United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1985
Supports U.S. policy which rejects capitulating to international terrorist demands. Expresses the House of Representatives' hope for the safe return of all U.S. hostages (in Lebanon), just compensation for their suffering, and just punishment and retribution for the crimes and atrocities committed by the terrorists.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1985
Home Employment Enterprise Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to permit individuals to engage in industrial homework (including sewing, knitting, jewelry, or craftmaking) or perform any service in or about their place of residence as employees of any employer covered by such Act if the employer complies with minimum wage and maximum hours requirements under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to provide a mandatory life sentence (except when the death penalty is invoked) for any person convicted of gathering or delivering defense information to a foreign government.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Antitrust Damages Clarification Act of 1985 - Provides that no damages, costs, or attorney's fees shall be awarded under an antitrust suit with respect to the establishment or use of any rate, charge, or premium filed with a State insurance department or authorized, approved, or permitted to become effective pursuant to State insurance laws. Applies this Act to pending cases.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1985
Designates the period of October 1, 1985, through September 30, 1986, as the time to reflect on the achievements of the Peace Corps during its 25 years and on ways such programs might be used in the future. Authorizes and requests the President to proclaim this period as a time to honor Peace Corps volunteers and reaffirm the Nation's commitment to such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to extend the income and eligibility verification system so as to require an applicant or benefit recipient, as a condition of eligibility for or receipt of benefits under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of such Act, title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of such Act, title XIX (Medicaid) of such Act, the food stamp program, or the unemployment insurance compensation program, to declare in writing whether or not he or she is a U.S. citizen, and, if a U.S. citizen his or her immigration status and file number. Requires the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to implement a verification system of immigration status to be made available to all States by October 1, 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Ten Percent Flat Tax Rate Act - Title I: Ten Percent Tax Rate for Individuals; Tax Simplification - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on every individual equal to ten percent of the taxable income for the taxable year. Repeals the alternative minimum tax. Repeals the following tax credits: (1) interest on certain mortgages; (2) foreign tax credit; (3) tax withheld on wages; (4) tax withheld at source on nonresident aliens and foreign corporations; and (5) certain uses of gasoline and special fuels. Provides that only the following provisions relating to inclusions in and exclusions from gross income will apply to individuals: (1) certain death benefits provisions; (2) interest on certain governmental obligations; (3) mortgage subsidy bond provisions; (4) compensation for injuries and sickness; (5) amounts received under accident and health plans; (6) contributions by employer to accident and health plans; (7) rental value of parsonages; (8) scholarships and fellowship grants; (9) amounts received under insurance contracts for living expenses; (10) cafeteria plans; (11) certain foster care payments; and (12) fringe benefits provisions. Expands the exclusion of scholarships from gross income. Excludes from gross income amounts received or accrued by an individual on account of temporary, permanent, or total disablement and inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment. Repeals the taxation of Social Security and tier one railroad retirement benefits. Increases the allowance for the personal exemption from $1,000 to $2,000. Provides for the indexing of the personal exemption. Permits individuals to expense depreciable property rather than taking a depreciation deduction for such property. Disallows the following deductions for individuals: (1) losses; (2) amortization of pollution control facilities; (3) circulation expenditures; (4) research and experimental expenditures; (5) soil and water conservation expenditures; (6) depreciation or amortization of improvements made by lessee on lessor's property; (7) election to expense certain depreciable property; (8) expenditures by farmers for clearing land; (9) expenditures to remove architectural and transportation barriers to the handicapped and elderly; (10) amortization of reforestation expenditures; and (11) start-up expenditures. Repeals the individual deductions for medical and dental expenses and the deduction for two-earner married couples. Provides that individuals are only permitted to use cost depletion. Prohibits the use of the foreign tax credit by individuals. Repeals the deduction for capital gains for individuals and repeals the estate and gift taxes. Title II: Tax Amnesty - Provides for a one-time amnesty from criminal and civil tax penalties for taxpayers who: (1) file a written statement with specified information concerning any underpayment of tax; (2) pay the amount of such underpayment when filing the statement; and (3) within 30 days of notification of the amount of such interest or delinquency. Permits installment payments of tax due in certain cases. Disallows an amnesty period for taxpayers against whom a tax deficiency has already been assessed, who have committed fraud in seeking amnesty, or against whom a criminal investigation is pending. Establishes a special fund in the Treasury for taxes recovered under such amnesty program. Requires that revenues from such fund be used to offset possible revenue losses, if any, resulting from title I of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Deplores and condemns the murder of Major Arthur D. Nicholson, Jr., and calls on the Soviet Union to apologize for his murder and to indemnify his family. Calls on the President to rename Checkpoint Charlie in honor of Major Nicholson.