United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to apply the same tax rates to married persons filing separate returns as are presently applicable to unmarried individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1978
Families with Alcoholism Assistance Act - Amends the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970 to require research into the need for education, counseling, and treatment of the families of alcohol abusers and alcoholics.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1978
Directs the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp in observance of the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend to all residents of the United States the same general exclusion of income earned abroad that is presently limited to citizens. Repeals the disallowance of an income tax credit for foreign taxes paid on income items that are excluded as foreign earned income. Increases the limitations on this exclusion, with provisions for annual adjustments by the Secretary of the Treasury to correspond to rate increases paid to GS-12, step one government employees. Allows a new income tax deduction for the sum of foreign source income related expenses falling in the following categories: the cost-of-living differential (i.e., the excess cost) of maintaining a family in a foreign country rather than the United States (to be governed by tables published by the Secretary of the Treasury, guided by the State Department's index of foreign living costs); a portion of the excess housing costs experienced abroad the elementary and secondary education expenses of the taxpayer's dependents, including room, board and travel if no adequate "United States-type" schools are available; travel expenses of one annual trip home; and reasonable transportation expenses for the taxpayer and his family for travel between remote or adverse posts and any other location approved by the employer. Allows taxpayers to use deduction for determining adjusted gross income, thereby extending it to individuals not itemizing their deductions. Limits deducting any expense item to one of the specified categories of this deduction, thereby avoiding multiple deductions of single expenses. Includes in gross income any reimbursement by an employer for expenses qualifying for this deduction. Increases the time and amount limitations for moving expense deductions in the cases of all international moves resulting from death of the taxpayer, retirement, or a new principal place of work. Includes the storage fees incurred for the duration of a foreign assignment within the expenses qualifying for this deduction. Excludes from gross income all meals and lodging furnished the taxpayer and his dependents by his employer outside the United States in a "camp-style" or communal setting. Provides taxpayers working abroad the same extended repurchase time limitations as are presently provided servicemen stationed overseas for the nonrecognition of gain on the sale or exchange of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1978
Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to prohibit assistance to Radio Free Europe or Radio Liberty if any Communist country is permitted to use such broadcast facilities.
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 · 9 February 1978
Declares it the sense of Congress that the President should (1) terminate negotiation efforts to formulate a Rhodesian settlement acceptable only to radical Marxist oriented external forces and a terrorist-guerilla faction, and (2) declare support for Rhodesian leaders who are prepared to allow the Rhodesian government to be chosen in free elections based on adult universal suffrage.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1978
Federal Disclosure and Accountability Act - Prohibits any Federal employee from coercing any individual for the purpose of interfering with the right of such individual to disclose any illegal or otherwise improper Government action to the Review Board on Improper Government Actions, established by this Act and from taking any adverse personnel action against such individual who is a Federal employee in retaliation for such disclosure. Requires the Board to investigate any such disclosure and, in the event further investigation or action is warranted, to notify the person, the head of the agency in which such person is employed, and, if appropriate, the Attorney General and/or the Comptroller General.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals to designate $1 to their income tax liability to be used for reducing the public debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1978
Prohibits commerce in contraband cigarettes. Defines "contraband cigarettes" as a quantity of more than 20,000 cigarettes, bearing no evidence of payment of applicable State cigarette taxes, which are in the possession of any person other than (1) a person licensed by the State where the cigarettes are found or by the Internal Revenue Service, (2) a common or contract carrier, or (3) a government agent in the performance of duties. Subjects dealers in cigarettes to such reporting requirements as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.
