The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Rep. DioGuardi, Joseph J. [R-NY-20]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000359_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
1,029 records where Rep. DioGuardi, Joseph J. [R-NY-20] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that there should be no increase in individual income tax rates.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1985
Designates the week of December 1 through December 7, 1985, as National Autism Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1985
Designates 1986 as the Centennial Year of the Gasoline Powered Automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1985
Maritime Agreements Act of 1985 - Authorizes the President to negotiate a maritime agreement with a U.S. trading partner whenever: (1) an opportunity exists to promote free, fair, and open competition in international ocean shipping services; (2) it is necessary to protect national security interests; (3) a trading partner imposes restrictive trade barriers or unfair trade practices on the U.S. ocean shipping service industry; or (4) it furthers certain other purposes. Directs the President to negotiate a maritime agreement: (1) within two years, with a trading partner whose waterborne trade with the United States equals or exceeds one percent of the total U.S. foreign waterborne trade and where less than one-third of that trade is carried by U.S. documented vessels; or (2) with a lesser trading partner whenever that trading partner requests a maritime agreement. Sets forth certain essential provisions that must be contained in such agreement. Prohibits the United States from restricting a U.S. documented vessel from participating in the U.S. share of a trade that is the subject of a maritime agreement as long as the vessel complies with other U.S. laws. Provides sanctions if a trading partner whose waterborne trade equals or exceeds one percent of the total U.S. waterborne trade refuses to accept the essential conditions that must be contained in a maritime agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1985
Designates October 31, 1986, as National Child Identification and Safety Information Day.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1985
Declares that the House of Representatives, in an effort to bring about an end to the human rights abuses committed by the Soviet Union against the Afghanistan people, supports the President's intent to discuss such concerns with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and calls upon him to reiterate the U.S. desire to achieve a negotiated political settlement that is agreeable to all parties in Afghanistan (including the complete withdrawal of foreign troops, the restoration of an independent and sovereign Afghanistan, and the safe return of Afghan refugees).
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1985
Equitable Automobile Transportation Act of 1985 - Requires a person exporting Japanese motor vehicles to be imported into the United States to: (1) transport an equal number of such vehicles on U.S. - documented vessels as are transported on Japanese vessels; and (2) file an annual certification with the Department of the Treasury which contains specified assurances and information. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations to enforce this Act. Provides penalties for the violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1985
Designates 1986 as Save for the U.S.A. Year. Requests the President to initiate a nationwide campaign, to be known as the Buy Back America campaign, to encourage the people of the United States to buy U.S. savings bonds and certificates and thereby reduce borrowings from foreign sources. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enhance the marketability of such bonds and certificates.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1985
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the month of December 1985 as Made in America Month.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1985
Expedited United States Treasury Check Clearing Act - Requires funds deposited in an account at a depository institution by a check drawn on the Treasury to be available for withdrawal on the next business day if: (1) the check is endorsed only by the person to whom it was issued; and (2) the check is deposited into such person's account at the branch where the account was established.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1985
Revises the restriction on the use of a Government passenger carrier (passenger motor vehicle, aircraft, boat, ship, or other similar means of transportation) to transport officers or employees between their residences and places of employment. Lists the officers and employees of executive agencies for whom such transportation may be provided. Authorizes such transportation for: (1) certain persons under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service; (2) certain Foreign Service officers; and (3) any officer or employee for whom it is determined that unusual circumstances present a clear and present danger, that an emergency exists, or that compelling operational considerations make such transportation essential to the conduct of official business. Requires that the House Committee on Government Operations and the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs be promptly notified of certain authorizations for home-to-work transportation. Makes technical and conforming amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1985
National Commission on Classified Information and Security Clearance Procedures - Establishes the National Commission on Classified Information and Security Clearance Procedures to investigate: (1) standards and procedures used by Federal authorities to issue security clearances and classify information; (2) procedures used to ensure that persons with a security clearance continue to meet required standards; (3) the extent to which current standards and procedures cause the classification of more information than required by national security; and (4) the dangers to national security by the growth in the number of persons holding security clearances. Directs the Commission to recommend to each branch of the Federal Government uniform standards and procedures for issuing security clearances, classifying documents, and ensuring that a security clearance continues to meet required standards. Makes provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act inapplicable to the Commission. Requires the Commission to make a final report to the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court not later than one year after appropriations are first made for the Commission. Allows the restriction of public access to Commission documents. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of the final report.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States: (1) should not sell advanced weapons to Jordan; (2) should ensure that Israel retains its qualitative military edge in the Middle East; and (3) should focus its efforts on bringing Jordan into direct peace negotiations with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1985
Declares that the House, in an effort to bring about an end to the human rights abuses committed by the Soviet Union against the Afghanistan people, supports the President's intent to discuss such concerns with the Soviet Union and calls upon him to reiterate the U.S. desire to achieve a negotiated political settlement that is agreeable to all parties in Afghanistan (including the complete withdrawal of foreign troops, the restoration of an independent and sovereign Afghanistan, and the safe return of Afghan refugees).