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present gold medals to Jan Scruggs, Robert Doubek, and Jack Wheeler, in recognition of their tireless efforts to give the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the Nation. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to sell bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Young Astronaut Program Medal Act - Commemorates the Young Astronaut Program by directing the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and deliver to the Young Astronaut Council no more than 750,000 medals with emblems, devices, and inscriptions determined by the Secretary. Authorizes the Council to dispose of the medals at a premium and to have them delivered as required in quantities of no less than 2,000. Directs that no medals be struck after December 31, 1987. Directs the Secretary to set the price of the medals at no less than the manufacturing cost plus a surcharge of ten percent of such cost. Requires the furnishing of security sufficient to fully indemnify the United States for such costs. Directs that the medals be struck in gold, silver, and bronze and in such size or sizes as determined by the Secretary. Gives the U.S. Comptroller General the right to examine the records of the Council which are related to the medals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Military Drug Interdiction Assistance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (upon request from the head of a Federal agency with jurisdiction to enforce the Controlled Substances Act or the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act) to assign members of the armed forces under his jurisdiction to assist drug enforcement officials in drug searches, seizures, or arrests outside the land area of the United States. Allows such assistance only if: (1) the assistance will not adversely affect the military preparedness of the United States; (2) the Attorney General verifies that the drug enforcement operation may not succeed without assistance by members of the armed forces; and (3) Federal drug enforcement officials maintain ultimate control over the activities and direction of any drug enforcement operation.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1985
Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require a State which provides aid to dependent children of unemployed parents to require such parents to participate in community work experience programs. Requires States providing aid to such parents to establish community work experience programs for, at a minimum, parents who are principal earners who have been unemployed for at least 30 days prior to receiving aid.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Children's Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute to extend the Act's coverage to the sexual exploitation of children. Authorizes a civil suit for treble damages for any person injured personally or in his or her business or property. Amends the Federal criminal code with regard to the sexual exploitation of children. Makes it a Federal offense to print or publish any statement or advertisement to receive, buy, produce, display, photograph, film, print or publish any statement or advertisement to receive, buy, produce, display, photograph, film, print or record any visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Prohibits offering participation in sexually explicit conduct with a minor. Lists factors that may be considered in determining whether a person engaged in such conduct has attained the age of 18. Provides that the Government need not establish the identify of the alleged minor in a prosecution under this section. Increases the penalties for offenses involving the transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. national security policy should reflect a national strategy of peace through strength. Sets forth the principles and goals of such policy.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to add Afghanistan to the list of communist countries the imports from which are subject to the column two rate of duty. Prohibits granting nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) treatment to the products of Afghanistan. Prohibits entering into a commercial agreement with Afghanistan pursuant to the Trade Act of 1974. Prohibits Afghanistan from participating in any program under which the United States extends credit, credit guarantees, or investment guarantees.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1985
Condemns specified actions of the Sandinistas and the action of Nicaraguan President Ortega in traveling to Moscow as evidence of an effort by the Sandinistas to strengthen ties with the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for first degree murders committed by prisoners serving life sentences in Federal correctional institutions. Requires the Government, for any offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a guilty plea that it intends to seek the death penalty and the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury or the court upon motion by the defendant with the approval of the Government, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Eliminates the requirement for a presentence report. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading of the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the evidence and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Directs the jury or the court to consider all the information and return a special finding identifying any mitigating or aggravating factors. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury (or finding by the court) that: (1) some threshold aggravating factor exists; and (2) the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist. Directs the court upon a finding that a sentence of death is justified to impose the death penalty. Requires the court, in any hearing before a grand jury under this Act, to instruct the jury in considering the death sentence to disregard the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the Court of Appeals, upon considering the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the finding of aggravating factors or the absence of mitigating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Metropolitan Washington Airports Transfer Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to transfer all authority over the Metropolitan Washington Airports (Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, including all airport employees) to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Airports Authority) under the terms of a 35-year lease and operations agreement set forth in this Act. Defines the Airports Authority as a single, independent airport authority to be created by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia for the purpose of operating the Metropolitan Washington Airports. Declares that the Secretary's authority to enter into a lease and agreement for such transfer shall lapse two years after enactment of this Act. Requires that basic lease and acquisition payments be sufficient to repay to the United States the hypothetical indebtedness of the Metropolitan Washington Airports to the Treasury, as determined by the Federal Aviation Administration. Requires the Airports Authority to pay to the Treasury, for deposit to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, certain costs incurred by such Fund due to the transfer of authorities under this Act. Requires that the lease of real property constituting Washington Metropolitan Airports comply with the operation and development of the Washington Metropolitan Airports as a unit and as primary airports serving the Metropolitan Washington area. Requires the Airports Authority to be a public corporate body with powers conferred upon it jointly by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia under specified guidelines which include: (1) operation of Metropolitan Washington Airports for public purposes; (2) independence from the State and local governments of Virginia and the District of Columbia; (3) authority to issue bonds; (4) acquisition of real and personal property; (5) power of eminent domain within the Commonwealth of Virginia; (6) a corporation constituted solely to operate both Metropolitan Washington Airports as primary airports serving the Metropolitan Washington area; and (7) authority to levy fees and enter into agreements. Prescribes the membership and terms of the Airport Authority's board of governors, including the appointment of: (1) five members by the Governor of Virginia; (2) three members by the Mayor of the District of Columbia; (3) two members by the Governor of Maryland; and (4) one member by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Prescribes the terms and conditions of the lease, including the continued applicability of airport regulations that: (1) the High Density Rule for Washington National Airport may only be amended for safety considerations; and (2) current nighttime noise limitation standards may not be amended. Transfers all rights, liabilities and obligations of the Metropolitan Washington Airports to the Airports Authority. Retains the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration to reimburse the Employees Compensation Fund. Authorizes the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct periodic audits of the Airports Authority's activities. Grants jurisdiction upon the United States district court to compel compliance with the lease terms. Sets forth guidelines for the protection of Federal employee interests during the two-year period starting on the date of transfer, including: (1) retention of employees; (2) adoption of pre-transfer labor agreements; (3) credit for accrued annual and sick leave and seniority rights; (4) life and health insurance benefits; and (5) retention of pre-transfer retirement benefits. Confers upon the Airports Authority during the 35-year lease the same proprietary powers and restrictions with respect to Federal law as any other airport. Declares that the Metropolitan Washington Airports qualify as a "public airport" eligible for Federal assistance on the same basis as any comparable public airport operated by a regional authority. Grants the Commonwealth of Virginia concurrent police power authority over the Metropolitan Washington Airports, and grants the Virginia courts jurisdiction over airport land. Makes the authority of the National Capital Planning Commission inapplicable to the Airports Authority, but requires the Airports Authority to consult with such Commission and with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation before undertaking actions which would materially alter either the exterior of the Dulles Terminal, or the skyline of Washington National Airport. Provides that title to all real property shall pass to the Airports Authority upon conclusion of the 35-year lease and that at the end of such lease the United States shall relinquish all jurisdiction over the Metropolitan Washington Airports to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Repeals upon lease expiration certain Acts relating to the administration and maintenance of a public airport in the vicinity of the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to require the Legal Services Corporation, within 120 days after it receives allegations of improper conduct by a grantee, contractor, or person receiving financial assistance under the Act, to investigate and determine whether a hearing is warranted (as required by law) with respect to denials of financial assistance. Requires such a hearing to be held within 30 days after a request is made. Requires the hearing examiner to make his or her decision within 35 days after the hearing commences. Grants the Corporation 30 days after the hearing examiner's decision to render a final decision.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1985
Requires each Federal department, agency, and instrumentality to report to the Congress by March 1 of each year on plans to implement the recommendations of the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control (Grace Commission report).
