United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the administration should oppose the implementation of the European Community directive which will limit U.S. access to such Community's agricultural markets; (2) if the European Community denies U.S. meat imports based on unsubstantiated standards or standards not applied to all Community members, the administration should adopt countermeasures; and (3) the administration should communicate to the Community that the United States views the directive as inconsistent with such Community's obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1987
Requests and authorizes the President to conduct a White House conference on Child Abuse not earlier than September 1, 1989, and not later than September 30, 1991. Requires the conference to be planned and conducted under the direction of the Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. Provides for the cooperation of Federal departments and agencies. Requires the final report of the Conference to include a statement of a comprehensive coherent national policy on children, youth, and families. Requires the Board and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit their recommendations following the report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Hazardous Waste Reduction Act - Requires filings of the annual toxic chemical release forms required under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 to include a toxic chemical waste reduction and recycling report for each listed toxic chemical for the preceding calendar year. Requires such report to include information on a facility-by-facility basis as to the amounts and disposition of each toxic chemical, including levels of waste reduction and recycling achieved and expected. Requires that toxic chemical waste reduction practices be delineated according to set categories, such as equipment, redesign, and substitution of raw materials. Requires the inclusion of a production index for each toxic chemical waste and a list of techniques used to identify waste reduction opportunities. Provides protection for trade secrets. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a central receiving facility at EPA for the storage and retrieval of waste management program information. Requires the Administrator to collect, coordinate, and consolidate data collection requirements under environmental statutes. Requires all such information to be compiled into a data base organized on an industry-by-industry basis according to Standard Industrial Classifications and on a waste stream basis. Directs the Administrator to establish a Waste Reduction and Recycling Clearinghouse Program to include information on approaches to waste reduction and recycling and information from States receiving grants for technical assistance programs. Requires the Clearinghouse to be actively involved in technology transfer and the development of waste reduction technologies. Requires the Administrator to make matching grants to States for innovative waste reduction programs. Requires such programs to make specific and targeted technical assistance available to businesses as well as for funding experts and research and providing training. Directs the Administrator to report annually to the Congress on the waste reduction information gathered pursuant to this Act. Requires such report to include a profile of waste reduction levels on an industry-by-industry basis and identify priorities as to industries, pollutants, and research. Establishes the Office of Waste Reduction within EPA to collect waste reduction plans and information from other EPA offices on an industry-by-industry basis, administer the clearinghouse and State grants programs, and carry out other related responsibilities including improving EPA's ability to evaluate multi-media waste management practices and the potential for waste reduction through information collection and retrieval. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Small Business Retirement and Benefit Extension Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to cease, as of 1988, the application of special rules for employee benefit plans that are top-heavy. (A top-heavy plan is one in which the value of plan benefits for specified ("key") employees exceeds 60 percent of those for all employees under the plan.) Establishes, as a component of the general business credit against income tax, a credit for the administrative costs incurred by an employer having 100 of fewer employees in maintaining a qualified employee pension plan. Limits such credit to a maximum of $3,000 ($4,500 in the case of a defined benefit plan). Reduces the amount of the credit when the average number of employees during a relevant period exceeds 50. Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the IRC to: (1) apply nondiscrimination rules for coverage and benefits to certain employee benefit plans as of 1991 (currently 1988); (2) extend from 1987 to 1989 the effective date of amendments relating to the definition of "compensation" with respect to pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans; (3) render nontaxable any annuities purchased for employees by a nongovernmental tax-exempt entity; (4) repeal certain restrictions on distributions of contributions under salary reduction arrangements; (5) delay the effective date for the application of nondiscrimination requirements to tax-sheltered annuities; and (6) repeal the 15 percent tax imposed on excess distributions from qualified retirement plans. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide the administrator of an employee benefit plan having fewer than 100 participants simplified reporting requirements with respect to supplying plan descriptions and annual reports to plan participants and beneficiaries. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the required Government forms currently in use with respect to qualified retirement plans are not designed so that a person with no experience in the area of employee benefits could complete them. Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Labor to: (1) redesign such forms as they pertain to plans having fewer than 100 participants; and (2) report to the Congress on their actions in this regard. Amends the IRC to provide that if an employer does not operate an on-premises eating facility for employees, 50 percent of the employer's share of an off-premises meal furnished to an employee shall be treated as a de minimis fringe benefit (not includible in the employee's income) provided that: (1) the employer pays no more than one-third of the cost of the meal; (2) a maximum of one meal per working day is provided; and (3) the meal is furnished during normal business hours.