United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1978
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that all committee reports accompanying public bills or joint resolutions which authorize or appropriate specific sums for any fiscal year contain a computation of the annual tax impact of such legislation on the individual taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1978
Elephant Protection Act - Prohibits the import, export, possession, transport, or sale of any elephant product. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to issue permits for acts herein prohibited for scientific purposes. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violation of this Act. Establishes rewards for persons providing information regarding violations of this Act. Requires the Secretaries of the Interior, Treasury, and the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to enforce this Act, and to promulgate regulations for such enforcement. Permits citizens suits to enforce this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1978
Botulism Prevention Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture, for a two-year period, from issuing any order or regulation: (1) restricting the use of nitrites or nitrates as preservatives in meat products beyond the degree recommended in the final report of the Department of Agriculture's Expert Panel on Nitrates, Nitrites, and Nitrosamines; or (2) requiring labeling on meat products concerning nitrites or nitrates in addition to the requirements in effect on January 1, 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1978
Expresses United States determination (1) to prevent the aggressive activities of the Soviet Union and Cuba in the Western Hemisphere, (2) to prevent the creation of externally supported Cuban military capability, and (3) to work with the Organization of American States for hemisphere security.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1978
Declares it the sense of the House of Respresentatives that the President should suspend the ban on importation of Rhodesian chrome and ferrochrome and that the length of such suspension should depend upon effective execution of the agreement for transition for majority rule and one man, one vote elections.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1978
Solar Power Satellite Research, Development, and Demonstration Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to initiate a Solar Power Satellite Research, Development, and Demonstration Program to study technical problems regarding the viability of the solar power satellite concept. Requires the Secretary to cooperate with the Administrator in the submission to Congress, by September 30, 1978, of a comprehensive plan to implement the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1978
Limits the number and salaries of persons who may be employed in the White House Office, the Executive Residence at the White House or by the Vice President, the Domestic Policy Staff, or the Office of Administration, at salary levels equivalent to those above GS-16 of the General Schedule. Authorizes the appropriation of $1,000,000 to be used by the President at his discretion to meet unanticipated needs, including personnel needs. Permits the detailing of employees of Federal agencies to the offices specified in this Act, but requires the President to notify Congress annually as to who is so detailed and who is performing the duties which would otherwise be performed by such employee had such employee not been so detailed. Increases the President's travel allowance from $40,000 to $100,000. Replaces specified statutory references to the Executive Mansion and the White House with the term "Executive Residence at the White House."
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1978
Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to prohibit assistance to Radio Free Europe or Radio Liberty if any Communist country is permitted to use such broadcast facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1978
Expresses the sense of the House that the national motto, "In God We Trust," shall continue to be engraved and printed on the currency of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1978
Tuition Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit against an individual's income tax in an amount equal to 50 percent of the sum of the amounts paid by him to educational institutions as tuition (though no more than $500 for any single individual) for the attendance of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or any of his dependents with respect to whom he is entitled to a personal exemption.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1978
Constitutional Amendment - Declares the term "person", with respect to due process and equal protections, applicable to human beings irrespective of age, health, function or condition of dependency, including the unborn. Prohibits the deprivation of life of an unborn person, except under law permitting medical procedures required to prevent the death of the mother.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1978
Declares it the sense of Congress that the President should (1) terminate negotiation efforts to formulate a Rhodesian settlement acceptable only to radical Marxist oriented external forces and a terrorist-guerilla faction, and (2) declare support for Rhodesian leaders who are prepared to allow the Rhodesian government to be chosen in free elections based on adult universal suffrage.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1978
Antiterrorism Act - Title I: Reorganization of Executive Office of the President - Establishes the Council to Combat Terrorism within the Executive Office of the President under the direction of the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Requires the Council to consider the best effective means by which to combat terrorism anywhere in the world, to coordinate Federal activities for the prevention of terrorism, including the collection of worldwide intelligence, and the protection of United States personnel and facilities abroad, and assist the President in duties under this Act. Requires the President to report to Congress every act of terrorism which affects citizens of the United States and to identify the terrorists and any country which aids or gives refuge to such terrorists. Requires the President to establish a List of Countries Aiding Terrorist Enterprises (LOCATE). Requires the President to impose sanctions against countries on the LOCATE. Directs the President to establish a List of Dangerous Foreign Airports, naming each airport, by country, which does not meet the minimum United States safety standards. Permits the President to impose sanctions against such airports. Title II: Policy on International Agreements - Recommends that the President seek international agreements to more effectively combat international terrorism. Requires presidential approval of sales of defense articles to individuals or groups. Title III: Extension of Existing Safety and Security Measures - Directs the President to extend existing air safety and security measures to supplemental means of air transportation and specified airports within the United States not presently covered by such measures. Requires all explosives imported into, exported from, or manufactured in the United States to contain taggants identifying the source and time of manufacture and permitting the detection of concealed explosives. Title IV: Aircraft Sabotage and Piracy - Prohibits and establishes penalties for acts of sabotage, violence, and other specified crimes committed aboard or against any aircraft or against specified air facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1978