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the Congress from providing for aggregate expenditures exceeding aggregate receipts for any fiscal period. Authorizes the suspension of such prohibition in time of war or national emergency. Provides for the phased implementation of such prohibition over five fiscal periods.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
States that on the occasion of President Jose Napoleon Duarte's trip to the United States, the House of Representatives applauds him and the Government of El Salvador and expresses its appreciation for his leadership in the campaign to immunize the children of El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should establish a task force of expert farmers to address the long-range concerns of the U.S. agricultural industry.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Establishes in the legislative branch of the Government the Perot Commission on Americans Missing in Southeast Asia to conduct an investigation and report to the Congress its findings with respect to the existence and the release of prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. Sets forth specified administrative procedures and powers of the Commission. Requires the Commission to terminate 30 days after the filing of its report to the Congress or on January 3, 1987, whichever occurs first.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Directs the President to take steps to ensure: (1) substantial equivalence between the number, status, and privileges and immunities of Soviet officers or employees in the United States and the number, status, and privileges and immunities of U.S. officers and employees in the Soviet Union; and (2) that comparable restrictions regarding travel, accommodations and facilities are imposed on Soviet officers and employees living in the United States as are imposed on U.S. officers and employees living in the Soviet Union. Requires the President to report to the Congress on actions taken to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Requires the initial report of the National Drug Enforcement Policy Board to include: (1) a comprehensive assessment of the current and potential contribution of synthetic narcotic analogs (designer drugs) to the illegal narcotics problem in the United States; (2) proposals for illegal drug law enforcement strategies to prevent the manufacture and distribution of synthetic narcotic analogs; and (3) recommendations to the Congress for necessary legislation to eliminate the manufacture and distribution of illegal synthetic narcotic analogs.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Narcotics Importation, Manufacture, and Control Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to increase the criminal penalties for: (1) importing or exporting controlled substances; (2) bringing or possessing on board a vessel, aircraft, or vehicle a controlled substance; and (3) manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance. Prohibits granting a suspended or probationary sentence for persons convicted of such offenses. Denies such persons eligibility for parole. Permits imposing criminal penalties for attempts or conspiracies to commit such offenses. Requires such penalties to be imposed in the same manner and to the same extent as is prescribed for actually committing the offenses involved. Prohibits granting a suspended or probationary sentence for persons convicted of such attempts or conspiracies and denies such persons eligibility for parole if such sentences and parole are precluded for actually committing the offenses involved. Requires that any person who manufactures a controlled substance shall be imprisoned for the entire maximum term of imprisonment for such violation. Prohibits granting a suspended or probationary sentence and denies such persons eligibility for parole.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Minority Opportunity Restoration Act of 1985 - Title I: Tax Incentive for Enterprise Zones - Enterprise Zone Act of 1985 - Subtitle A: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of enterprise zones by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for purposes of extending the tax incentives and regulatory flexibility measures provided by this Act. Provides that State and local governments shall nominate areas for such designation. Limits the designation of enterprise zones to 225 nominated areas over a 36-month period (one-third of which must be in rural areas). Limits the period during which such designations shall remain in effect. Provides that the Secretary may designate such zones only if: (1) the area is within the jurisdiction of the local government; (2) the boundary of the area is continuous; (3) the area has a population of at least 4,000 if any portion thereof is located within a standard metropolitan statistical areas (with a population of at least 50,000) or 1,500 otherwise, or is within an Indian reservation; and (4) the area meets specified unemployment and poverty requirements. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action which may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, or receiving commitments of private entities to assist employees and residents of the area. Terminates the authority of the Secretary to designate enterprise zones on June 30, 1988, or three years after the publication of regulations pertaining to such zones, whichever is later. Describes areas to which preference shall be given in deciding to designate enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary to prepare and submit to the Congress every four years a report on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation. Requires that any property tax reduction effected by a local government under the terms of this Act be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of a State or local government for Federal assistance or benefits. States that designation of an enterprise zone shall not give displaced persons from such an area