United States · United States Congress · 6 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 · 31 January 1978
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 · 25 January 1978
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to evaluate the adequacy and appropriateness of Federal Motor Vehicle Standard 121 (49 CFR 571.121) with particular attention to whether the antilock braking requirement is practicable and meets the needs of motor vehicle safety. Requires the Secretary to submit the results of such evaluation to Congress within 12 months. Suspends the implementation of any antilock braking requirement until three months after the Secretary submits such report.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1977
Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen Protection Act - Requires that the Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and other relics of Hungarian royalty to be kept in the United States, unless Congress specifically provides otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1977
Declares it the sense of the House of Representatives that the people of Egypt and Israel be congratulated and encourages the states of the Middle East to begin direct negotiations for peace in the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1977
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-native troops, agents, colonists, and controls from the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and to return all Baltic exiles from Siberia and from prisons and labor camps 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. Directs the President to take steps to provide that all maps of Europe show the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as independent states. 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 · 17 October 1977
Civil Aviation Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Civil Aeronautics Board in the exercise of its duties with respect to interstate and overseas air transportation to consider the encouragement of new air carriers and maximum reliance on competition in the air transportation system as being in the public interest. Stipulates that with respect to applications for certificates to engage in interstate and overseas air transportation the Board shall find that such application is consistent with the public convenience and necessity if it requests authority to engage in nonstop service between two points between which another carrier holds such authority but which has not exercised it to a specified extent. Direct the Board to approve applications for authority to engage in nonstop service between two points which are 350 miles apart or less and between which at least 40,000 origin-destination passengers were transported by certificated air carriers during the preceding year. Entitles air carriers holding such a certificate to select two pairs of points each calendar year for automatic market entry for nonstop service. Establishes minimum levels of service for such markets. Prohibits the Board from granting an interstate or overseas all-cargo certificate to an applicant who holds a certificate from the Interstate Commerce Commission and who, during the previous calendar year, grossed more than $3,000,000 in accordance with tariffs approved by the Commission unless the Board specifically finds that the granting of such a certificate is in the public interest and would not substantially lessen competition in any line of commerce or tend to create a monopoly. Authorizes air carriers to discontinue or reduce service to a community upon 90 days' notice. Authorizes the Board to prohibit such action under specified circumstances. Stipulates that there shall be three types of certificates to engage in foreign air transportation: (1) a certificate to engage in foreign scheduled air transportation of persons, property, and mail; (2) a certificate to engage in foreign charter air transportation; and (3) a certificate to engage in foreign all-cargo air transportation. Establishes insurance requirements for air carriers. Prohibits the transfer of a certificate unless such transfer is necessary to carry out a consolidation, merger, or acquisition of control agreement approved by the Board. Sets forth considerations which the Board is to take into account in determining the reasonableness of airline rates. Declares it to be the policy of Congress to permit maximum feasible upward price flexibility in markets in which there is a sufficient effective competition to permit such upward flexibility without undue risk of unjust or unreasonable high fares. Prohibits the Board from approving a pooling or other agreement which: (1) is between an air transportation and a common carrier subject to the Interstate Commerce Act governing the compensation to be received by the common carriers for transportation services; (2) limits the level of capacity provided by air carriers in interstate or overseas air transportation in markets in which air carriers compete; (3) fixes rates (except for joint rates) for interstate or overseas air transportation; or (4) is for a period of more than five years. Exempts air carriers which provide passenger service solely with aircraft which have a maximum passenger capacity of less than 56 passengers or cargo service with aircraft having a maximum payload capacity of less than 18,000 pounds from the requirement that such a carrier hold a certificate of public convenience and necessity and other such requirements as the Board may promulgate in regulations. Authorizes the Board to increase such passenger or payload capacity when the public interest so requires. Directs the Board to determine and pay compensation for essential air service by air carriers to small communities and isolated areas. Requires the Board to pay such compensation when it prohibits an air carrier from discontinuing service to a community. Sets forth procedural deadlines for Board determinations on application under the Federal Aviation Act.