Amends the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968 to establish a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship in Social and Political Thought at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution. Establishes the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Trust Fund in the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any right to, title to, or interest in the property of the United States Government agencies in the Panama Canal Zone or any real property and improvements thereon located in the zone should not be conveyed, relinquished, or otherwise disposed of to any foreign government without specific authorization of such conveyance, relinquishment, or other disposition by any Act of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1978
Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require Federal agencies to prepare and publish in the Federal Register an economic impact analysis of all proposed and final rules subject to the provisions of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to deduct all current expenditures for plants and facilities which are otherwise chargeable to capital account and which are certified as required by Federal law and as not significantly increasing the plant's or facility's value or productivity.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1978
Authorizes expenditures, not to exceed $412,935, for a certain investigation and study to be conducted by the House Committee on International Relations, acting through its Subcommittee on International Organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1978
Increases from $250 to $400 the burial and funeral expense allowance which may be paid by the Veterans Administration on behalf of certain deceased veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1978
Directs the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating to cause a certain foreign-built vessel to be documented as a vessel of the United States upon compliance with the usual requirements other than the requirement that the vessel be built in the United States, so long as the vessel is owned by a citizen of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Agricultural Trade Expansion Act - Amends the Food for Peace Act of 1966 to permit the Commodity Credit Corporation to finance export sales of agricultural commodities on credit terms in excess of three years, but not more than ten years. Exempts such sales from the requirement that exports be transported on privately owned United States - flag commercial vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Welfare Improvement and Cost Reduction Act - Title I: Child Support - Amends Title IV, part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payment to any State for child support unless such State submits to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare within a prescribed time period a complete report on the amount of child support collected and disbursed by such State. Requires the Secretary to reduce payments to the States by the amount which the States are required to reimburse the Federal Government from child support collections. Extends indefinitely the period in which States may receive payments for child support collection and paternity determination services. Authorizes compensation to court personnel who perform services directly related to the Child Support and Establishment of Paternity program. Authorizes payment to States for the planning, design, development, or installation of an automatic data processing and information retrieval system to assist in the administration of the Child Support and Establishment of Paternity program. Title II: Program Administration Improvements - Authorizes payment to States for the planning, design, development, installation, and operation of statewide mechanized claims processing and information systems to assist in the administration of the program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children of Title IV of the Social Security Act. Sets forth requirements for the operation of such information systems. Requires the Secretary to provide States with technical assistance in developing and operating such information systems. Permits States to obtain access, with appropriate safeguards, to wage information contained in social security records for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program and for enforcing the child support obligations of absent parents under the Child Support and Establishment of Paternity program. Authorizes the States to require AFDC recipients, as a condition of eligibility, to obtain a detailed identification card specifying the programs for which they are eligible. Authorizes the Secretary to pay directly to States up to 75 percent of the costs of investigating and prosecuting complaints of fraud under the AFDC program. Requires States to pay to their political subdivisions an amount equal to 75 percent of the costs incurred by such subdivisions in administering the AFDC program. Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to compile data concerning cases of fraud under the AFDC program and the Supplementary Security Income Program of Title XVI of the Social Security Act. Reduces payments made under the AFDC program in the case of a dependent child who lives in a home in which a relative who is either not legally responsible for the support of such child or is no longer eligible for aid under such program is also residing. Establishes a monthly retrospective accounting period whereby the income and other elements of a household's circumstances for the preceding 30 days are reviewed for purposes of determining eligibility under the AFDC program and Medicaid. Designates an alien who receives assistance under certain titles of the Social Security Act as a public charge for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Expands the definition of "dependent child" to include a child who has been deprived of parental care due to desertion, abandonment, divorce, legal separation, institutionalization, or incarceration for more than 30 days. Requires States to establish a quality control system to monitor payments made under the AFDC program and sets forth requirements which such a system must meet for approval by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to utilize the services of the Inspector General in reviewing the operation of such quality control systems. Directs the Secretary to review cases erroneously excluded from a State's quality control investigation and to provide technical assistance to the States in developing quality control systems. Title III: Child Care Improvements - Increases the limit on Federal funding for social services under Title XX (Grants to States for Services) of the Social Security Act. Extends the termination date of provisions providing for funding of child day care services. Title IV: Work Related Provisions - Revises the formula for determining the amount of earned income of a dependent child, who does not qualify as a full or part-time student, or a relative, or an individual living in the household of the recipient, which a State must disregard in assessing need under the AFDC program. Requires recipients of aid under the AFDC program to register for manpower services, training, employment, and other employment related activities with the Secretary. Authorizes States to establish work demonstration projects and community work and training programs under the AFDC program. Title V: Fiscal Relief for State and Local Welfare Costs - Increases payments to States for services under the AFDC program according to a specified formula.