United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that excess business holdings of private foundations (more than 20 percent of a corporation's stock) which were grandfathered by the Tax Reform Act of 1969 will not be deemed to be increased through the operation of the constructive ownership rules governing the acquisition of corporate assets by a controlled corporation if: (1) the acquiring corporation is engaged in an active trade or business; (2) the acquiring corporation's assets are substantial in relationship to the acquired corporation; and (3) the acquiring corporation is not being used by a private foundation as a vehicle to increase its business holdings.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1979
Tax Relief Act of 1979 - Title I: Individual Income Tax Reductions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce individual and estate and trust income tax rates for 1979 and to make permanent reductions for succeeding years. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to individual income tax brackets and to the amount of the personal exemption. Provides that the amount of the personal exemption and the zero bracket amount applicable to a taxpayer shall determine whether such taxpayer is required to file an income tax return. Title II: Capital Cost Recovery - Revises the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Allows a ten percent investment tax credit for buildings and tangible property, and a six percent credit for automobiles, taxis, and light duty trucks. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits a taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year. Title III: Reduction of Payroll Taxes and Long-Range Financial Strengthening of the Social Security System - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to repeal the special increases in the contribution and benefit base, for purposes of determining amount of tax liability, for 1979 through 1981. Limits contribution and benefit bases to a maximum $22,900 in 1979 and 1980. Makes reductions in the social security tax rate and sets forth the tax rate through year 2010. Provides for the partial funding of title XVIII (Medicare), part A (Hospital Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) of the Social Security Act from general revenues.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1979
American Savers Incentive Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income up to $5,000 of the interest earned on a savings account at a bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or similar thrift institution.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1979
Declares that the Soviet authorities should: (1) release a copy of the judgment against Anatoly Shcharansky; and (2) free Shcharansky and other Prisoners of Conscience and permit their emigration to Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1979
Petroleum and Natural Gas Decontrol Act of 1979 - Amends the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 to repeal, at the close of the first calendar month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, any authority under such Act to promulgate regulations, issue orders, and to enforce such regulations and orders. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to repeal the ceiling prices on natural gas established by such Act at the close of the first calendar month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. Repeals specified other natural gas allocation and price control authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Smaller Enterprise Regulatory Improvement Act - Amends the Small Business Act to require each Federal agency to publish semiannually an agenda of those rules which may be proposed during the upcoming six-month period affecting a substantial number of small business concerns and small organizations. Defines "small organizations" to include unincorporated businesses, sheltered workshops, nonprofit enterprises which are not dominant in their fields and such other groups and enterprises as each Federal agency shall establish by rule. Requires each published agenda to be transmitted to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comments. Directs each Federal agency to endeavor to provide notice of each agenda to affected small enterprises by means other than publication in the Federal Register. Directs each Federal agency to publish a written analysis prior to the issuance of any rule affecting a substantial number of small business concerns and organizations which considers: (1) the effect of such rule on small enterprises and competition; (2) whether an exemption could be provided such small enterprises; (3) whether lesser compliance standards could be adopted for small enterprises; and (4) the expected nature of reporting and recordkeeping requirements necessitated by such rule. Requires each Federal agency to issue a rule containing an exemption or differing compliance standards for such small business concerns and organizations if it is lawful, desirable, and feasible to do so. States that such small enterprises shall be given an opportunity to participate in agency rulemaking. Requires each agency to review its existing rules and prepare an analysis for purposes of eliminating those rules which are most burdensome to small businesses and organizations. Permits any agency to perform the analyses required by this Act in conjunction with any other analysis required by law. Declares that such other analysis shall not in itself satisfy the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Appropriates $513,000,000 to the Administrator of General Services for fiscal year 1980 for purchasing silver for stock piling under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Student Freedom of Choice Act of 1979 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to provide that no employer shall justify discrimination against any employee for nonmembership in or failure to support a labor organization if the employee is a student enrolled in a full-time program of secondary, vocational, or higher education.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to eliminate all provisions authorizing union security agreements (requiring union membership as a condition of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Expresses the sense of the House that: (1) the Senate should withhold approval of legislation implementing the Panama Canal Treaties; and (2) the State Department should make information about Panama's role in Nicaragua available to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1979
Directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of settling Indochinese refugees in territories and possessions in the Pacific which the United States administers or over which the United States claims sovereignty, with particular attention to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1979
Capital Cost Recovery Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Allows a ten percent investment tax credit for buildings and tangible property, and a six percent credit for automobiles, taxis, and light duty trucks. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1979
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal of appropriate design to Bryan Lewis Allen, the first aviator to cross the English Channel in a self-powered plane. Authorizes appropriations of up to $15,000 to strike such medal. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike bronze duplicates of such medal for sale to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should instruct the U.S. delegation to the 1980 Madrid meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to seek free elections supervised by the United Nations in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, after the withdrawal of all Soviet military and civilian personnel. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should inform and gain the support and cooperation of other nations in realizing independence for the Baltic States. Expresses the sense of Congress that the: (1) President should warn the Soviet Union against making citizenship claims on U.S. citizens; and (2) Secretary of State should inform U.S. citizens planning to visit the Soviet Union of the implications of the Soviet law on citizenship.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1979
Prohibits Federal-aid highway funding for any State which prohibits vehicles with an overall gross weight of less than 80,000 pounds or an overall length of less than 65 feet from using highways on the Interstate System within such State. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to recommend and promote uniform standards and procedures for the administration of State motor fuel taxes and the licensing or registration of motor vehicles utilized in carrying freight in interstate commerce and to facilitate cooperation among the States in the use of efficient methods of administering the registration, licensing, and taxation of such vehicles.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1979
Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt from applicable Federal regulations any State having in effect a law, rule, or regulation applicable to underground injection control related to the production or recovery of oil or natural gas unless the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that such law, rule, or regulation fails to protect underground sources of drinking water. Provides that any State for which such finding is made may amend its law, rule, or regulation in order to benefit from such exemption where approved by the Administrator. Exempts from the underground injection well permit requirements any State having in effect such law, rule, or regulation approved by the Administrator. Exempts from the administrative procedure and judicial review requirements of the United States Code any action relating to national interim primary drinking water regulations, revised national primary drinking water regulations, and State underground injection control program regulations, except as expressly provided by this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish a docket for such actions, and sets forth notice and public and agency commenting requirements for any proposed rulemaking. Sets forth procedures and other requirements for promulgating rules concerning drinking water regulations, and establishes procedures for judicial review of such actions. Amends the definition of "primary drinking water regulation". Revises the standard for the promulgation of primary drinking water regulations. Makes technical and conforming amendments to such Act. Requires any State having primary enforcement responsibility to submit notice to the Administrator that its public water system supervision program conforms to any revision or amendment to any national primary drinking water regulation made by the Administrator. States that failure to submit such notice shall be grounds for withdrawal of State primary enforcement responsibility. Amends such Act to authorize a State having such enforcement responsibility to exempt from maximum contaminant level requirements or treatment technique requirements any public water system not having any reasonable alter native source of drinking water available. Revises the dates for compliance by public water systems with contaminant level and treatment technique requirements. Extends the effective date for State underground injection control regulations approved by the Administrator. Authorizes the waiver of the prohibition against State grants being made for any period beginning more than one year after the date of a State's first grant having been made for a period of 18 months after the effective date of any amendment or revision of the national primary drinking water regulations if the State has assumed primary enforcement responsibility and is making diligent efforts to comply with such amendment or revision. Prohibits the Administrator from making grants to any State unless the State has assumed primary enforcement responsibility within two years after the Administrator promulgates State underground injection control program regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1979
Family Welfare Improvement Act - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to set forth a new formula for determining the amount of payments to a State under such part. Provides: (1) for an annual cost-of-living increase in such amount; and (2) that such amount shall be changed in accordance with a State's population increase or decrease. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to each State with an "excess unemployment percentage" greater than zero, as determined according to this Act, a supplemental grant based on a specified formula. Permits a State to require any individual whose needs are taken into account in determining AFDC eligibility to work as a condition of AFDC eligibility. Establishes a five year, eight State demonstration project in which payments made to participating States pursuant to the AFDC program may be used without regard to the requirements and limitations otherwise applicable under the AFDC program. Directs the Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations to report to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare concerning such project.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1979