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Amends Federal law relating to impact aid payments. Revises the title and policy declaration to use the term reimbursement (rather than assistance) with respect to local educational agencies in areas affected by Federal activity. Refers to school membership (rather than attendance) throughout the Act. Revises formulas for determining the amount of payments to local educational agencies. Provides that certain increases in such payments shall be sufficient to allow the school district to have an operating cost no greater than the State average or the average of comparable school districts in the State. Provides that a reasonable tax effort has been made if the agency receives at least 80 percent of the taxes levied which would have been received if the applicant district had an operational tax rate equal to the average of comparable districts. Reduces certain payments to an agency by the percentage of the difference that the actual taxes levied of such agency are of the taxes that would have been levied if the applicant district had an operational tax rate equal to the average of comparable districts or State average. Provides that, for FY 1988 and for each fiscal year thereafter, the local contribution rate for agencies whose school district boundaries are coterminous with the boundaries of a military installation shall not be less than 70 percent of the average per pupil expenditure in all States during the second preceding year prior to the current fiscal year. Provides that any agency eligible for an increase under certain provisions shall receive 100 percent of the amount to which it is entitled under other specified provisions. Provides for rounding of payments to the nearest whole dollar. Changes the formulas determining how the Secretary of Education shall allocate among various categories of local educational agencies additional funds left over after the initial allocation. Revises provisions concerning State treatment of Federal impact aid payments with respect to a local educational agency's eligibility for, and the amount of, State aid. Requires that the State formula ensure that the local agency will have sufficient funds available to expand at or above the State average per pupil expenditure or the average per pupil expenditure for comparable districts, whichever is greater. Provides that specified types of impact aid shall not be taken into consideration as local resources by the State. Directs the Secretary, for any fiscal year following FY 1987, to allocate to any local educational agency which received certain payments in FY 1987 an amount which is not less than the product of 100 percent of the year pupil amount paid to such agency in FY 1987 or FY 1986, whichever is higher, and the number of children in current average daily membership. Permits a local educational agency receiving funds for impact aid payments to agencies also to receive funds for education of children where local agencies cannot supply facilities. Revises provisions relating to Federal acquisition of property within a school district to require that the amount which a local educational agency is entitled to receive under such provisions for any fiscal year be at least as much as the agency received for FY 1983, except where Federal activity has declined since 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President and the Secretary of State should express to the Soviets: (1) U.S. opposition to the Soviet Union's treatment of Leonid Brailovsky and all those who have applied to emigrate from the Soviet Union; (2) the U.S. desire that the Soviets allow Leonid Brailovsky and his family to emigrate to the United States; and (3) the U.S. desire that the Soviet Union cease the harassment of Soviet Jews and Christians seeking to emigrate.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the people of the United States are committed to promoting democracy in all the Americas; (2) promotion of democracy in Panama would be best served by support for democratic institutions in accordance with the Panamanian constitution; (3) respect for internationally recognized human rights is an essential precondition to democracy in Panama; (4) a full and objective Panamanian investigation into allegations of wrongdoing should be conducted; and (5) the United States remains firmly committed to honoring its treaties with Panama.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for charitable contributions of agricultural products to assist victims of a drought, flood, or other natural disaster. Sets the amount of the deduction at the wholesale market value of the donated product.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1987
Amends rule XXI of Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit any appropriation from being reported in any joint resolution continuing appropriations, or from being in order as an amendment thereto, for any expenditure not previously authorized by law, except to continue appropriations for public works and objects which are already in progress. Prohibits any provision which changes existing laws from being reported in any joint resolution continuing appropriations except germane provisions which retrench expenditures by the reduction of money covered by the bill, which may include those recommended to the Committee on Appropriations by direction of any legislative committee having jurisdiction over the subject matter. Prohibits an amendment to a joint resolution continuing appropriations from being in order if changing existing law. Declares that, except as provided by this Act, no amendment shall be in order during consideration of a joint resolution continuing appropriations proposing a limitation not specifically contained or authorized in existing law for the period of the limitation. Sets forth floor procedure for consideration of an acceptable joint resolution continuing appropriations. Prohibits the House from considering any joint resolution continuing appropriations, or amendments thereto, which covers a period of more than 90 calendar days. Prohibits any item of appropriation set forth in any joint resolution continuing appropriations from exceeding the lesser of the amount set forth for such item in the House-passed or Senate-passed general appropriation bill for the fiscal year. Declares that if there is no House-passed or Senate-passed bill containing such item, then such item shall be at the rate at which it would have been assuming the continuation of current law. Prohibits the waiver of any provision of this resolution except by two-thirds vote of the Members present and