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Omnibus Anti-Terrorism Act - Title I: Aircraft Piracy - Authorizes civil penalties for carrying an accessible weapon aboard an aircraft and for imparting or conveying information known to be false regarding one of specified crimes aboard an aircraft. Specified criminal penalties for threatening to commit air piracy or any other of certain crimes aboard an aircraft. Title II: Findings and Purposes - States Congressional findings relative to the purpose of this Act and defines specified terms used therein. Title III: Reorganization of Executive Office of the President - Establishes a Council to Combat Terrorism in the Executive Office of the President. Includes among the council's functions: (1) assisting the President to implement this Act; (2) assisting in the preparation of lists of countries aiding terrorist enterprises and of dangerous foreign airports, and (3) coordinating Federal efforts to combat terrorism. Directs the President to: (1) report to Congress on each act of terrorism which involves or affects United States citizens; and (2) impose sanctions against countries on the list of countries aiding terrorists and against airports on the list of dangerous foreign airports. Title IV: Reorganization of the Department of State - Establishes a Bureau for Combating International Terrorism in the Department of State. Urges the President to seek international agreements which assure cooperation in combating terrorism. Lists provisions which should be given priority in negotiating such agreements. Requires the President to: (1) develop programs to insure full implementation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation; (2) approve all defense article sales and credit made to any individual or group; and (3) include the names of all types of explosives on the United States Munitions List. Title V: Reorganization of the Department of Justice - Establishes an office for Combating Terrorism in the Department of Justice. Directs the President to extend existing safety and security requirements to supplemental means of air transportation. Requires all explosives to contain identification and detection taggants. Title VI: Aircraft Sabotage and Piracy - Amends provisions of title 18 of the U.S. Code that specify prohibited acts regarding the destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities to, among other revisions, set forth penalties for committing violence against a passenger which is likely to endanger an aircraft in service, and for communicating false information which result in endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight. Sets forth penalties for a person found in the United States who has committed against or aboard a foreign aircraft an offense in violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1977
Declares it the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should take all necessary steps to bring the Baltic States question before the United Nations and to urge the United Nations to request the Soviet Union to withdraw all non-native troops, agents, colonists, and controls from the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and to return all Baltic exiles from Siberia and from prisons and labor camps in the Soviet Union. Requires the Secretary of State to do his utmost to bring the matter of the Baltic States to the attention of all nations by means of special radio programs and publications. Declares that the United States should not agree to the recognition of the Soviet Union's annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Directs the President to take steps to provide that all maps of Europe show the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as independent states. Calls for a return of self-determination to the peoples of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia through free elections conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba be predicated upon resolution of issues regarding violations of persons and property by the Cuban Government in 1959, use of Cuban military personnel beyond its borders, and human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1977
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to permit the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Draza Mihailovich to construct and maintain, with private funds, a monument to him.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to take a credit or an additional deduction for contributions to or for the use of any qualified organization the primary purpose of which is the support of the Arts and Humanities.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Biennial Budgeting Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a two-year cycle for the congressional budget process. Requires each standing committee of Congress to review the laws and programs under its jurisdiction every other year and to consider the desirability of new legislation in such areas. Requires separate consideration for authorizing legislation, budget resolutions, and appropriation bills.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Federal Emergency Assistance and Preparedness Act - Establishes the Federal Emergency Assistance and Preparedness Administration headed by a Director who shall be a permanent member of the National Security Council. Requires the Director to establish within the Administration the Offices of Disaster Assistance, Emergency Preparedness, and Program Evaluation, and an Emergency Information Center. Requires the Administration to implement and coordinate all Federal disaster assistance and emergency preparedness programs; develop policies with respect to industrial mobilization and economic readiness for emergencies relating to the national defense, undertake research and development to improve programs under its cognizance six; and to gather data on natural, economic, and other phenomena for predicting and planning for industrial and economic mobilization and emergencies and disasters. Directs the Director to make such collected data available to the public and to provide such data to States and localities on a regular basis. Requires the heads of Federal agencies with jurisdiction over any program relating to emergency preparedness or disaster assistance to report annually to the Director on the status of such program. Requires the Director to coordinate such programs with States and localities participating in or applying for such assistance. Transfers to the Administration the functions and authorities of specified agencies respecting programs within the Administration's jurisdiction. Requires the Administration to report annually to Congress. Extends until September 30, 1980, the termination dates of specified provisions of the Federal Civil Defense Act, including those which empower the President to declare a civil defense emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1977
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to terminate foreign assistance and military sales unless the President certifies that the recipient country is taking adequate measures to control illegal narcotics trade.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1977