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire by donation the former residence of Gerald R. Ford located at 649 Union Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan; or, if unable to acquire such residence by donation, to enter into a cooperative agreement with the city of Grand Rapids to assist in the preservation and interpretation of such site. Authorizes the Secretary, under specified conditions, to establish and administer the Gerald R. Ford National Historic Site. Authorizes the acquisition of personal property associated with such site upon its establishment as an historic site. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress after establishment recommending acquisition of any adjoining real property which may be necessary for the protection and administration of such historic site.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1979
Veterans' Obligated Period of Service Completion Act - Redefines "veteran" for veterans' benefits purposes to mean an individual who served in, and was not dishonorably discharged from, the active armed services before the period ending 90 days after enactment of this Act, or who entered the active armed services on or after such 90-day period and: (1) served the entire term of duty and was other than dishonorably discharged; (2) was discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability; or (3) before the completion of such term of duty was discharged other-than dishonorably for a satisfactory reason (including joining a reserve unit or enrolling in an educational program). Redefines "eligible veteran" for post-Vietnam era educational assistance to mean an individual who initially entered the armed services on or after January 1, 1977, and: (1) if active service was before such 90-day period under this Act, served more than 180 consecutive days and was discharged other than dishonorably or for a service-connected disability; and (2) if active service was on or after such 90-day period, served more than 180 consecutive days.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1979
Congratulates the men and women of the Apollo program upon the tenth anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon and requests the President to designate the period of July 16 through July 24, 1979, as "United States Space Observance" in honor of such event.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1979
Congressional Pay Act of 1979 - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to discontinue the annual adjustments in the rate of pay for Members of Congress. Amends the Federal Salary Act of 1967 to provide for the reduction of the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress by an amount which is the product of the annual rate of pay in effect at the end of the preceding pay period less the total percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index published during the preceding pay period over the preceding Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1979
Directs the President to furnish to the House of Representatives certain information related to the current oil situation, including data on: (1) shortages, supplies, demand, and allocation of crude oil; and (2) refinery yield reductions and capacity utilization.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1979
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to grant an additional allotment of funds for the construction of publicly owned waste treatment works to any State which has obligated 90 percent or more of the funds previously allotted to it for such purpose by March 31 of any fiscal year. Makes such additional funds available for the fiscal year for which such funds were authorized, and for the succeeding 12 months. Provides that any funds unobligated at the end of such period be allotted equally among the other States. Makes adjustments in the amount of additional funds allocated for a State where funds previously authorized proved inadequate. Authorizes appropriations for such additional funds. Sets the amount of funds authorized to be reserved each fiscal year to two percent of the amount authorized to be appropriated for allotments to States under this program. Makes funds allotted to the States for fiscal year 1978 available for the next succeeding 24 months. Provides for the reallotment of funds not obligated at the end of such period to all States except those which failed to obligate any of the funds being reallotted. Stipulates that such reallotted funds be in addition to those otherwise allotted to such State for grants under this program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1979
Declares that Zimbabwe Rhodesia has: (1) demonstrated its willingness to negotiate in good faith at an all parties conference; and (2) approved through elections the transfer of power to a black majority government. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President: (1) should determine that Zimbabwe Rhodesia is in substantial compliance with the International Security Assistance Act of 1978; (2) should not enforce sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia; and (3) should establish diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to tax income of married individuals filing tax returns separate from their spouses at the same rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the right to life vests from the moment of fertilization without regard to age, health, or condition of dependency.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1979
Prohibits any Federal employee or agency from inspecting medical or dental records of patients not receiving medical or dental assistance from the Federal Government. Specifies the way in which a patient may authorize disclosure of such information. Prescribes penalties and injunctive relief for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1979
Declares the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should take all necessary steps to bring the Baltic States question before the United Nations and to urge the United Nations to request the Soviet Union to withdraw all non-Baltic troops, agents, colonists, and controls from the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and to return all Baltic political prisoners from prisons, labor camps, and other detention centers in the Soviet Union. Requires the Secretary of State to do his utmost to bring the matter of the Baltic States to the attention of all nations by means of special radio programs and publications. Declares that the United States should not agree to the recognition of the Soviet Union's annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Calls for a return of self-determination to the peoples of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia through free elections conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1979
Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from implementing the proposed revenue procedure published in the Federal Register on February 13, 1979, which sets forth guidelines for determining whether private schools have forfeited their tax-exempt status through the adoption of racially discriminatory policies until Congress enacts specific guidelines for making such determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1979
Independent Contractor Tax Status Clarification Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to specify standards for determining whether certain individuals qualify as independent contractors for purposes of social security taxation. Treats an individual as an independent contractor if such individual: (1) controls the total number of his work hours; (2) does not maintain a principal place of business, or if he does, such place of business is not provided, or provided rent-free, by the person for whom such individual performs services; (3) has substantial investment in his business and earns income based upon sales or output rather than upon number of hours worked; and (4) performs services pursuant to a written contract and is provided written notice of his responsibility with respect to income and self-employment taxes. Amends Title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for service performed by an individual who qualifies as an independent contractor under the standards established by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1979
Repeals specified defense contract requirements regarding the purchase of aircraft or naval vessels including: (1) auditing requirements; (2) return of excess profits; and (3) subcontracting prohibitions. Repeals the requirement that at least ten percent of naval aircraft and aircraft engines be manufactured in plants owned and operated by the United States. Removes the President's power to manufacture naval aircraft or aircraft parts in United States owned plants.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1979
Amends the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 to make privately owned public use airports eligible for Federal financial assistance under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1979
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to guarantee those obligations incurred by units of local government to finance activities necessary to alleviate a shortage or potential shortage of potable water where the Secretary determines available grant funding is insufficient. Enables such a guarantee to be made even if the application and/or the total outstanding debt of a unit of local government fails to meet statutory requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to accept as security to assure repayment of such guaranteed debt: (1) a commitment by a local government to impose a unit surcharge on water; or (2) other financial resources of a local government.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1979
Declares that Zimbabwe Rhodesia has (1) demonstrated its willingness to negotiate in good faith at an all parties conference and (2) approved a constitution transferring power to a black majority government. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President (1) should determine that Zimbabwe Rhodesia is in substantial compliance with the International Security Assistance Act of 1978 and (2) should not enforce sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1979
Declares the sense of Congress that the President shall take steps to: (1) call upon the Soviet Union to permit the resurrection of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic Churches; (2) contact the officials of the Soviet Union to secure freedom of worship in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; and (3) raise the question of Stalin's liquidation of such churches with national and international religious councils.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1979
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Olympic Committee take the necessary measures to have the International Olympic Committee transfer the 1980 summer Olympics to a site outside the Soviet Union, and that the United States should consider withdrawal from such Olympics and establishing an alternate competition if such transfer does not occur.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the individual income tax credit for the elderly and to increase the adjusted gross income limitation on such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1979
Directs the United States to pay reasonable litigation costs, including attorney fees, to prevailing defendants in civil actions in which the United States is a plaintiff.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to abolish the Professional Standards Review Organizations which were established to review services covered under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Taxpayer Relief Amendments to Panama Treaty Legislation - Specifies that all expenses incurred implementing the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 shall be treated as an expense of the Panama Canal Commission. Prohibits payments to Panama out of U.S. Treasury revenues. Requires the Panama Canal Company to pay its cash assets to the U.S. Treasury to be applied against its debt. Directs the Commission to continue repaying its debt to the United States. Amends the Panama Canal Code to require the Commission to pay: (1) all canal operating revenues to the U.S. Treasury; and (2) the payments required under the Treaty to Panama only with express congressional authorization. Directs the General Accounting Office to monitor all costs incurred by the Commission and report annually to Congress on the differences in costs to the U.S. taxpayer. Prohibits unless expressly authorized by Congress: (1) the use of U.S. funds to implement the Treaty; (2) the transfer of U.S. property in the Canal Zone to Panama; and (3) the cessation of the Panama Canal Company and the Canal Zone Government.
![Official portrait of Rep. Crane, Philip M. [R-IL-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000873_200.jpg)