any rights or benefits under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. Exempts enterprise zones from certain requirements relating to Federal environmental policy. Subtitle B: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Part I: Credits for Employers and Employees - Allows employers located in enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit for increased employment expenditures and employment of the disadvantaged. Allows a three-year carryback and 15-year carryover of such credit. Sets the amount of such credit at ten percent of the increase in payroll (taking into account a maximum of $15,000 in wages per year per employee) plus 50 percent of the wages paid to certain disadvantaged workers for the first three years of the enterprise zone designation. Phases out such credit in the last three years of the enterprise zone designation. Disallows a deduction for the portion of wages taken into account for such credit. Allows employees located in enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit equal to five percent of qualified wages earned per year (taking into account a maximum of $9,000 in wages per year). Phases out such credit in the last three years of the enterprise zone designation. Part II: Credits for Investment in Tangible Property in Enterprise Zones - Allows businesses an additional investment tax credit for investment in certain tangible property located in enterprise zones. Limits such credit to five percent for zone personal property and ten percent for new zone construction property, including rental property. Requires that the property subject to such credit be predominantly used in the zone, be purchased after zone designation, and not be acquired from relatives or related corporations. Requires the recapture of such credit upon early disposition of the property. Phases out such credit in the last three years of the enterprise zone designation. Part III: Rules Reduction in Capital Gain Tax Rates - Eliminates the capital gains tax on property of corporations acquired after the enterprise zone designation and used in a zone business. Qualifies certain low-income rental housing located in an enterprise zone for such treatment. Permits property to remain qualified for purposes of the revised capital gains treatment after a designation of an enterprise has terminated. Exempts gain from the sale or exchange of property used in a business in an enterprise zone from the computation of the minimum tax. Allows noncorporate taxpayers to deduct from gross income 100 percent of any net capital gain from qualified enterprise zone property. Part IV: Rules Relating to Industrial Development Bonds - Provides that limitations on the cost recovery deductions for property financed with tax-exempt industrial development bonds shall not apply to enterprise zone property. Provides that the termination of the small issue exemption shall not apply to industrial development bonds the proceeds of which are used to finance facilities in such enterprise zones. Part V: Sense of the Congress with Respect to Tax Simplification - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury should simplify the administration and enforcement of any provision of the Internal Revenue Code affected by this Act. Subtitle C: Regulatory Flexibility - Revises the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified businesses and governments and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations which pertain to the carrying out of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve such request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in continuation of the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement (including the Davis-Bacon Act and Fair Labor Standards Act) or which would present a danger to the public health and safety. Provides that such waivers or modification of a rule shall remain in effect as long as the zone designations. Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to promote the coordination of all enterprise zone programs and consolidate all periodic reports required under such programs into one summary report. Subtitle D: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Board to consider on a priority basis and expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to and expedite applications for the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. States that, to the maximum extent practicable, foreign-trade zones should be established within enterprise zones. Title II: Youth Employment Opportunity Wage - Youth Employment Opportunity Wage Act of 1984 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize employers to pay employees under 20 years of age 75 percent of the minimum wage rate between May and September of each year. Exempts such employees from special certificate requirements. Restricts such authorization to: (1) hours worked by eligible employees in compliance with applicable child labor laws; and (2) youth employed after May 1 of each year. Prohibits the removal of employees ineligible for the subminimum wage rate in order to replace them with employees who are eligible. Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act. Terminates the minimum wage rate exception after September 30, 1987. Directs the Secretary of Labor to monitor the implementation of this Act and to report to the Congress concerning the employment effects of this Act. Title III: Urban Homesteading - Urban Homestead Act of 1985 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to establish procedures under which families residing in public housing projects shall be provided with an opportunity to purchase their dwelling units. Requires the formation of a homeownership association composed of families who: (1) are capable of assuming the responsibilities of homeownership; (2) have resided in public housing projects for not less than 24 consecutive months; and (3) have resided in their current dwelling units for at least 12 consecutive months. Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide comprehensive improvement assistance to such projects to ensure that the physical condition, management, and operation of such projects are sufficient to encourage homeownership by resident families. Directs the Secretary and the responsible public housing agency to provide the training and technical and educational assistance necessary to prepare the families and the home ownership association for homeownership. Directes the Secretary to pay to the agency an amount equal to any reduction in the operating expenses of a project realized as a result of providing such assistance. Directs the agency to use such amount to reduce the purchase prices of dwelling units. Authorizes a homeownership association to purchase a public housing project after the Secretary determines that: (1) the association is prepared to manage and maintain the project with continued Federal assistance; and (2) project operating costs have been reduced sufficiently to make home ownership affordable to resident families. Allows an eligible family to purchase a dwelling if the Secretary determines that such purchase will not interfere with the rights of other resident families or harm the efficient operation of the project. Requires the Secretary to continue to pay annual contributions to such project after such a purchase. Limits the purchase price for a project or unit to 25 percent of its fair market value. Lists alternative purchasing arrangements. Directs the agency to assist a purchase by making a loan to a family or association at an interest rate not exceeding 70 percent of the market interest rate. Requires any unit or project purchaser who sells such property before the expiration of five years to pay the public housing agency a specified percentage of the sale price. Establishes procedures under which families residing in public housing projects shall be provided with an opportunity to undertake the management, maintenance, educational, and cultural functions of such project. Requires such families to form a resident management association. Directs the Secretary and the responsible public housing agency to provide necessary training and technical and educational assistance. Allows such association to undertake such functions after the Secretary determines it is capable. Prohibits the eviction of any resident family because of the sale of a project to a homeownership association. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) help relocate any family which decides not to purchase its dwellings in a project where other units are purchased; or (2) provide such family with a housing voucher to permit such family to obtain comparable alternative housing. Directs the Secretary to furnish financial assistance to: (1) public housing agencies to enable such agencies to carry out this Act; and (2) purchasing families or associations for operating and maintenance expenses. Title IV: Equal Educational Opportunity Act - Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1983 - Amends the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA) to permit payments to local educational agencies (LEAs) under Chapter 1 (Federal Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Disadvantaged Children) of such Act to be used for educational voucher programs. Permits parents of educationally deprived children to use such vouchers to pay for: (1) full-time enrollment at private schools or at public schools outside their school district; or (2) compensatory services provided by the LEA to meet their special educational needs at public schools of their school district. Authorizes State educational agencies (SEAs) to require LEAs to use Chapter 1 funds to implement voucher programs. Requires that such State requirement be for all LEAs. Gives each LEA discretion to: (1) use such funds to implement a voucher program (if the SEA does not so require); and (2) distribute vouchers to some or all eligible parents. Sets forth requirements for: (1) authorized educational voucher programs; (2) other LEA special educational needs programs and projects under Chapter 1; and (3) LEA applications to SEAs for voucher programs. Declares that educational voucher program payments made by an LEA to a private school or to another LEA under this Act shall not constitute Federal financial assistance to the LEA or private school receiving such payments. Declares that use of Chapter 1 funds received in exchange for a voucher by a private school or a public school outside the eligible child's school district shall not constitute a program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Makes specified Chapter 1 provisions inapplicable to educational voucher programs. Sets forth requirements for nondiscrimination by private schools in the voucher program. Prohibits racially discriminatory policies at such schools. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to disclose to appropriate Department of Justice offices or employees any tax return or tax return information relevant to investigations by the Attorney General or proceedings brought under this Act to determine whether a school is following a racially discriminatory policy. Makes conforming amendments to specified provisions of Federal law relating to the creation of the declaratory judgment remedy to include references to provisions of this Act which authorize declaratory judgments by appropriate U.S. district courts as to whether a private elementary or secondary school follows a racially discriminatory policy.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Reduction of Unlawful Drug Distribution Act of 1985 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to require the death penalty for continuing criminal enterprise (a continuous series of felony violations under such Act) and for dangerous special drug offender offenses (two or more controlled substances offense convictions or a felonious violation as part of a pattern of dealing in or in furtherance of a conspiracy to deal in controlled substances).