Stipulates that the $5,000 increase in the official expenses allowance for Members of the House of Representatives shall not take effect until the House of Representatives adopts a resolution determining specific guidelines for what constitutes an official expense.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba be predicated upon resolution of issues regarding violations of persons and property by the Cuban Government in 1959, use of Cuban military personnel beyond its borders, and human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1977
Establishes within the House of Representatives a Select Committee on the Committee System to study the establishment, jurisdiction, and operation of House committees.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1977
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to permit the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Draza Mihailovich to construct and maintain, with private funds, a monument to him.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1977
Amends the charter of the Boy Scouts of America to stipulate that the annual report of the Boy Scouts shall be printed each year as a separate House document.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that State and local government retirement systems shall be tax exempt organizations. Exempts these systems from the reporting requirements pertaining to deferred compensation. Treats all such systems as qualified pension plans under the code.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that the proposed toll increases on the Saint Lawrence Seaway should not be adopted and that negotiations on new tolls should be reopened, and if any toll increases are necessary, such increases should be minimal.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1977
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to revise temporarily the customs duties on the importation of iron or steel products, and to impose a temporary import quota on such products. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit revenues under this Act into the Adjustment Assistance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1977
Buy American Act Amendments - Amends the Buy American Act to require Federal agencies to prescribe regulations to require Federal purchases of American goods under the Act if the price of such goods does not exceed the price of like foreign goods by more than 15 to 50 percent. Makes States subject to the Act with respect to any repair or construction of public buildings or public works at least half the cost of which is financed with Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1977
Limits the allowances available to former Presidents for staff salaries to $150,000 for the first 30-month period during which such former President is entitled to such allowance.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1977
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to permit the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Draza Mihailovich to construct and maintain, with private funds, a monument to him.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1977
States that the aggregate amount of compensation paid to persons employed by a former President during the first 30-month period during which such former President is entitled to staff assistance shall not exceed $150,000 per year. Authorizes adjustments in the aggregate amount of such salaries in proportion to any adjustment in rates of pay under the General Schedule.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1977
Illegal Alien Control Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish a border patrol force of not less than 3,800 officers. Directs the Attorney General to report to the President and the Congress on the feasibility of: (1) establishing a system for issuing machine readable identification cards to aliens entering the United States; and (2) utilizing the most current technology in electronic sensing devices in patrolling land borders. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude from the definition of the term "immigrant" those persons entering the United States for a period of not more than one year to perform temporary services or labor if the Secretary of Labor has determined and certified to the Attorney General that there are not sufficient workers available at the aliens' destination who are willing and able to perform such services. Directs the Secretary to refer to employers who request such certification, workers in the number desired, able and qualified, and who agree to present themselves to commence employment on the date and for the period specified. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to issue social security cards for aliens who may be employed or receive public assistance in the United States. Specifies the information which an alien must provide when applying for a social security card. Requires the applicant to supply either proof of the individual's citizenship or alien status, or an affidavit that the individual was assigned a social security account number at least five years before the date of application for the card. Prohibits the employment or provision of public assistance to an individual specified in this Act unless such individual presents a social security card to the employer or agency and the employer or agency submits required information to the Secretary. Establishes a civil penalty for the violation of such prohibition. Prohibits the employment or provision of public assistance to an alien whose status under the Immigration and Nationality Act does not permit such alien to work or receive public assistance. Establishes penalties for presenting a false social security card or providing fraudulent information in order to obtain employment or public assistance. Amends the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 to prohibit the use of Federal financial aid to provide job training or employment opportunities to aliens who are not authorized to work or who are illegally in the United States. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit income tax deductions for wages paid to aliens illegally working in the United States. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit the Secretary of Labor, when adjudicating the petition of an alien for admission to perform skilled or unskilled labor, from considering the work experience gained by the alien in the United States during any time while in an immigration status in which employment was not authorized for the alien. Authorizes the seizure and forfeiture of vessels, vehicles, and aircraft used to illegally transport aliens into the United States. Sets forth exceptions to such seizure and forfeiture provision, including a vessel, vehicle, or aircraft used as a common carrier unless the owner or other person in charge was at the time of the alleged illegal act a consenting party or privy thereto. Amends the Social Security Act to prohibit the payment of Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits and Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens. Adds border crossing cards, alien registration receipt cards, and other documents prescribed by regulation for entry into the United States to the list of documents the false making of which shall be punished by fine or imprisonment or both.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) remove the adjusted gross income limitation on the credit for the elderly; (2) increase the amount of the credit; and (3) provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment for the credit.
![Official portrait of Rep. Derwinski, Edward J. [R-IL-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000269_200.jpg)