of Veterans Affairs from taking into consideration any payment to any person pursuant to the settlement in the case of In re: "Agent Orange" Product Liability Litigation in determining: (1) eligibility to receive a veterans' pension; (2) the amount of any such pension; or (3) the amount of such person's attributable income for purposes of eligibility for certain medical benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1988
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the income tax rules requiring cost capitalization shall not apply in connection with the qualified artistic work expenses of freelance writers, artists, and photographers. Excludes from qualified expenses those related to printing, photographic plates, motion picture films, video tapes, and similar items. Applies the same exemption with respect to qualified indirect costs of certain film producers, not including any direct costs of a motion picture film or video tape.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1988
Amends the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1988 to repeal the requirement that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) adopt regulations requiring the installation of operating automatic altitude reporting equipment for all aircraft operating in terminal airspace where air traffic control radar service is provided and in all controlled airspace above a minimum altitude to be determined by the FAA. Amends the Airport and Airway Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1987 to repeal the requirement that the FAA Administrator promulgate a final rule requiring the installation of operating transponders with automatic altitude reporting capability for aircraft operating in designated terminal airspace where radar service is provided for separation of aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1988
Cooperative Child Care Act for Responsible Efforts - Title I: Grants for Small Businesses - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to make grants of up to $250,000 each to eligible applicants to provide employee child care. Sets out eligibility requirements. Limits the number of grants to eight each fiscal year, half of which must be made to businesses in metropolitan areas having populations of at least 500,000. Directs the Administrator to present an evaluation of the grant projects to specified congressional committees no later than March 31, 1992. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Tax Incentives for Small Businesses - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit small businesses a ten percent investment tax credit in connection with certain depreciable property used as part of an on-site child care facility owned and operated by the employer for the care of enrollees, at least 50 percent of whom must be dependents of the employer's employees. Provides for recapture of the credit amount if the facility ceases to be a qualified child care center. Limits eligibility for the credit to small businesses having average annual gross receipts of $5,000,000 or less for the preceding three-year period. Permits the same small businesses a ten percent tax credit for expenses paid or incurred to operate such a facility. Title III: National Advisory Commission on Public and Private Cooperative Child Care Efforts - Establishes the National Advisory Commission on Public and Private Cooperative Child Care Efforts to study and report to specified congressional committees and to persons appointing Commission members concerning ways to promote coordination between Federal programs and American businesses in providing quality child care to working parents. Terminates the Commission 30 days following the submission of its required report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1988
Solar Development Initiative Act of 1988 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1991 for specified Federal solar energy research and development programs. Directs the Secretary of Energy to develop a complementary solar and renewable energy research program which: (1) has near-term commercial applications; and (2) enhances the international competitiveness of the solar and renewable energy industries. Authorizes appropriations for such program for FY 1989 through 1991. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish an information-dissemination program for Federal procurement and loan officers regarding the application of solar heating and cooling technology in Federal buildings. Mandates that the renewable energy technologies programs established by the Secretary of Commerce be funded in FY 1989 through 1991 through the Department of Energy at a specified maximum level. Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to direct the President to take into account, when determining whether to designate a beneficiary country, the degree to which it undertakes self-help measures to promote energy self-sufficiency using locally available renewable energy resources. Mandates that the design for new Federal facilities for specified agencies include consideration of energy systems using solar energy or other renewable energy forms. Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to mandate that a specified minimum percentage of loan authority be available only for solar and renewable energy loans. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to include among its special projects incentives, grants and studies for renewable energy and other small business activities. Prohibits the use of administrative funds for such projects. Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) repeal provisions regarding loans to small business concerns for solar energy and energy conservation measures; (2) mandate that a certain percentage of loan authority be used only for small business energy measures; and (3) direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to give due consideration to the export potential of solar and renewable energy products, and to include a list of solar and renewable energy loan guarantees in an annual report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1988
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit, with limited exceptions, the imposition of the excise tax on diesel and aviation fuels in connection with sales to a purchaser for use in public intercity, local, or school buses or for statutorily nontaxable uses (including off-highway business uses, State or local government uses, and shipping uses). Sets forth registration requirements for both sellers and purchasers participating in exempt sales. Establishes reporting requirements for producers and importers and penalties for failure to report. Permits expedited procedures for refunds or income tax credits with respect to retail sales of diesel and aviation fuel employed in nontaxable uses. Provides for the payment of interest in connection with such refunds. Treats marine retailers of taxable fuel as producers for purposes of the excise tax on diesel and aviation fuels.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1988