voting. Declares this resolution applicable with respect to joint resolutions continuing appropriations for FY 1989 or any subsequent fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Major Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 to make eligible for assistance for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, and replacement of damaged facilities special purpose local governments such as levee districts, irrigation districts, and reclamation districts. Declares that the Federal share of such assistance shall not be less than 75 percent (currently, such assistance can not exceed 100 percent). Requires the President to issue rules which provide for the recognition of differences existing among urban, suburban, and rural lands to facilitate adequate removal of debris and wreckage from large lots. Declares the Federal share of assistance for debris removal to be 75 percent. Provides for temporary housing assistance for up to 18 months after the date of a major disaster. Authorizes the President to extend such period for an additional 18 months due to extraordinary circumstances. Declares the Federal share of such assistance to be 100 percent of eligible costs. Provides that temporary housing assistance may not be used for reconstruction or rehabilitation of damaged property when the cost of such assistance exceeds the cost of other applicable types of housing. Sets forth notification requirements for the President when persons apply for temporary housing assistance, including: (1) all forms of assistance available; (2) criteria that must be met to qualify for each type of assistance; (3) limitations which apply to each type of assistance; and (4) the address and telephone number of offices responsible for assisting applicants. Requires that housing assistance account for the applicant's location of and travel time to: (1) the applicant's place of business; (2) schools which family members may attend; (3) any home or place of business whose destruction or damage is the result of the major disaster which created the need for assistance; and (4) crops or livestock the applicant tends which provide 25 percent or more of the applicant's annual income. Includes in the individual and family grant program an authorization for the President to make grants to States for land use and construction projects designed to mitigate future major disaster-related loss. Authorizes a State to expend up to ten percent (currently, three percent) of any such grant for administrative expenses. Increases the limitation on such grants for families and individuals from $5,000 to $10,000. Repeals the restriction that crisis counseling be provided only through the National Institute of Mental Health. Removes the authority of the President to make grants to States for the removal of damaged timber from private lands. Provides that appeals arising from assistance decisions must be acted upon within 60 days of the receipt of such appeal. Declares that eligibility for Federal disaster assistance begins on the date: (1) of the occurrence of the disaster; or (2) on which eligible costs are incurred, whichever is earlier. Declares that disaster assistance shall not be restricted to limit assistance to a particular geographic area. Sets forth procedures for State governors to request declarations by the President that a major disaster exists. Requires such request to be based on a finding that effective response to such disaster is beyond the capabilities of the State and local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary. Describes general and essential assistance that the President may provide. Authorizes the President to contribute up to 50 percent of the cost of hazard mitigation measures. Establishes an emergency assistance program. Sets forth procedures for State governors to request the President to declare an emergency. Describes general Federal assistance under such an emergency. Limits the amount of emergency assistance to $5,000,000, which may be exceeded if the President finds it necessary. Requires the President to report to the Congress on the nature and extent of an emergency when such limitation is exceeded. Requires public and private nonprofit facilities in flood hazard areas to maintain flood insurance. Declares that major disaster and emergency assistance shall not be considered income or a resource when determining benefit levels for Federal programs. Requires the President to establish comprehensive standards to be used to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal emergency and major disaster response programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Authorizes the Federal Government to recover the cost of assistance from any person whose negligent act or omission, or whose act or omission while engaged in ultra-hazardous activity, resulted in an emergency or major disaster. Directs the President to conduct audits and investigations necessary to ensure compliance with this Act. Revises provisions relating to criminal and civil penalties. Increases from $25,000 to $50,000 the maximum amount of grants to States for improvement, maintenance, and updating of State plans. Renames the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 the Major Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to reduce the total number (270,000) of permanent resident visas available in a fiscal year by the number of special immigrant, immediate relative, and preference visas issued during the preceding fiscal year in excess of 255,000. Stipulates that such reductions may not exceed 50 percent of such total.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to ensure that rural hospitals which have no more than 50 beds and provide at least 70 percent of their inpatient hospital services to Medicare patients receive Medicare coverage of at least the reasonable costs of providing such services.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree, by enactment of a joint resolution, on an estimate of total receipts for that fiscal year. Prohibits outlays for that year from exceeding such estimated receipts unless the Congress, by a three-fifths rollcall vote of each House, provides for a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires the Congress, whenever actual outlays exceed actual receipts for any fiscal year, to provide by law for the repayment of such excess in the ensuing fiscal year. Requires a three-fifths rollcall vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit to the Congress a proposed budget for each fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. Requires the approval by a majority of the total membership of each House by rollcall vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Declares that total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States, except those derived from borrowing, and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States, except those for repayment of debt principal.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should express to the Soviets: (1) the U.S. opposition to the Soviet Union's treatment of certain individuals and the Soviets' refusal to permit these individuals, their families, and other families to emigrate to Israel; (2) the U.S. desire that the Soviet Union comply with specified human rights agreements by permitting such individuals to emigrate to Israel; and (3) the U.S. desire that the Soviet Union cease harassing Soviet Jews seeking to emigrate and denying human rights to Soviet Jews.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1987