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 · 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 · 22 September 1977
Postpones, until July 1, 1978, the effective date of the Internal Revenue Service's Revenue Ruling 76-453 which holds that (1) transportation expenses between an individual's residence and temporary place of work are not deductible and (2) reimbursement for such expenses by employers is includible in gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 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 · 12 September 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) remove the adjusted gross income limitation on the credit for the elderly; (2) increase the amount of the credit; and (3) provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment for the credit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 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 · 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
Declares it the sense of Congress that the President should (1) urge the Soviet Union to release Rudenko and Tykhy from prison and permit them to emigrate, (2) urge the Soviet Union to release and drop charges against other members of groups monitoring the Helsinki Agreement, and (3) make it known that the United States expects all signatories of the Helsinki Accord to fulfill that agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1977
Fairness in Labor- Management Relations Act - Repeals provisions of the National Labor Relations Act which permit employers and labor representatives to enter into a contract conditioning employment on union membership. States that a selected labor representative shall represent only those employees, selecting it and that nothing shall preclude any individual or group of individuals from entering into a separate contract of employment, the terms of any collective bargaining agreement notwithstanding. Deems an unfair labor practice a labor organization's calling, continuing, or resuming a strike in any bargaining unit if a referendum was requested before the strike began and the result thereof has not been certified or if a majority of the employees voting in a referendum elect not to strike or not to continue to strike.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1977
Requests the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to hasten the assembly of data and expedite the reviews and consideration precedent to the introduction of sodium valproate for the treatment of epilepsy in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1977
Federal Construction Costs Reduction Act - Raises from $2,000 to $40,000 the dollar value of contracts to which the Davis-Bacon Act (minimum wages on federally-affected construction projects) applies. Directs the Secretary of Labor to increase such threshold level yearly in proportion to the rise in the Consumer Price Index. Makes the Act applicable only to the wages of unskilled laborers. Exempts apprentices, helpers, and trainees from the Act and forbids the Secretary from taking any action which discourages the customary utilization of such persons. Requires the "prevailing wage" (contracts covered by the Act must provide that covered employees are paid at a rate determined by the prevailing wage) to be set at the average wage paid laborers employed on at least three projects similar to the subject project which were carried out in the immediate geographic area during the previous two years. Requires such determination to be made no later than 60 days prior to the opening of invitations for bids for projects covered by the Act. Requires, in lieu of the weekly wage reports presently required by the Act, that in the event there is no evidence that a contractor is violating the Act, such contractor need only submit an affidavit certifying his compliance. States that where evidence of such violation exists, the contractor must submit weekly certified payroll statements and other records required by the Secretary. Establishes a Federal Construction Appeals Board to which any interested party may appeal wage rate determinations or other Labor Department Rules likely to have a substantial effect on future wage rate determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1977
Declares it the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of the United States should maintain its rights and jurisdiction over the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1977
Authorizes the President of the United States to designate the week beginning on the Sunday preceding the fourth Thursday in November of each year as "National Family Week".
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1977
Social Security Reform Amendments - Repeals the earnings limitation under title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Provides benefits under such title to husbands, widowers, and fathers on the same basis as wives, widows, and mothers who presently receive benefits. Eliminates the five- month waiting period for disability benefits. Continues the benefit entitlement under such title through the month of the beneficiary's death. Permits individuals 65 years of age or older to elect an exemption from Social Security coverage and payment of Social Security coverage and payment of Social Security taxes. Eliminates marriage or remarriage of a beneficiary as a factor in terminating or reducing the amount of benefits available. Authorizes direct payments to physicians and other providers at their option under the supplementary medical insurance program of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1977
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 · 18 May 1977
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that total appropriations shall not exceed estimated revenues. Authorizes the suspension of such prohibition in time of war or national emergency. Prohibits any increase in the national debt as it exists on the date this article is ratified. Sets forth a schedule for repayment of the national debt.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain individuals to compute the amount of the deduction for retirement savings on the basis of the earned income of their spouses.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1977
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 · 6 May 1977
Directs that no officer, employee, or agent of the United States, or agency or department thereof, may inspect, acquire, or otherwise require for any reason any part of medical and/or dental records of patients whose care was not, or will not be, provided directly by the Federal Government, or is not paid for under a program receiving Federal financial assistance, unless such patient has authorized disclosure. Sets forth procedures for authorizing disclosure. Specifies that any person who violates this Act shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1977
Health Care Expenditures Regulation Review Act - Requires any officer or agency in the executive branch of the Federal Government to submit all proposed health care regulations to each House of Congress. Sets forth the procedure by which a proposed health care regulation shall become effective. Directs the head of any Federal department or agency to give 60 days notice to the relevant committees of the House of Representatives and Congress, prior to initial publication of any regulation which relates to: (1) costs or expenditures of, or reimbursements to, individuals or providers of health care; or (2) the fixing of any rate or charge.