Credit Union System Improvement Act of 1988 - Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to require that at least one member of the National Credit Union Administration Board (NCUAB) be an individual who has substantial credit union experience. Requires the Chairman of the NCUAB to assign to a Board member the responsibility to consult with insured State-chartered credit unions in the formulation and implementation of policies and regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1988
Toddler Tax Credit Act of 1988 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a refundable income tax credit for each dependent child under the age of six. Establishes the credit percentage at: (1) 15 percent for a single qualified dependent; and (2) ten percent for each of three additional qualified dependents. Reduces the credit percentage for taxpayers whose earned income exceeds $8,000 (credit minimum is $750 per qualified dependent) and for taxpayers subject to alternative minimum tax. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe tables for determining the credit amount. Applies phase-in amounts for tax years 1989 through 1991. Indexes post-1993 credit amounts. Provides for advance toddler tax credit payments by employers to employees who provide certification of eligibility. Requires taxpayers to file information returns to reflect such payments. Disallows: (1) the earned income tax credit to taxpayers eligible for the toddler tax credit; and (2) application of the dependent care credit in connection with a dependent child under the age of six.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1988
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to exempt from pretreatment requirements industrial users that discharge wastes into certain publicly owned treatment works.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1988
Small Business Rural Economic Development Act of 1988 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) increase the emphasis on rural economic needs and the promotion of the development company program in rural areas; and (2) develop a plan to increase procurement and export trade seminars there. Amends provisions relating to loans to State or local development companies for plant acquisition or expansion to: (1) permit up to 15 percent of any loan to be used for working capital if the small business being assisted is located in a rural area with an unemployment rate above the national average; and (2) permit the leasing of up to 33 percent of a new facility if growth projections indicate that the assisted business will both need and use the additional space provided by the new construction. Directs the SBA to establish a pilot program to approve appropriate certified development companies located predominantly in rural areas as participating lenders in the basic small business loan program administered under the Small Business Act. Requires both interim and final SBA reports to specified congressional committees with respect to the pilot program. Revises provisions relating to SBA guarantees of development company debentures. Amends the Small Business Act to reduce the administrative and lending fees permitted in connection with loans in rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1988
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 21, 1988, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1988
Commercial Space Launch Act Amendments of 1988 - Amends the Commercial Space Launch Act to direct the Secretary of Transportation, in facilitating and encouraging private sector acquisition of U.S. surplus launch property, to take into account the availability of comparable property under reasonable terms from domestic non-Government sources. Revises insurance requirements for persons licensed to provide launch services. Allows such persons, as an alternative to obtaining liability insurance, to demonstrate financial responsibility sufficient to compensate third-party claims arising from death, bodily injury, or loss of or damage to property resulting from licensed activities. Limits this requirement to the lesser of $500,000,000 or the maximum liability insurance available on the world market at a reasonable cost. Sets out corresponding requirements, but at a maximum of $100,000,000, with respect to claims by the United States for loss of or damage to U.S. property. Requires licensees to enter into reciprocal waivers with contractors, subcontractors, and customers involved in launch services, under which each party agrees to be responsible for its own damage and employee injuries. Requires the Secretary to enter into comparable waiver agreements with the same parties, as well as with licensees. Applies these waivers only to the extent claims exceed required insurance coverage. Directs the Secretary to review insurance liability coverage requirements within three years of this Act's enactment and to submit to the Congress a proposed adjustment to conform with altered liability expectations and the worldwide availability of insurance. Mandates the same procedure on an annual basis thereafter. Requires the Secretary to provide for the payment of successful third-party claims against parties subject to this Act to the extent such claims are not compensated by insurance, including self-insurance. Exempts licensees associated with certain satellites under construction on August 15, 1986, from requirements related to liability insurance coverage for claims by the United States. Directs the Secretary to ensure that launches of satellites having a launch date commitment are not preempted from access to launch sites except in cases of imperative national need, to be determined by the Secretary of the Air Force or the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Prohibits delegation of this determination and directs the determining party to submit to the Congress, within seven days of the determination, a full explanation, as well as a schedule for ensuring prompt launching of the preempted satellite. Directs the Secretary to study the process for scheduling launches and to report results to the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should explore ways and means of developing a dialogue with appropriate foreign governments to produce guidelines for access to launch services by satellite builders and users to assure reasonable and fair international competition in commercial space activities. Directs the Administrator of NASA to report to the Congress on a program to support research into launch systems component technologies to develop higher performance and lower costs for commercial and Government launches.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1988
Truth in Social Security Accounting Act of 1988 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to exclude, beginning with FY 1990, Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund receipts and outlays in the Federal deficit determinations for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1988
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is commended for initiating an unfair trade practice investigation with respect to the petition filed by the American Soybean Association for the enforcement of trade benefits under a trade agreement; (2) the USTR should pursue its investigation of the alleged unfair trade practices contained in such petition; and (3) the President should use his authority to enforce trade agreements under the Trade Act of 1974 to restore the benefits due the U.S. soybean industry as a result of the European Community agreement to provide duty-free treatment for U.S. soybean products.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1988
Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to set priorities for asbestos cleanup in schools, giving first priority to situations which pose the most dangers to human health and the environment. Requires local educational agencies to submit asbestos in schools management plans to State Governors within six months after the Administrator establishes guidelines pertaining to such plans and to implement such plans within 15 months of such guidelines. Amends the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984 to authorize appropriations through FY 1993 for loans to local educational agencies for school asbestos inspections and the preparation of management plans.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1988
Amends Federal law relating to Federal participation in State toll road pilot programs to require that, in the case of Texas, the State highway department and the Texas Turnpike Authority must enter into a toll revenues agreement with the Secretary of Transportation as a prerequisite to Federal permission for such participation. States that upon request of the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation, the Secretary must allocate to the Texas Turnpike Authority the amounts that would be payable to the Department as the Federal share of project costs if the Department were implementing a project. Mandates such allocations from sums apportioned to Texas for Federal-aid primary system projects.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1988
Lower Mississippi Delta Development Act - Establishes the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission to study and make recommendations concerning the economic needs and economic development of the Lower Mississippi Delta, defined to include areas in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. Directs the Commission, among other things, to: (1) study the projected ten-year economic needs of the region; (2) review existing Federal, State, local, and private programs for business development and financing; (3) develop inventories of the region's business resources and natural resources; (4) study the role of small business in creating jobs in the region; and (5) make recommendations to the Congress regarding tax policies, business development programs, investment incentives, infrastructure development, and a number of other economic development issues. Requires the Commission, no later than one year after its first meeting, to present its required findings and recommendations to specified congressional leadership and committees, the President, and the Governors of the affected States. Requires termination of the Commission within one year after submission of its report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1988
Military Child Abuse Prevention Plan Act of 1988 - Establishes a task force to analyze the quality and sufficiency of, and develop recommendations concerning, Department of Defense (DOD) personnel and agencies responsible for monitoring the welfare of children at military installations. Authorizes funds previously appropriated to DOD to be used for the task force in FY 1988 and authorizes appropriations for FY 1989. Directs the task force to develop recommendations to improve the capability of DOD to prevent, detect, and respond to child abuse and neglect of children of members of the armed forces or civilian DOD employees for whom child care services are provided on military installations, based on an analysis of the quality and sufficiency of DOD personnel and agencies at selected installations. Requires the task force to make additional recommendations concerning whether there should be: (1) better standardized policies and procedures applicable throughout DOD with respect to child abuse and neglect; (2) child abuse and neglect oversight committees on military installations; (3) minimum standards for education, training, and experience for military personnel responsible for the prevention, detection, and treatment of child abuse; (4) improved liaison with other Federal and community agencies; and (5) improved monitoring and evaluation throughout DOD. Directs that the analysis of the quality and sufficiency of DOD personnel and agencies be made at representative military installations, including installations at specified locations. Specifies information to be collected for such analysis, including: (1) a description of DOD military and civilian personnel who direct, coordinate, or oversee child welfare policy at the installation or who might be called upon to respond to allegations of child abuse, and their training; (2) an evaluation of the ability of such personnel to effectively detect and prevent, and respond to allegations of, abuse or neglect; (3) an evaluation of any relationship, agreement, or cooperation between such personnel and State or local officials responsible for investigation, prosecution, and follow-up with respect to reports of abuse or neglect; and (4) an evaluation of the quality of family counseling and support services available for abused or neglected children and their families. Directs that such analysis be carried out principally through interviews at each installation surveyed and that specified persons be interviewed. Requires the task force to report its recommendations to the Secretary of Defense, who shall report on implementation of such recommendations to the Congress. Terminates the task force 90 days after submission of its report.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1988
Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, in planning any water resources project to give consideration to the impact of the project to present and future recreational uses and commercial development in the area surrounding the project.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1988
Retirement and Survivors' Annuities for Bankruptcy Judges and Magistrates Act of 1988 - Amends Federal law to establish a new retirement system for bankruptcy judges and magistrates with 15 or more years of service, or at least eight years of service, upon attaining age 65. Entitles a bankruptcy judge or magistrate who has served at least five years to disability retirement. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments in such retirement system. Requires each bankruptcy judge or magistrate who elects an annuity under this Act to notify the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Declares that such judge or magistrate shall not be entitled to an annuity under the civil service system. Declares this Act applicable to service on or after October 1, 1979. Provides for making payments which would otherwise be made to a bankruptcy judge or magistrate to another person to the extent provided for under the terms of any court order or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation. Provides for deducting amounts from the salary of a bankruptcy judge or magistrate who elects an annuity under this Act. Allows such persons to make deposits for prior service. Declares that a bankruptcy judge or magistrate who retires and thereafter practices law: (1) may not receive the benefit of any cost-of-living adjustment during the period in which such person practices law until reaching age 70; and (2) no annuity shall accrue or be paid for any such period until such person reaches age 70. Provides for the payment of the lump-sum credit of any bankruptcy judge or magistrate who leaves office prior to such person's eligibility to receive an annuity. Establishes the Judicial Officers' Retirement Fund for the payment of annuities, refunds, and other payments under this Act. Authorizes appropriations as necessary for the unfunded liability of the Fund. Establishes transition provisions for incumbent judges and magistrates. Provides survivors' annuities for bankruptcy judges, magistrates, and incumbents. Authorizes the recall of retired bankruptcy judges and magistrates into service.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1988