Establishes the Special Commission on Civil Service Policy, Compensation, and Benefits to study the history and development of the Federal civil service system since its inception, and to make recommendations on methods for ensuring its continued high level of performance or providing for its further improvement. Directs the Commission to consider certain aspects of: (1) the civil service retirement and disability system; (2) pay and benefits for employees under the civil service system; (3) Federal personnel practices; (4) the labor-management relations system for Federal employees; and (5) such other matters as considered appropriate. Requires the Commission to make a final report to the President and the Congress not later than ten calendar days after the 101st Congress assembles for its second session. Terminates the Commission 90 days after the submission of such report. Requires the President, not later than 90 days after receiving such report, to submit an evaluation of the findings and conclusions in such report to the Congress, together with recommendations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1987
Amends the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 to repeal the authority granted governmental entities to impose restrictions based on safety considerations upon truck tractor-semitrailer vehicles wishing to use Federal-aid Primary System highways. Prescribes the considerations a governmental entity must demonstrate to the Secretary of Transportation in order to be authorized to restrict commercial motor vehicle access to Federal highways designed to be a width of ten feet or more. Permits a governmental entity to restrict access upon highways designed to be less than ten feet wide.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1987
White House Conference on Small Business Authorization Act - Calls upon the President to conduct a National White House Conference on Small Business once every four years to: (1) increase public awareness of the contributions of small business; (2) identify small business problems; (3) examine the status of minority and women small business owners; (4) assist small business in carrying out its role as the Nation's job creator; (5) develop specific recommendations for executive and legislative action; and (6) review the status of recommendations adopted at the preceding Conference. Authorizes and directs Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to provide support and assistance to the planning of such Conferences. Requires a final report of each Conference, within six months from the date a Conference is convened, to be submitted to the President and the Congress. Requires the Small Business Administration to report annually to the Congress for the next three years following the submission of the final report of the Conference. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1987
International Child Abduction Act - Title I: Provisions Implementing the Convention - Grants State courts, the courts of the District of Columbia and the territories and possessions of the United States, and U.S. district courts original jurisdiction with regard to actions arising under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention) and this Act. Sets forth requirements with regard to notice and burden of proof for such actions. Allows any court exercising jurisdiction over a petition filed pursuant to the Convention or this Act to take provisional measures under Federal or State law to protect the well-being of the child or prevent the child's removal or concealment. Prohibits any court from ordering the provisional removal of a child from the person having physical control unless the applicable requirements of State law are satisfied. States that any application submitted to the Central Authority for the United States or petition submitted in accordance with the terms of the Convention shall be admissible in court without regard to the need for legalization or authentication. Directs the President to designate a Federal agency to serve as Central Authority for the United States for the purpose of: (1) issuing regulations to implement the Convention and this Act; (2) obtaining information from the Federal Parent Locator Service; and (3) collecting, maintaining, and disseminating information for purposes relating to the Convention and this Act. Directs the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Attorney General to designate Federal employees and private citizens to serve as an interagency coordinating group to monitor the operation of the Convention and provide advice on its implementation. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the purposes of the Convention and this Act. Title II: Amendments to Other Laws - Amends the Social Security Act to provide the Central Authority for the United States access to the services of the Parent Locator Service. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the disclosure of tax returns and return information to Federal, State, and local child support enforcement agencies for the purpose of locating individuals in connection with the abduction or wrongful restraint or retention of a child.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1987
States that the Environmental Protection Agency should encourage States to mandate the use of fuel alcohol and other oxygenate/gasoline blends in CO nonattainment areas, and neat alcohols or other clean burning alternative transportation fuels in commercial fleets in ozone nonattainment areas as optional pollution control strategies in their State Implementation Plans under the Clean Air Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1992 the period during which qualified mortgage bonds may be issued. (Under current law, authority to issue these bonds expires as of 1989.)