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1985
Designates the week beginning on May 11, 1986, as National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1985
Designates the week of April 6 through April 12, 1986, as World Health Week, and April 7, 1986, as World Health Day.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1985
Retirement Income Policy Act of 1985 - Sets forth national retirement income policy goals. Title I: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Subtitle A: Participation Requirements - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to add definitions which distinguish between "retirement plans" and "nonretirement savings plans." Defines a retirement plan as a pension plan which meets the retirement income requirements established by this Act. Defines a nonretirement savings plan as any pension plan which is not a retirement plan as defined in this Act. Prohibits conversion of a retirement plan to a nonretirement savings plan. Sets forth retirement income requirements for retirement plans. Permits retirement plans to distribute the accrued benefits to the participant upon the participant's disability or death or separation from service, under certain conditions. Prohibits such distribution upon separation from service unless: (1) the participant is at least 59 1/2 years old; or (2) (if the participant is younger than 59 1/2 years old) the distribution is in one of the described retirement income forms. Requires that retirement plan distributions commence by: (1) the end of the plan year in which the employee: (1) attains age 70 1/2; or (2) the end of a later plan year in which an employee (who is not an owner-employee) retires. Sets forth the following descriptions of permissible "retirement income forms" for distributions upon separation from service to participants under 59 1/2 years old: (1) an annuity for the life of the participant; (2) a qualified joint and survivor annuity; or (3) a level distribution over life expectancy (which may be adjusted annually to account for certain changes). Allows such distribution forms to be adjusted periodically to allow for supplemental benefits prior to the receipt of Social Security benefits, provided such supplemental benefits do not exceed the amount of anticipated Social Security benefits. Permits retirement plans to transfer, upon separation from service, the accrued benefit of the plan participant directly to an individual retirement annuity, or another retirement plan. Revises pension plan participation and vesting provisions to add plan coverage requirements applicable to employers. Requires each employer who maintains a pension plan for an employee in the the employer's relevant work force to provide that each such employee who is under the Social Security contribution and benefit base is eligible to participate in a retirement plan maintained by the employer. Sets forth special rules in the case of allowable subdivisions of the relevant work force. Allows an employer to meet such coverage requirements by maintaining one or more retirement plans. Sets forth a special rule for contributory plans. Eliminates the three-year rule under minimum participation standards. Requires, as a prerequisite for the employer's maintenance of a nonretirement savings plan covering an employee, the employer to maintain at least one retirement plan covering that employee and accruing benefits at specified levels. Subtitle B: Limitations on Contributions and Benefits - Allows a qualified pension plan to include a cash or deferred arrangement (CODA) only if such plan is a retirement plan and if the CODA meets certain requirements. Requires the CODA to provide that the covered employee may elect to have the employer make payments: (1) as contributions to a trust under the plan on behalf of the employee; or (2) to the employee directly in cash. Requires the CODA to provide that the employee has a nonforfeitable right to the employee's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions made to the trust pursuant to the employee's election. Requires that specified CODA discrimination standards be applied to the relationship between deferral percentages of highly compensated employees and other eligible employees. Requires that such CODA requirements be met by each allowable subdivision. Limits the maximum amount of covered compensation. Provides that the amount of a participant's compensation for any year which may be taken into account under a pension plan for purposes of determining benefits and contributions may not exceed 500 percent of the Social Security contribution and benefit base. Sets forth a special rule for self-employed individuals. Subtitle C: Vesting Standards - Revises minimum vesting standards to require the full vesting of any participant who has completed the following years of service: (1) five, in the case of retirement plans; (2) one, in the case of nonretirement savings plans; and (3) ten, in the case of multiemployer plans. Subtitle D: Pension Integration - Sets forth rules against discriminatory treatment of qualified pension plan participants. Revises rules governing integration of retirement plans, with title II (Old Age, Survivors' and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act and other Federal or State retirement programs. Subtitle E: Coverage and Portability - Provides that certain early distributions from a retirement plan which are not made in a retirement income form must be transferred directly to an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity designated by the participant (or, if such designation is not made within a specified time, selected by the plan administrator). Provides that specified provisions relating to cash-outs of survivor annuities shall apply only to distributions made as transfers meeting the requirements for early distributions set forth under this Act. Prohibits distributed benefits from being treated as other than nonforfeitable solely because such distribution is made as permitted under such survivor annuity cash-out provisions. Subtitle F: Effective Date and Related Rules - Set forth effective dates for amendments made by this title. Sets forth a special rule for such effective dates in the case of plans maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. Makes technical amendments. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Subtitle A: Participation Requirements - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to make revisions similar to the revisions made to ERISA under title I, subtitle A of this Act. Specifies that maintenance of adequate retirement plan coverage is a requirement for qualification of pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans under IRC. Subtitle B: Limitations on Contributions and Benefits - Permits employees to make qualified voluntary employee contributions only to a retirement plan. Provides that certain contributions to employees' annuities are deductible. Amends IRC provisions relating to cash or deferred arrangements (CODAs) to require that employers with allowable subdivisions meet specified nondiscrimination rules separately in each allowable subdivision. Makes conforming amendments. Amends IRC provisions relating to special rules for individual retirement plans to reduce the amount of deductible contributions an individual may make to an individual retirement account or annuity (IRAs) in a taxable year by the amount of: (1) any employer contributions made to a CODA on behalf of that individual in any plan year ending in that taxable year; and (2) any qualified voluntary employee contributions for that taxable year. Revises IRC provisions relating to limitations on benefits and contributions under qualified plans to coordinate such limitations with the Social Security wage base according to specified formulas. Makes the limitation on benefits under defined benefit plans the lessor of: (1) 100 percent of compensation; or (2) 200 percent of the Social Security wage base. Makes the limitation on contributions to a defined contribution plan is the lesser of: (1) 20 percent of compensation; or (2) 50 percent of the Social Security wage base. Provides that one-half of the after-tax employee contributions are to be as an annual addition. Adds special limitations on qualified contributions to CODAs and nonretirement savings plans under the overall defined contribution limit. Limits the amount of a plan participant's or self-employed individual's compensation that may be taken into account for determining benefits and contributions to no more than 500 percent of the Social Security contribution and benefit base. Limits payments by employers pursuant to qualified CODAs by disallowing contributions and other additions with respect to a participant to the extent they include payments made by the employer for any year to a trust under the plan pursuant to a CODA in excess of 25 percent of the Social Security contribution and benefit base. Limits contributions and other additions with respect to a participant, in the case of a nonretirement savings plan by disallowing any annual addition which is greater than the lesser of: (1) 25 percent of the Social Security contribution and benefit base; or (2) ten percent of the participant's compensation. Provides that a specified rule