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Military Chaplains Faith Balance Act of 1984 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to increase the representation of underrepresented religious faiths among armed forces chaplains.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Limits the percentage of the U.S. monetary contribution to the United Nations and its affiliated agencies to a percentage that is no greater than the percentage of the U.S. nationals employed by the United Nations and such affiliated agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Resources Cost Cutting and Conservation Act of 1985 - Provides for the implementation of user fees for: (1) summer recreation homes on Forest Service land; (2) specified agricultural marketing services; and (3) electric power sold by a Federal Power Marketing Administration. Requires reports to the Congress on: (1) a proposed auction-bid system of user fees for domestic livestock grazing on public rangelands; and (2) current policy regarding the sale of firewood from national forests.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Federal Health Care Cost Cutting Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to report to the Congress concerning actions taken to implement the recommendations of the September 1, 1982, GAO report entitled "Millions Can Be Saved Through Better Energy Management in Federal Hospitals." Amends part B (Peer Review of the Utilization and Quality of Health Care Services) of title XI and titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require second opinions with respect to elective surgery procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Youth Employment Opportunity Wage Act of 1985 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize employers to pay employees under 20 years of age 75 percent of the minimum wage rate between May and September of each year. Exempts such employees from special certificate requirements. Restricts such authorization to: (1) hours worked by eligible employees in compliance with applicable child labor laws; and (2) youth employed after May 1 of each year. Prohibits the removal of employees ineligible for the subminimum wage rate in order to replace them with employees who are eligible. Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to monitor the implementation of this Act and to report to the Congress concerning the employment effects of this Act. Terminates such minimum wage rate exception after September 30, 1987, and repeals, as of that date, the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Federal Motor Vehicle Expenditure Control Act of 1985 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to: (1) direct the head of each executive agency to designate one person from the agency to establish and operate a central monitoring system for the oversight of agency motor vehicle operations and related activities; (2) require the head of each executive agency to develop a system to collect and analyze all costs incurred by the agency with respect to motor vehicles used by the agency; and (3) promulgate standards governing the establishment and operation by executive agencies of such system. Directs the head of each executive agency to include with its requests for each fiscal year a statement containing specified information concerning motor vehicle acquisition, leasing, operating, maintenance, and disposal costs. Requires such statement to explain: (1) why the agency's motor vehicle requirements cannot be met through the Interagency Motor Pool System operated by the Administrator of General Services; or (2) how such requirements could be met through a qualified contractor in the private sector. Directs the President to report to the Congress with a summary and analysis of such statements. Requires the Director and Administrator of General Services to direct the heads of executive agencies to consolidate motor vehicle administration and maintenance facilities if consolidation would be cost effective. Directs the Administrator to take such actions as necessary to reduce motor vehicle storage and disposal costs. Provides that of the total amount of budget authority provided for FY 1986 that would otherwise be available for the operation, maintenance, leasing, and acquisition of nontactical, non-law enforcement motor vehicles, $100,000,000 of the amount intended for such purposes in the President's FY 1986 budget shall not be made available. Requires the Director to report to the appropriate House and Senate committees with respect to the implementation of such budget restriction. Requires reports to the Congress from the Director, the Administrator, and the U.S. Comptroller General with respect to the implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Department of Defense Cost Savings Act of 1985 - Prohibits the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of any military department from operating or allowing a commissary to operate on any military installation unless: (1) such installation is located outside a metropolitan area; and (2) not more than one retail store offering the same food supplies as those of the commissary is located within ten miles of the installation. Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish and implement a competitive rate program applicable to the transportation of household goods to and from Alaska and Hawaii. Repeals Federal law which prohibits utilizing such a rate system. Requires, before the closure or realignment of any military bases occur, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned to file with the Armed Services Committees of the House and Senate a concise statement of findings together with a succinct justification for such base closure. Reduces from 60 days to 30 days the waiting period required after such reports are submitted before any specific closure action may be taken. Maintains the 60-day waiting period in areas with a higher-than-average unemployment rate or if such closure or realignment would increase unemployment in such area by one percent or more. Requires the Secretary of Defense, within 90 days after the enactment of this Act, to establish and implement an aircraft fuel conservation program. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the same date concerning such program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Tax Collection Cost Cutting Act of 1985 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that appropriations should be increased for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide an additional 2,500 examination personnel in each of FY 1986, 1987, and 1988. Expresses the sense of the Congress that for FY 1986 an additional $17,000,000 should be appropriated for use in the Information Returns Program for contacting persons who underreport income. Revises standards for inputting paper documents for computerized matching for purposes of the Information Returns Program. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit an annual report to each House of the Congress on the direct and indirect effects of the enforcement presence of the IRS. Specifies requirements for such report. Repeals the ten-day grace period for filing of returns and payment of excise taxes on tobacco products and cigarette papers and tubes.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
States that the United Support of Artists for Africa should be commended for aiding the African famine victims and for demonstrating that people can make a difference in relieving the plight of those victims.
![Official portrait of Rep. DeLay, Tom [R-TX-22]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000217_200.jpg)