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1987
Declares that the House of Representatives deplores the Soviet denial of religious liberty and other human rights in Lithuania and elsewhere. States that on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Christianity in Lithuania the House of Representatives: (1) sends its greetings to the Lithuanian people; (2) supports those Lithuanians who are persecuted for attempting to exercise freedom of religion; (3) urges the President and other officials to speak out against violations of religious liberty everywhere and specifically in Lithuania; and (4) calls upon the Soviet Union to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, including the provisions on religious liberty.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Children's Home Video Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for the sale, rental, or transfer of obscene videotapes to minors.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Residential Mortgage Credit Fairness Act of 1987 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit a creditor from: (1) imposing terms and conditions for a residential mortgage transaction which are less favorable to the consumer than the terms and conditions which were originally disclosed to the consumer; or (2) limiting the availability or effectiveness of such terms and conditions to a specified period. Allows an exception to such requirements if: (1) the disclosure contains a clear and conspicuous statement that such terms and conditions are subject to charge; or (2) any delay in consummating the transaction is due to an unreasonable delay caused by the consumer. Requires that any disclosure made in connection with a residential mortgage shall: (1) be mailed or delivered before the earlier of the date on which the credit is extended or three days after the creditor receives the consumer's application; and (2) include a statement of the rights and duties of the creditor and the consumer and any form to be used by the consumer to exercise the right to withdraw the application. Allows a consumer to withdraw a mortgage application without incurring any obligation to the creditor (other than certain reasonable fees) if the consumer provides the creditor written notice within three days after receiving the required disclosure statement from the creditor. Specifies that for purposes of such required disclosure statements the term "finance charge" shall include any fee imposed by the creditor for any such extension of credit. Increases the civil penalty for failure to make a required disclosure for a residential mortgage from a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $1,000 to a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $10,000.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit institutions of the Farm Credit System an income tax deduction for any reasonable addition to reserves for bad debts. Applies this deduction in lieu of the deduction generally applicable to worthless debts.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Amends rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each House committee that reports legislation requiring employers to provide new employee benefits to include in such report an analysis of the impact of the legislation on employers (especially small businesses), the economy (in terms of international competitiveness), and employees (in terms of lost jobs).
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Expresses the determination of the Congress that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): (1) is a terrorist organization; (2) is a threat to the interests of the United States, its allies, and to international law; and (3) should not benefit from operating in the United States. Prohibits, if the purpose is to further the interests of the PLO: (1) the receipt of anything of value except informational material from the PLO; (2) the expenditure of funds from the PLO; or (3) the establishment or maintenance of a PLO office within the jurisdiction of the United States. Provides that the provisions of this Act shall cease to have effect if the President certifies to the Congress that the PLO no longer practices or supports terrorist actions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Prohibits the proposed enhancement or upgrade in the sensitivity of technology of, or the capacity of, Maverick missiles for Saudi Arabia, as described in the May 29, 1987, certification from the President to the Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Designates the week beginning October 18, 1987, as Financial Independence Week. Urges all citizens to pursue financial independence through sound planning and management of their individual resources.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Congress strongly opposes the transfer of Railroad Retirement benefits to the Social Security Administration (as proposed by the executive branch); and (2) such a transfer should not occur.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1987
Satellite Public Education and Information Act of 1987 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the encryption of any satellite broadcast program intended for private viewing if the production or broadcasting is subsidized by the Government. Defines a program or broadcast as subsidized by the Government if: (1) tax-derived funds defray any part of the cost of producing the program; (2) tax-derived sources have paid for at least part of the broadcast's direct cost; (3) tax-exempt organizations provide any direct grant or other payment for defraying production or broadcasting costs; or (4) tax-exempt organizations produce or broadcast the program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1987
Consumer Lease and Lease-Purchase Agreement Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to revise disclosure requirements, including advertisement disclosure requirements, for consumer leases and to establish separate disclosure requirements for lease-purchase agreements. Requires information disclosed pursuant to such requirements to be segregated from all other terms and information provided. Includes among revised disclosures for consumer leases: (1) the total lease cost; (2) the amount of any required security deposit; (3) statements explaining certain information about the consumer's liability based on the residual value of the property; and (4) a statement referring the consumer to the appropriate lease document for information concerning other possible costs. Requires the following information to be disclosed for lease-purchase agreements: (1) the number, individual amount, timing, and total amount of payments; (2) a statement that the consumer will not own the property until all payments are made; (3) a statement referring the consumer to the contract for an explanation of other possible costs; (4) a statement that the consumer is responsible for the fair market value of lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed property; (5) a statement indicating whether the property is new or used; (6) a statement of the property's cash price; (7) the total of initial payments paid or