relating to a limitation in cases of a defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan for the same employee is applicable only in the event that at least one of such plans is a top-heavy plan. Makes conforming amendments relating to the taxation of annuity income. Subtitle C: Vesting Standards - Amends IRC provisions relating to minimum vesting standards to make revisions similar to the revisions made to ERISA under title I, subtitle C of this Act. Subtitle D: Pension Integration - Amends IRC provisions relating to integration of retirement plans with title II (OASDI) of the Social Security Act and other Federal and State retirement plans to make revisions similar to some of the revisions made to ERISA under title I, subtitle D of this Act. Subtitle E: Distributions - Repeals the ten-year forward average and capital gains treatment of lump-sum distributions. Raises the rate of the additional tax on early distributions from IRAs. Subtitle F: Coverage and Portability - Amends IRC provisions relating to restrictions on certain mandatory distributions to make revisions similar to some revisions made to ERISA under title I, subtitle F of this Act. Sets forth special rules for simplified employee plans (SEPs). Permits a salary reduction arrangement which is elected by an employee under an SEP. Sets forth provisions for the treatment of such salary reduction arrangements. Imposes fiduciary duties with respect to SEPs. Prohibits integration of SEPs with Social Security provisions. Limits to 500 percent of the Social Security contribution and benefit base the total compensation considered for purposes of establishing uniform contributions to an SEP. Subtitle G: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for amendments made by this title. Sets forth an effective date for application of such amendments to IRAs. Sets forth a special rule for such effective date in the case of plans maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1985
Designates 1986 as the Year of the Flag.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1985
Awards a congressional gold medal posthumously to Leon Klinghoffer to show the Congress' admiration for the bravery he displayed while kidnapped by terrorists. Authorizes the President to present the gold medal to his widow, Marilyn Klinghoffer. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1985
Designates January 1986 as United States Savings Bonds Month.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the racism and divisiveness of Louis Farrakhan are morally repugnant. Condemns the blatant racism and anti-Semitism of Louis Farrakhan and calls upon him to cease his message of hatred.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1985
Hostage-Taking Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for hostage taking. Requires the government, when seeking the death penalty, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea of guilty 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, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to such an offense. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits evidence to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, or misleading of the jury. Specifies mitigating and aggravating factors which may be established at such hearings. Requires that mitigating factors presented by the defendant be established by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors presented by the Government beyond a reasonable doubt. Includes as threshold aggravating factors that the defendant: (1) intentionally killed the victim; (2) intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury which resulted in the death of the victim; (3) intentionally participated in an act which he reasonably should have known would create grave risk of death to a person and the victim did die as a direct result of such act; or (4) attempted to kill the President of the United States. Includes among the mitigating factors that the defendant was less than 18 years old at the time of the crime. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury that: (1) some aggravating factors exist in addition to a threshold factor; and (2) the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist. Directs the court to impose the death penalty upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the death sentence. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals, upon consideration of 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 the existence of aggravating factors or the absence of mitigating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. States that the sentence of death shall not be carried out upon a pregnant woman.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1985
Declares that the Congress: (1) condemns the Government of the Soviet Union for the killing of Charles Thornton (an American journalist in Afghanistan) in violation of Protocol I (a treaty relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflict); and (2) calls upon such government to abide by the terms of such treaty, including provisions that protect journalists working in areas subject to armed conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1985
Trade Partnership Act - Title I: International Trade - Directs the President to establish the Commission on Trade which shall: (1) evaluate existing U.S. trade laws and policies; (2) develop recommendations on monetary and fiscal policies for the United States and its chief trading partners; (3) evaluate the export financing practices of major trading partners and of international agencies; and (4) review existing trade agreements to assess their effect on U.S. long-term trading interests. Requires the Commission to report its findings and recommendations to the President and to the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should evaluate such findings and recommendations and take into account the results of an international monetary conference to determine the propriety of convening a summit conference on international trade in order to develop changes in international trade and monetary practices. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should call for an international monetary conference to develop: (1) options for reforming institutional mechanisms in order to decrease the disparity among, and to prevent dramatic fluctuations in the value of, the currencies of the major economic powers; and (2) means for reducing interest rates, promoting national and world economic growth, assuring price stability, and promoting higher levels of international trade. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should initiate multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in order to: (1) resolve the issues not resolved in earlier negotiations; (2) develop multilateral disciplines in those areas where trade problems have emerged or are becoming more acute; (3) focus on improving the dispute settlement mechanisms of the GATT; (4) place a high priority on bringing developing countries into full participation in the international trading community; (5) ensure that all developed countries share equally the responsibility for advancing the economies of developing countries; and (6) increase efforts to bring countries now outside the GATT under accepted multilateral disciplines governing trade. Directs the President to begin negotiations immediately if Canada requests the negotiation of a trade agreement that provides for the elimination or reduction of any duty imposed by the United States. Directs the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to review the bilateral relationships between the United States and its major trading partners in order to determine those countries that offer the most potential for the establishment of free trade areas with the United States. Sets forth factors to be considered in making such review. Authorizes the President, during the year following enactment of this Act, to negotiate with Japan on a trade agreement under which the United States will permit the exportation to Japan of Alaskan petroleum and natural gas in return for substantial concessions by Japan regarding the importation into Japan of agricultural products, wood products, and other kinds of export products that are important to the United States. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to transfer to the USTR specified functions relating to import relief that are currently performed by the President. Directs the President to review the USTR's determination on whether to provide import relief and what form such relief should take. Requires the President to complete such review within 15 days of receiving the USTR's determination. Directs the President to notify the Congress of the President's decision and of the USTR's determination. Directs the USTR to take action to implement the import relief which the USTR decided to provide if the President concurs in the USTR's decision. Directs the USTR to take action to implement the President's decision on import relief if it differs from the USTR's decision and no joint resolution disapproving the President's decision is enacted. Directs the USTR to order the implementation of the import relief recommended by the International Trade Commission if the decision of the President differs from the decision of the USTR and a joint resolution disapproving the President's decision is enacted. Authorizes interim relief after a petition for import relief is filed if the USTR determines that: (1) it is likely that the article is being imported in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof to the competing domestic industry; and (2) the absence of such interim relief would result in irreparable harm to the domestic industry. Authorizes emergency relief from imports of perishable products (other than perishable products from a beneficiary country under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act) after a petition for such relief is filed if the USTR, after consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, decides that: (1) there is a reasonable indication that the perishable product is being imported in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the competing domestic industry; and (2) emergency action is warranted. Directs the USTR, upon deciding to grant interim relief or emergency relief, to: (1) determine the method and extent of such relief; (2) notify the President of such decision; and (3) unless the President decides within 15 days that such relief is not in the national economic interest, order the Commissioner of Customs to impose such relief. Declares that such relief may consist of tariff increases or import limitations. Provides for the termination of such relief. Directs the USTR to order the Commissioner of Customs to implement actions necessary to enforce U.S. rights under any trade agreement if: (1) the President and the USTR agree on the appropriate action; or (2) the President differs with the USTR on the appropriate action but a joint resolution disapproving such action is not enacted. Reduces the number of days from 21 to 15 between the President's receipt of the USTR's recommendation of appropriate action and the President's decision on what action is appropriate. Requires the President to determine during such 15 day period if: (1) the President concurs in the USTR's recommendation; or (2) it is in the national economic interest not to take any action or to take action different from the action determined by the USTR. Requires the President to notify the Congress of such decision. Provides that if 90 days after the Congress receives notice of such decision no joint resolution is enacted disapproving it then such decision shall take effect. Reduces the amount of time the USTR may take to make a recommendation on a petition for enforcement of U.S. trade rights. Sets forth the actions the USTR may recommend to the President based on such petition. Directs the USTR to include in the annual report to the Congress on foreign barriers to market access an analysis and assessment of the overall reciprocity accorded U.S. products, services, and investment by each of the major trading partners of the United States and the impact on major U.S. product sectors of the failure to provide reciprocity. Requires specified congressional committees, within 90 days of receiving such report, after consultation with the USTR and conducting public hearings, to issue a joint report on: (1) the priorities for negotiations regarding reducing or eliminating trade barriers; and (2) the committees' recommendations on actions to enforce U.S. trade rights. Directs the Secretary of Labor to pay to private firms 80 percent of the cost of providing job training if the training is certified as trade readjustment training and if the trainees are not charged for the training. Extends the job training, job search, and job relocation allowance provisions of the trade adjustment assistance programs through October 1, 1987. Amends the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to set a one year deadline for the President to take action on the advice of the Secretary of Commerce on imports that are suspected of impairing national security. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to reduce the time limit for decisions by the International Trade Commission on allegations of unfair practices in import trade from one year (18 months in more complicated cases) to eight months (ten months in more complicated cases). Declares that the USTR should expedite the issuance of notices requesting the negotiation of periodic adjustments to the bilateral limitations on shipments of textiles and apparel contained in the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. Directs the Commissioner of Customs to: (1) increase the number of inspectors, import specialists, and customs patrol officers in the Customs Service by at least 800; (2) implement the Automated Commercial System at all ports of entry; and (3) implement a program for detecting, investigating, and prosecuting patent and copyright infringement cases. Requires the Commissioner to report quarterly to specified congressional committees on the operation and effect of the patent and copyright infringement program. Imposes a penalty for multiple customs law offenders who import or attempt to import merchandise during the three years following the date of the third of the offenders' convictions. Title II: Protection of Patents and Transfer of Technology - Part A: Protection of Patents - Amends the patent laws to make it an infringement of patent to use, sell, or import into the United States without authority a product produced by a patented process. Places the burden of proof upon the party asserting that a product was not produced with the patented process in an infringement action where the court finds a substantial likelihood that the product was so produced and the claimant has exhausted all means of discovery. Part B: Transfer of Technology - Federal Laboratory Technology Utilization Act of 1985 - Authorizes Federal agencies to permit their laboratories to enter into cooperative research and development arrangements with other Federal, State, and local agencies, universities, industrial organizations, or other persons including licensees of inventions owned by the Federal agency or general partners of research and development limited partnerships. Permits such laboratories to exchange funds, services, and property with collaborators, grant such collaborators patent licenses or assignments, waive Federal ownership of inventions made by a collaborator, and negotiate licensing agreements for federally owned inventions. Sets forth a formula for the distribution of royalties or other income received by such laboratories from the licensing of cooperatively produced inventions to Federal agency employee inventors, the laboratories themselves, and the Treasury. Requires affected Federal agencies to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on the income from and distribution of royalties. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to provide procedures, training, and advice to Federal laboratories on recognizing the commercial potential of new technologies and inventions. Requires the Secretary to report biannually to the President and the Congress on Federal agency participation in this program. Makes it the policy of the Government to encourage the commercialization of inventions by Federal or former Federal employees made by them during their Federal employment and exempts such efforts from otherwise applicable violations. Permits such an employee to retain title to an invention (subject to retention by the Government of a nonexclusive license) unless the agency intends to file a patent application itself in order to promote commercialization. Sets forth other permissible conditions on such an inventor's title. Part C: Protection of Proprietary Information - Exempts commercial and financial information that is proprietary or sensitive from the sunshine provisions applied to Federal agencies if the proprietor is notified of the request for release of the information and given 60 days to present arguments on why the information should be exempt. Title III: Export Promotion - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to increase, from five percent to ten percent, the percentage of shares that: (1) a bank holding company may hold in an export trading company; and (2) an Edge Act corporation may hold in an export trading company from five to ten percent. Increases the amount of credit that a bank owning stock in a bank holding company with investments in an export trading company may extend to an export trading company. Amends the Export Trading Company Act of 1982 to direct the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank to try to insure that a "significant share" (currently a "major share") of any loan guarantees ultimately serves to promote exports from small, medium-size, and minority businesses or agricultural concerns. Requires the Board to report to the Congress on implementation of such requirement within one year of its effective date. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to develop a program consisting of mixed credit financing for exports to compensate for the effects of subsidized financing by U.S. trading partners. Declares that the Export-Import Bank should expand its promotion programs for small- and medium-sized banks. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to give Edge Act corporations the same discount and borrowing privileges as Federal Reserve banks. Repeals the limitation on bank investments in Edge Act corporations. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to require periodic reports from every corporation of the total amount of capital stocks and paid up surplus of the corporation, the name of any stockholder who holds more than ten percent of the shares of the stock of such corporation, and the share holdings of such stockholder. Directs the U.S. Executive Director of each of the multilateral development banks to promote procurement opportunities relating to the assistance provided by such banks in recipient countries for U.S. firms. Sets forth actions the Executive Directors should take with respect to such opportunities. Declares that the Secretary of Commerce should continue to assign one foreign commercial service officer to the office of the U.S. Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to assign such an officer on a part-time basis to each of the offices of the U.S. Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank. Requires the U.S. Ambassadors to those countries that are important trading partners of the United States to report annually to the President and to the Congress on their efforts to help U.S. industries in expanding export sales to, and improving their market positions in, such countries. Authorizes the seven Bell operating companies, effective September 1, 1986, to manufacture telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment in the United States if specified conditions are met. Title IV: Foreign Corrupt Practices - Business Accounting and Foreign Trade Simplification Act - Changes the name of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) to the Business Practices and Records Act. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require securities issuers to maintain an internal accounting system that provides reasonable assurance that specified accountability and accuracy goals are met. Prohibits imposing criminal liability for failing to maintain such an accounting system. Prohibits imposing civil injunctive relief with respect to: (1) an issuer who fails to maintain the required accounting system if the issuer tried in good faith to meet the requirements; or (2) any person other than an issuer in connection with an issuer's failure to comply with such requirements, unless such person knowingly caused the issuer to fail to comply. Prohibits anyone from knowingly circumventing such an accounting system for a purpose inconsistent with the accountability and accuracy goals of such system. Requires only good faith efforts at ensuring compliance by issuers who hold 50 percent or less of the equity of domestic or foreign firms. Transfers from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Department of Justice jurisdiction to enforce the bribery prohibitions of the FCPA with respect to issuers. Revises the prohibition against domestic concerns using any means of interstate commerce to further payments to obtain business with a foreign official. States that such a payment made "directly or indirectly" to a foreign official is illegal. Prohibits such payments that are made to: (1) influence a foreign official's act or induce such an official to violate a legal duty; or (2) induce a foreign official to affect a foreign government's act. Prohibits domestic concerns from using interstate commerce to direct or authorize an agent to further such a payment to a foreign official. Exempts from such prohibitions: (1) payments to foreign officials to expedite or to secure the performance of routine governmental action; (2) payments to such officials that are lawful under the foreign country's laws; (3) payments which constitute tokens of regard or esteem; (4) expenditures associated with selling, purchasing, or demonstrating goods; or (5) ordinary expenditures associated with performing a contract with a foreign government. Revises the fines and criminal penalties for violations of such Act. Empowers the Attorney General to undertake all civil investigations necessary to enforce the Act. Prohibits prosecution of a domestic concern or specified agents of such concern for violating the Federal mail or wire fraud provisions by making a payment to a foreign official if the prosecution is based on the theory that the official, by receiving the payment, violated a duty to or defrauded the foreign government or the citizens of a foreign country. Authorizes the Attorney General to issue guidelines specifying: (1) permissible conduct associated with common types of export sales arrangements; and (2) precautionary procedures which would create a rebuttable presumption of compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Business Practices and Records Act Review Procedure to answer specific inquiries concerning enforcement of such Act. Requires the Attorney General to issue opinions regarding compliance. Makes such opinions final and binding on all parties if the opinion states that the conduct does not involve a violation. Directs the Attorney General to protect the confidentiality of materials submitted in the review procedure. Requires annual reports to the Congress by: (1) the Attorney General concerning actions taken pursuant to such Act; and (2) the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the reporting requirements. Title V: Related Tax Provisions - High Technology Research and Scientific Education Act of 1985 - Part A: The Credit for Increasing Research Activities - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for research and development (R&D) expenditures. Modifies the definition of qualified research for purposes of the R&D credit to narrow the category of eligible activities for which the credit is allowable. Provides that in-house and contract research expenses paid or incurred by a regular corporation (not an S corporation, a personal holding company, or a service corporation) will constitute qualified research expenses for R&D credit purposes if the corporation undertakes the research with the intention to use the result thereof in the active conduct of a present or future trade or business. Provides that in the case of research being conducted in partnership form, research expenses will constitute qualified research expenses if they are incurred by the partnership in carrying on a trade or business as applied at the partnership level, and the credit is apportioned among the partners in accordance with general partnership rules. Provides exceptions to this general rule where: (1) there is a joint venture enterprise of regular corporations; or (2) not all of the members of the joint venture are regular corporations, but each member's own trade or business would satisfy the trade or business test with respect to the partnership's research expenditures. Provides that for these two exceptions the research expenses will flow through to the partners, with the trade or business test being applied at the partner level. Part B: Promotion of University Research and Scientific Investigation - Establishes a new income tax credit equal to 20 percent of that portion of a corporation's payments to universities (and other qualified non-profit tax-exempt organizations for basic research) which exceeds a fixed, historical "minimum university basic research" floor. Defines the "minimum university basic research" floor as one percent of the annual average of the corporate taxpayer's combined qualified in-house research expenses, contract research expenses, and university basic research payments for the base period composed of the period from 1981 through 1983. Provides that the amounts of research expenses which fall below the floor shall remain eligible for the present R&D credit and are included in the corporation's base period for purposes of calculating the present R&D credit. Treats the amounts which exceed the "minimum university basic research" floor as ineligible for the present R&D credit and excludes such amounts from the corporate taxpayer's base year research expenses for purposes of calculating the corporation's R&D credit under present law. Provides that a corporation's payments to universities for basic research that is eligible for the new tax credit shall be reduced to the extent that the corporation's general (i.e., not designated for research purposes) charitable giving to all universities falls below historical levels (the annual average of undesignated payments for three of the immediately preceding four years as selected by the taxpayer). Makes additions to the list of organizations to which corporate payments for basic research may be made and be eligible for the tax credit. Allows a corporation an income tax deduction for contributions of scientific or technical property to an institution of higher education. Defines scientific property to mean tangible personal property (including computer software) used in a trade or business, which is donated for the direct education of students or faculty, for research and experimentation, or for research training in the United States in mathematics, the physical, biological, or chemical sciences, engineering, or advanced computer sciences. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of the allowable deduction for contributions of scientific property. Provides for an income tax exclusion for the scholarships, fellowship grants, student loan forgiveness, or stipends of a graduate student in mathematics, engineering, computer science, or the physical or biological sciences. Provides that such tax exclusion is not forfeited merely because the student is required, as a condition of the scholarship or fellowship, to perform future service in teaching or research.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should raise with the Soviet Union, at the November 1985 summit in Geneva, Switzerland, the matter of Poland's suppression of speech and political activity, and that by so doing the President raises and defends the principles of human rights as embodied in the Helsinki Accords.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1985