Medical Testing Improvement Act of 1988 - Amends title III (General Powers and Duties) of the Public Health Service Act to remove references to interstate commerce from provisions prohibiting operating a laboratory without a license issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Repeals provisions exempting from statutes regulating laboratories those laboratories operated by physicians, osteopaths, dentists, or podiatrists solely as an adjunct to the treatment of their own patients. Requires an annual inspection of laboratories to insure compliance with standards issued by the Secretary. Requires laboratories to qualify under a quarterly proficiency testing program established by the Secretary, including testing for each category of test which the laboratory is authorized to perform under its license. Requires the Secretary to maintain a technical and staff capacity to provide training and technical assistance to laboratories requesting such service and to laboratories which do not qualify under the proficiency testing program. Allows the proficiency testing to be performed by a private entity only if the entity meets standards established by the Centers for Disease Control. Requires the Secretary to maintain the capacity to conduct the testing. Makes laboratory licenses issued by the Secretary valid for one year instead of three years. Removes the cap on the fee for issuance or renewal of licenses. Directs the Secretary to make grants to a State which enacts laws providing for standards equal to or more stringent than under the provisions amended by this Act to assist the State in implementing the laws.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1988
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Death Penalty Act of 1988 - Amends the Federal criminal code to subject any person who is found guilty of the first degree murder of a Federal law enforcement officer, or certain other Federal officials or employees, to the penalty of death. Establishes procedures for the imposition of the death penalty in such cases. Provides that no person who was less than 18 years of age may be sentenced to death. Sets forth mitigating and aggravating factors to be considered by the jury in determining whether the death sentence will be imposed. Requires the Government to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea that it intends to seek the death penalty, as well as notice of the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury or the court (upon motion by the defendant) when the defendant is convicted and the Government has filed notice that it intends to seek the death penalty. Allows the Government and the defendant to present any information relevant to a mitigating or aggravating factor without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury or, if there is no jury, the court, that: (1) the aggravating factors found to exist sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist; or (2) in the absence of a mitigating factor, the aggravating factors alone are sufficient to justify a sentence of death. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the death sentence. Directs the court to impose the death sentence upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals, upon consideration of the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, and any special finding, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the special finding of the existence of an aggravating factor. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Establishes procedures for the implementation of the death sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1988
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover, on a reasonable charge basis, the services of a clinical psychologist which would otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician or as incident to a physician's service.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1988
Designates the Federal office building located at the corner of Locust Street and West Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the John J. Duncan Federal Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1988
AIDS Assault Act of 1988 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for any person who, under certain circumstances, engages in conduct knowing or having reason to believe that such conduct will infect another person with AIDS. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations requiring entities which collect or distribute blood or blood components or derivatives, in order to receive a license under such Act, to permit directed and autologous blood donations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1988
Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to permit blind beneficiaries to select the agency or organization to which they will be referred for vocational rehabilitation services. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether the agency or organization is an appropriate choice given each beneficiary's particular needs. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory panel on rehabilitation services for the blind, a majority of which shall consist of blind consumers of rehabilitation services, to develop guidelines and standards for the provision of such services to the blind and to assist the Secretary in determining which agencies or organizations meet the needs of blind beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1988
Imposes a civil penalty upon any person who mails to any individual or group of individuals at their place of residence: (1) any unsolicited sexually oriented advertisement; or (2) any unsolicited obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy, or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1988
Defines temporary or seasonal work, with respect to temporary agricultural worker classification under the H-2A program, to include both the production of agricultural commodities and the breeding and market preparation of livestock and poultry. Requires annual certification of workers whose employment demands their continuous presence in the United States for 12 months or more.
![Official portrait of Rep. Chapman, Jim [D-TX-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000312_200.jpg)