required at or before consummation of the agreement or delivery of the property, whichever is later; (8) a clear summary of the terms of the consumer's option to purchase; (9) the identity of the party responsible for maintaining or servicing the property while it is being leased; (10) a brief description of insurance provided or paid for by the lessor; (11) a description of any security interest held or to be retained by the lessor; and (12) the date of the transaction and the identities of lessor and consumer. Requires each item of property displayed or offered by a lessor to have a tag or label disclosing specified information. Prohibits certain items from a lease-purchase agreement, including: (1) a confession of judgment; (2) a negotiable instrument; (3) a wage assignment; and (4) a waiver by the consumer of claims or defenses. Specifies provisions such an agreement must contain. Requires a lessor to provide the consumer a written receipt for each payment made by cash or money order. Requires that advertisements specify whether the advertised transaction is a lease or a lease-purchase agreement, except certain advertisements in the yellow pages of a telephone book. Provides that a renegotiation is a new lease or agreement requiring new disclosures. Requires no disclosures for a lease or agreement extension. Requires lessors to pay consumers' attorney fees only in unsuccessful suits to collect more than the prescribed maximum amount at the end of a lease. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations and outlines defenses. Authorizes civil actions against lessor assignees only if a violation is apparent on the face of the disclosure statement.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1987
Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Act of 1987 - Provides certain sanctions against countries determined by the Department of State, under provisions of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as countries that repeatedly provide support for international terrorism. Specifies such sanctions as: (1) the termination, withdrawal, or suspension of any portion of any trade agreement or treaty that relates to the provision of nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade treatment to such country; (2) the denial of nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade treatment by the United States; (3) the nonapplication of the Generalized System of Preferences with respect to the products of such country; (4) the nonapplication of the provisions of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act with respect to the products of such country; and (5) the nonapplication of the provisions of the International Travel and Tourism Act of 1961 instructing the Secretary of Commerce to consult with other nations regarding international travel and tourism. Authorizes the President to waive any or all of such sanctions with respect to any foreign country if the President determines that such a waiver would be in the best interests of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1987
Depositor Protection Act of 1987 - Prohibits a bankruptcy trustee from avoiding as a preferential transfer certain withdrawal transactions made by depositors or investors from accounts with certain financial institutions which issue savings obligations or accept deposits in the ordinary course of business. Applies such prohibition to bankruptcy cases filed on or after March 9, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1987
Federal Employees Leave Act of 1987 - Directs the Office of Personnel Management to establish a program under which the annual leave of a Federal employee may be transferred to the annual leave of any other Federal employee if such other employee requires additional leave because of a personal emergency. Describes the requirements for receiving and using transferred leave and for donating annual leave. Requires agencies to establish procedures to ensure that a leave recipient is not permitted to use or receive transferred leave after the personal emergency ceases to exist. Provides for restoring unused transferred leave to leave donors on a prorated basis. Prohibits an employee from being coerced into donating, receiving, or using annual leave under the voluntary leave transfer program. Makes postal employees eligible to participate in such program. Authorizes the exclusion from such program of employees working under negotiated contracts and agencies for which such program would cause substantial disruption. Requires such program to terminate five years after its commencement. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to report to the President and the Congress on the program not later than six months before its termination. Authorizes the Office to establish general guidelines for agencies to conduct experimental programs to determine the desirability and feasibility of providing additional leave as a means of recognizing outstanding performance or other achievements by Federal employees. Terminates such experimental programs five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the Office to report to the President and the Congress on such programs not later than six months after their termination.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Declares that the Congress recognizes and supports efforts to develop the National Purple Heart Museum in Enfield, Connecticut, and encourages the people of the United States to participate in the development of such museum.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal excise taxes should not be increased as a method of reducing the Federal budget deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Agricultural Mortgage Marketing Act of 1987 - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to establish as a federally-chartered institution of the Farm Credit System (System) the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Corporation). States that the Corporation shall not be liable for the debts of any other System institutions. Directs the Corporation to provide a secondary agricultural mortgage market by: (1) developing uniform underwriting, security appraisal, and repayment standards; (2) determining the eligibility of agricultural mortgage marketing facilities to contract with the Corporation for credit enhancement of specific mortgage pools; and (3) providing credit enhancement to assure repayment of principal and interest on pools of qualified agricultural mortgage loans. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) the Board of Directors; (2) operating powers; (3) stock; (4) agricultural mortgage marketing facility certification (including revocation); (5) credit enhancement of qualified agricultural mortgage loans; (6) the required ten-percent contribution reserve (including distributions of any earnings on such reserve and loss allocation); (7) standards for qualified agricultural mortgage loans; (8) credit enhancement (including fees and limitations on liability); (9) Corporation regulation (including an annual report); and (10) exemption from Federal and State securities laws under specified conditions (including authorized investments).