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to eliminate the second concurrent resolution on the budget and thus provide for annual adoption of a single concurrent resolution on the budget (budget resolution). Sets forth maximum Federal budget deficit amounts for each of fiscal years 1986 through 1991 providing for the incremental reduction of the deficit to zero by 1991. Requires Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) revenues and expenditures to be included in the calculation of such deficit amounts. Prohibits either House of Congress from considering or adopting a budget resolution or a revision thereof providing for budget outlays exceeding revenues by more than the prescribed maximum deficit amount. Requires the Congress to complete action on any reconciliation bill or resolution to: (1) an original budget resolution by June 15 of each year; or (2) a revised budget resolution within 30 days after the revision is adopted. Provides that no amendment that would increase specific budget outlays or reduce specific revenues set forth in a budget resolution or reconciliation bill shall be in order in the House or the Senate, unless such amendment provides for offsetting adjustments in other outlays and revenues to ensure that the deficit set forth in the budget resolution is not increased or exceeded. Requires each Senate and House committee to report its subdivisions of allocated budget outlays and new budget authority within ten days of session after the budget resolution is agreed to. Makes it out of order for the House or the Senate, after the Congress has completed action on the budget resolution for a fiscal year, to consider legislation that, if enacted, would: (1) provide for or require budget outlays or new budget authority in excess of the appropriate committee allocation reported in connection with such resolution, unless legislation is favorably reported by the Committee on Appropriations of the House involved with a certification that the appropriate committee will take actions necessary to assure that enactment of such legislation will not result in a deficit exceeding the maximum deficit amount applicable; or (2) provide for new budget authority or spending authority or reduce revenues so that the resulting deficit would exceed the level set forth in such budget resolution or the applicable maximum deficit amount. Permits a congressional committee to report alterations to its reported allocations of budget outlays and authority, provided that such alterations are consistent with any actions taken by its House on legislation within its jurisdiction. Requires the conference report on any legislation providing new budget authority or new or increased tax expenditures to disclose the information required to be disclosed in committee reports on such legislation. Requires the Federal budget transmitted to the Congress by the President each year, and revisions thereof, to set forth levels of outlays and revenues resulting in a deficit not in excess of the applicable maximum deficit amount. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office: (1) to estimate the levels of total revenues and budget levels for each fiscal year; (2) to estimate the rate of real economic growth during that year; (3) to determine whether the deficit for such year will exceed the applicable maximum deficit amount and whether such excess is statistically significant; and (4) to submit a report to the President and the Congress specifying the amount of any excess, whether it is statistically significant, the estimated rate of real economic growth for that year, and the percentages by which automatic spending increases (excluding increases in OASDI benefits) and relatively controllable expenditures shall be reduced during such year in order to eliminate such excess. Requires the President, upon receiving such a report which identifies a statistically significant excesss, to issue an order which eliminates one-half of such excess by suspending or uniformly reducing (not below zero) automatic spending increases under Federal law for such year, and which eliminates the other half by sequestering amounts of budget authority, obligation limitations, and loan limitations, and by adjusting Federal payments, to the extent necessary to reduce each relatively controllable expenditure by a uniform percentage. Directs the President to send a message to both Houses of Congress identifying: (1) the total amount and the percentage by which automatic spending increases are to be reduced; (2) the amount of budget authority, obligation limitations, and loan limitations to be sequestered and payments to be adjusted for all, and each, relatively controllable expenditure; and (3) the account, department, establishment, project, or function affected by such revision of expenditures. Prohibits such an order from eliminating any Federal program, project, or activity. Directs the President to issue such order: (1) within 14 days after receiving such report if the estimate for real economic growth for the fiscal year is zero or greater; or (2) within 30 days if the estimate for real economic growth is less than zero. Authorizes the President, during such 30-day period, to submit to the Congress a joint resolution to: (1) reduce the deficit to an amount not exceeding the applicable maximum deficit amount; or (2) suspend the requirements of this Act for such fiscal year. Permits the President's message to the Congress to include alternative ways to reduce the deficit to an amount not exceeding the maximum deficit amount. Permits the Committee on the Budget of the House or the Senate, within ten days after the President has issued such an order, to report a joint resolution superseding such order. Makes it out of order for the House or the Senate to consider or agree to any such resolution which, if enacted, would cause the fiscal year deficit to exceed the deficit set forth in the budget resolution most recently agreed to, or the applicable maximum deficit amount. Sets forth House and Senate procedures for consideration of such a resolution. Amends the Social Security Act to provide that OASDI revenues and expenditures shall be excluded from the Federal budget transmitted by the President to the Congress and from the congressional budget, and shall be exempt from general budget limitations imposed on Federal expenditures and net lending. Prohibits any law enacted after enactment of this Act from providing for payments between the Treasury and the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Changes the date by which the President must submit to the Congress a supplemental summary of the budget for a fiscal year from July 16 to September 16. Waives specified provisions of this Act in any fiscal year for which a declaration of war has been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1985
Business Information Confidentiality Procedures Act - Directs each Federal agency to promulgate regulations to provide procedures to protect the confidentiality of business information consisting of trade secrets and commercial or financial information. Establishes procedures under which a submitter of such information shall be: (1) notified of a decision allowing disclosure; (2) permitted to provide written objections; and (3) seek de novo judicial review of a decision to allow disclosure over such objections.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1985
Designates October 6 through October 10, 1986, as National Social Studies Week.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1985
Designates November 6, 1985, as Ignacy Jan Paderewski Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1985
Corporation for Small Business Investment Charter Act - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to provide that references to small business investment companies operating under the Act shall be deemed to refer to small business investment companies operating under the provisions of this Act. Includes in the term "small business investment company" any organization which is qualified to conduct business with the Corporation for Small Business Investment. Requires small business investment companies to provide a source of equity capital for incorporated and unincorporated small businesses under such terms as the small business investment company may fix in accordance with the rules of the Corporation. (Currently, such capital is provided by small business investment companies in accordance with the regulations of the Small Business Administration.) Provides that small business investment companies may provide to small businesses: (1) equity investments and loans on a participation or guaranteed basis; and (2) consulting and advisory services on a fee basis. Establishes the Corporation for Small Business Investment. Authorizes the Corporation to: (1) make loans to small business investment companies; (2) purchase preferred securities, debentures, and guarantee debentures issued by such companies; and (3) act as issuer of such securities. Requires the Corporation to establish criteria for the qualification of: (1) small business investment companies to conduct business with such corporation; and (2) small business investment companies whose investments will be made solely in small businesses which will help facilitate the ownership in such businesses by persons who have been hampered by social or economic disadvantages. Permits the purchase of ownership interests in small business investment companies by national banks. Authorizes small business investment companies to: (1) purchase stock issued by the Corporation; (2) borrow money; and (3) issue its debenture bonds, promissory notes, or other obligations under conditions as prescribed by the Corporation. Authorizes and directs the Corporation and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to enter into an agreement in which the Corporation will acquire title to preferred securities and debentures issued by small business investment companies whose policy is to facilitate small business ownership by socially and economically disadvantaged persons, and held by the SBA, and Funds held by the SBA representing the reserve for losses against such preferred securities and debentures. Sets forth the conditions under which the Corporation shall hold such securities, debenture, and loss reserve Funds. Authorizes the Corporation to: (1) enter into agreements regarding the operation of small business investment companies; and (2) issue common and preferred stock. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase obligations issued by the Corporation. Exempts from the securities laws of the United States all stock and obligations issued by the Corporation. Requires the Corporation to adopt rules on conflicts of interest which may be detrimental to: (1) small businesses; (2) small business investment companies; or (3) the Corporation. Requires the accounts of the Corporation to be audited annually. Requires a report of each such audit to be: (1) furnished to the Secretary; and (2) made by the Secretary to the President and the Small Business Committees of the Congress not later than six months following the close of each fiscal year. Requires the Corporation, after the end of each fiscal year, to transmit to the President, the Small Business Committees of the Congress, and the Administrator a report of its operations and activities during each year. Exempts from State usury laws all business loans made by a small business investment company pursuant to this Act. Transfers to the Corporation all title to small business investment company securities that are guaranteed by the SBA and held by the Federal Financing Bank.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1985
Amends the copyright law to make permanent the prohibition against importing certain English language books not manufactured in the United States and Canada, denying copyright protection to books imported in violation of this restriction (the manufacturing clause).
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1985
Social Security Budget and Administrative Reorganization Act of 1985 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing economic security through social insurance and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a Commissioner of Social Security; (2) a Deputy Commissioner of Social Security; (3) a General Counsel; (4) an Inspector General; and (5) an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman, to be headed by a Beneficiary Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of beneficiaries under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income Program within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Requires the Board and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement demonstration projects relating to personnel matters. Directs the Board and the Administrator of General Services to implement such projects relating to delegations from the Administrator. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator and the Director. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees concerning such projects, including an evaluation of the Board's readiness to assume full and permanent authority. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities to be carried out by the Administration under this Act. Abolishes the position of Commissioner of Social Security in the Department of Health and Human Services. Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions. Title II: Conforming Amendments and Rules of Construction - Requires the Secretary and the Board to report to Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Secretary to study and make recommendations on the most effective methods of providing economic security and on the administrative policy for the programs which he or she administers. Directs the Board to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program and an Advisory Council on Health and Supplementary Medical Insurance to review the relation of the trust funds supporting the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Medicare program and the long-term commitments of those programs. Requires each council to submit a report to the Board for transmittal to the Congress and the Board of Trustees of each Trust Fund. Sets forth the effective dates of this title. Title III: Budgetary Treatment of Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program - Provides for off-budget treatment of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund beginning with FY 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1985
Designates the Fallen Firefighter Statue and Plaza in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1985
Designates 1987 as the Year of Thanksgiving.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1985
Expresses the concern of the House of Representatives over the pending Supplementary Extradition Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom because of the treaty's: (1) effort to destroy the traditional "political offense" exception to extradition; and (2) retroactivity. Declares that the House of Representatives believes that changes in extradition law should be accomplished through legislation, not treaty, and that the House opposes renegotiation of existing extradition treaties on a country-by-country basis. Expresses the concern of the House that the system of justice in Northern Ireland would not give due process to persons extradited back under terms of the Supplementary Treaty. Urges the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to end its consideration of such treaty.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1985
Narcotics Control Trade Act - Directs the President to designate a country an uncooperative drug source nation if during any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1985, such country: (1) was a source of any illicit narcotic and psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances that is significantly affecting the United States; and (2) did not cooperate with the United States in preventing such drugs and substances from affecting the United States by taking specified actions. Directs the President to report to the Congress the name of each such country. Denies the products of each such country most-favored-nation treatment until the President notifies the Congress that such country has made significant progress and will continue to make progress in remedying those policies on which an uncooperative drug source nation designation was based.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1985
Older Americans Foreign Travel Equity Act - Amends Federal law to reduce, by 25 percent, the passport fee for individuals 65 years of age or over.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that employee benefits should not be taxed.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1985
Covert Agent Disclosure Federal Pension Forfeiture Act - Requires the forfeiture of Federal employee retirement benefits upon conviction of the felony of the unauthorized disclosure of the identity of a covert agent.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1985