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1987
Star Schools Program Assistance Act - Amends the Education for Economic Security Act to add a title establishing a star schools program. Cites the new title as the Star Schools Program Assistance Act. Empowers the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants of up to a fiscal year maximum of $20,000,000 per grant to eligible telecommunications partnerships for the development, construction, and acquisition of telecommunications facilities and equipment and for technical assistance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992, subject to fiscal year limitations. Mandates that at least 50 percent of funds under this Act for any fiscal year be used for the cost of facilities, equipment, teacher training or retraining, technical assistance, or programming for certain local educational agencies. Sets forth eligibility criteria to identify eligible telecommunications partnerships, which must be organized on a statewide or multistate regional basis and be either: (1) a public agency or corporation established to provide education-related telecommunications networks to certain educational or health institutions or to industries; or (2) a partnership that will provide a telecommunications network and whose membership includes certain specified educational entities (especially elementary and secondary schools eligible for funds under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or such eligible schools operated by the Department of the Interior for Indian children) or public or private organizations experienced with telecommunications. Authorizes eligible partnerships to submit a grant application: (1) describing the telecommunications facilities, equipment, and technical assistance for which aid is being sought; (2) demonstrating that the services offered will increase the availability of courses of instruction in mathematics, science, and foreign languages; (3) describing teacher training policies to be implemented to ensure the effective use of the relevant facilities; (4) providing assurances that the financial interest of the United States in the telecommunications facilities and equipment will be protected for their useful life; (5) assuring that a significant portion of the facilities, equipment, technical assistance, and programming will be made available within local educational agencies having a high percentage of educationally deprived students; (6) describing how traditionally underserved students will participate in the benefits of such technology; and (7) containing other assurances and information as required by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary, in approving applications, to assure an equitable geographic distribution of grants and to give priority to certain applicants, including those partnerships that: (1) have the capacity to serve the broadest range of targeted institutions; (2) have substantial academic and teaching capabilities; (3) will serve a multistate area; and (4) demonstrate strength in mathematics, science, and foreign language resources which by distribution through the partnership will offer new educational opportunities, especially to traditionally underserved populations and to areas with limited access to such resources; and (5) will meet the needs of individuals traditionally excluded from careers in mathematics and science because of discrimination, inaccessibility, or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Requires each grantee to report to the Secretary concerning courses and materials to be transmitted by satellite to educational institutions and teacher training centers and to specify the locus and time of such transmissions. Directs the Secretary to: (1) compile and prepare for dissemination a listing and description of the courses and materials submitted by each grantee; and (2) distribute such list to all State educational agencies. Authorizes the Office of Technology Assessment, upon request, to: (1) conduct a thorough evaluation of the use of the telecommunications system supported by the grants awarded under this Act and report to the Congress on such evaluation; and (2) study and evaluate the cost of designing, building, and launching a satellite for educational purposes, including an analysis of potential users' ability to repay such costs. Requires a report to the Congress if such study indicates that potential users would be able to repay such costs within ten years.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1987
Provides that each item of any joint resolution making continuing appropriations that is agreed to in the same form by both Houses of the Congress shall be enrolled as a separate bill or joint resolution for presentation to the President (line-item veto).