Family Education Assistance Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual taxpayer an income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, books, meals, lodging, travel, and personal expenses) at an institution of higher education or a vocational school of a child or another person with respect to whom the individual has been appointed guardian. Sets the maximum amount of the deductions for any taxable year at $1,000 for one eligible student, or $2,000 for two or more eligible students. Provides that the sum of the contributors' deductions may not exceed $1,000 annually per eligible student. Disallows deductions made before January 1, 1990, to an education savings account established for the benefit of an individual who has attained age 22 before the close of the calendar year in which such contribution is made. Disallows deductions made on or after January 1, 1990, to an account for the benefit of an individual who has attained age 19 before the close of the calendar year in which such contribution is made. Provides that no account may have more than one beneficiary and that no individual may be the beneficiary of more than one account. Requires assets in an education savings account be distributed after the individual for whose benefit the account is established attains age 27. Includes distributions from an education savings account in the gross income of the recipient except for: (1) distributions used to pay educational expenses; (2) distributions to another education savings account or to an eligible educational institution; and (3) excess contributions returned before the due date of the return of the individual making the excess contribution. Provides that an education savings account is exempt from taxation except for the tax on unrelated business income. Revokes the tax exemption of the account where the individual for whose benefit the account is established or an individual who contributed to such account engages in certain prohibited transactions with the account. Imposes a penalty tax of ten percent on the distribution of amounts which are improperly used. Requires the trustee of an education savings account to file reports with the Secretary of the Treasury on the maintenance of the account. Imposes a penalty for failure to file required reports. Extends the deduction for contributions to an education savings account to taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize deductions. Provides that contributions to an education savings account are not subject to the gift tax.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1985
Contract Savings Act of 1985 - Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require the procurement of property and services from the private sector when the costs are lower than those of providing such property and services by the Federal Government. Requires the Administrator of General Services to prescribe regulations for such cost comparisons. Makes greater reliance on private sector sources a part of Federal procurement policy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1985
Eliminates the requirement that individuals who are owner-employees with pension or profit-sharing plans (Keogh plans) must file a specified informational return (form 5500-c) in order to comply with certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe a simplified information return.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1985
Designates November 24, 1985, as National Day of Fasting to Raise Funds to Combat Hunger.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1985
Designates the rose as the national floral emblem.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1985
Gifted and Talented Children and Youth Education Act of 1985 - Establishes a Federal gifted and talented education (GTE) program to improve the capability of State and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) and private nonprofit schools to: (1) identify gifted and talented children and youth; and (2) provide those children and youth with appropriate educational opportunities. Directs the Secretary of Education from specified sums appropriated under this Act and after consultation with the advisory committee established by this Act to make grants to or contracts with SEAs, LEAs, institutions of higher education, or other public and private agencies to assist them in carrying out authorized GTE programs or projects, including personnel or supervisory training. Sets forth authorized GTE programs and projects, including: (1) preservice and inservice training (including fellowships) for GTE personnel (including leadership personnel); (2) model projects and exemplary programs for identification and education, including summer programs and cooperative programs involving business, industry, and education; (3) strengthening SEA and higher education institutions' capability to provide leadership and assistance to LEAs and nonprofit private schools in planning, operating, and improving such programs; (4) technical assistance and information dissemination; (5) research on methods and techniques for identifying and teaching gifted and talented children and youth; (6) conducting program evaluations and surveys; and (7) developing information and analysis. Establishes the National Center for Research and Development in the Education of Gifted and Talented Children and Youth (the National Center) through grants or contracts with one or more higher education institutions or SEAs, or a consortium or combination of such institutions and agencies, to carry out clauses (5), (6), and (7) of the preceding paragraph. Requires the Director of the National Center to carry out such National Center functions as may be agreed upon through arrangements with other higher education institutions, SEAs, LEAs, or other public or private agencies and organizations. Limits to 30 percent of the funds for authorized programs and projects that portion which may be used to conduct activities pursuant to provisions relating to the National Center and its research, evaluation, and information functions. Directs the Secretary and the advisory committee established by this Act, in administering this Act, to give highest priority to programs for: (1) identifying and educating gifted and talented children and youth who may not be identified through traditional assessment measures (such as the limited-English speaking, economically disadvantaged, handicapped, and women); and (2) developing or improving the capability of schools in an entire State or region of the Nation, through cooperative efforts and participation of SEAs, LEAs, higher education institutions, and other public and private agencies and organizations (including business, industry, and labor) to identify and educate gifted and talented children and youth. Sets forth provisions relating to participation of private school children and teachers in programs under this Act. Directs the Secretary to appoint an advisory committee on GTE, with members representative of State education agencies, teacher education institutions, researchers, teachers, and parents. Directs the Secretary to establish or designate an administrative unit within the Department of Education to: (1) administer the programs authorized by this Act; (2) coordinate all GTE programs that the Department administers; and (3) serve as a focal point for national leadership and information on the educational needs of gifted and talented children and youth and the availability of services and programs to meet those needs. Requires that such administrative unit be headed by a person of recognized professional qualifications and experience in GTE. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1985
Congressional Foreign Travel Accountability Act of 1985 - Prohibits the use of Federal funds for the expenses of foreign travel by Members of Congress or congressional officers or employees unless such expenses are paid out of a specific appropriation included in the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act or any supplement thereto. Requires such travel to be accomplished by the most economical means possible. Requires congressional committees to establish guidelines to avoid duplicative and unnecessary travel and to file quarterly reports on such travel for public inspection. Sets forth civil penalties for persons who use such reports for unlawful, commercial, or solicitation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1985
Congressional Foreign Travel Accountability Act of 1985 - Prohibits the use of Federal funds for the expenses of foreign travel by Members of Congress or congressional officers or employees unless such expenses are paid out of a specific appropriation included in the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act or any supplement thereto. Requires such travel to be accomplished by the most economical means possible. Requires congressional committees to establish guidelines to avoid duplicative and unnecessary travel and to file quarterly reports on such travel for public inspection. Sets forth civil penalties for persons who use such reports for unlawful, commercial, or solicitation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1985
Designates March 25, 1986, and each March 25 thereafter, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1985
Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to provide that budget authority proposed to be rescinded or reserved in a special message transmitted to the Congress by the President shall be made available for obligation unless the Congress completes action within a specified period on a rescission bill disapproving the rescission of such authority.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the tax treatment of loans with below market interest rates (i.e. the imputed interest rules) shall not apply to any obligation issued by the State of Israel.