United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1985
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require that tariffs levied on the imports of textile machinery shall be allocated to a Textile Machinery Modernization Fund to finance research projects for the modernization of the U.S. textile machinery industry.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1985
Superfund Amendments of 1985 - Title I: Provisions Relating Primarily to Response and Liability - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)(Superfund) to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish reportable quantities for all hazardous substances by December 31, 1986. Directs the Administrator to give primary attention to releases which may present a threat to public health. Confirms the President's discretion to decide when responsible parties are authorized to conduct cleanup actions in lieu of Superfund-financed responses. Requires short-term removal actions undertaken by the Administrator to contribute to the highest degree possible to the efficient performance of any long-term action. Increases the maximum time and funding limit on short-term response actions when appropriate. Limits the 50 percent State cleanup obligation to those facilities which are both owned and operated by the State. Credits States with expenditures made at National Priorities List (NPL) sites on cost-eligible response actions. Revises other State cost-sharing measures. Treats long-term cleanup of groundwater, surface water, or soil contamination as part of the costs of remedial action. Grants EPA employees or contractors the necessary access to facilities and information to determine if the need for a response action exists. Prescribes a cleanup schedule for Superfund, requiring an evaluation within three years of sites on the Emergency Response and Remedial Investigation System (ERRIS) list for possible inclusion on the NPL. Sets a schedule for the conduct of remedial investigations and feasibility studies (RIFS) for NPL sites, requiring the commencement of remedial action at a minimum of 90 percent of such facilities within one year of the RIFS' completion. Directs the Administrator to revise the National Contingency Plan (NCP) within 18 months to reflect this Act's amendments. Requires the review of the hazard ranking system within one year. Permits individuals to petition the Administrator for a preliminary hazard assessment at a site. Includes contamination of the ambient air as a criterion for ranking a hazard. Eliminates the requirement that the NPL contain at least 400 sites. Prohibits the Administrator from taking abatement action against any release resulting from an applied pesticide registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Includes all vessels releasing hazardous substances within the jurisdiction of the United States under the liability provisions of CERCLA. Makes certain investigatory and assessment costs recoverable from the responsible party. Exempts from liability for all but negligence actions of government agencies responding to a hazardous substance emergency. Directs the Administrator and each Governor to appoint Federal and State trustees, respectively, for natural resources, creating a rebuttable presumption that their assessment of damages to such resources is valid. States that cleanup costs incurred in a response action constitute a Federal lien against the property of a responsible party. Sets forth evidentiary requirements for establishing financial responsibility. Permits direct action against a financial guarantor if the person liable is financially or physically unavailable for redress. Entitles such a guarantor to all rights and defenses available to the liable party. Limits the liability of such guarantor to its financial responsibility to the responsible party. Increases criminal penalties and adds certain civil penalties for violations of this Act, including failure to provide accurate information at specified times. Establishes a total fund level of $1,750,000,000 for each of five years, through FY 1990. Authorizes the use of Superfund monies for the authorities created by this Act. Eliminates the use of Superfund for payment of natural resource damage claims. Revises auditing procedures to require annual audits and reports to the Congress by the Inspector General. Authorizes appropriations for Superfund for FY 1986 through 1990. Establishes a six-year statute of limitations for Superfund claims, setting forth special rules for minors and incompetents. Authorizes nationwide service of process under CERCLA. Establishes a three-year statute of limitations for the initiation of actions for contribution for response costs of damages and for recovery claims for damages to natural resources. Establishes a six-year statute of limitations for cost recovery actions. Authorizes a State to require contributions to a fund to pay the costs of hazardous substance response actions or damages. Establishes within the Public Health Service the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), headed by an Administrator. Requires ATSDR to implement the health-related authorities of this Act. Directs such Administrator to establish and maintain a listing of areas closed to the public or otherwise restricted in use because of contamination by hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants. Directs the Administrator of EPA to list and periodically revise a list of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants which pose the most significant potential threat to human health. Directs the Administrator of ATSDR to establish and maintain an inventory of information on the health effects of each listed substance. Requires such Administrator to also develop toxicological profiles for each such substance, assessing the current state of knowledge of their deleterious effects, and revising such profiles at least every three years. Requires the Administrator to initiate research where inadequate information is available on a substance. Requires Federal coordination of research efforts. Requires the Administrator of ATSDR to perform a health assessment for each NPL facility where a significant possibility exists that a human population has been exposed to hazardous substances existing at such facility and a significant threat of adverse health effects exists. Bases the selection of such facilities on criteria developed by the Administrator of EPA. Permits the Administrator of ATSDR to conduct health assessments at other facilities as well. Authorizes individuals to petition the Administrator of EPA for a health assessment of a site where evidence of human exposure to hazardous substances exists. Requires the completion of health assessments before the completion of remedial investigation and feasibility studies (RIFS) whenever possible. Grants priority to those sites where the potential risk to human health appears highest. Requires State or local officials conducting a health assessment to report the results and recommendations to the Administrators. Requires the Administrator of ATSDR to provide the affected State and the Administrator of EPA with the results and recommendations of any ATSDR assessment. Includes the costs of an assessment among recoverable cleanup costs whenever such assessment reveals human exposure to a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Directs the Administrator of ATSDR to conduct a pilot study of health effects of exposure whenever justified by an assessment to determine if full scale epidemiological studies are appropriate. Requires the Administrator to establish a registry of exposed persons if appropriate. Directs the Administrator to initiate a health surveillance program for an exposed population if justified by an epidemiological study or exposure registry. Requires the Administrator to report biennially to the Administrator of EPA on ATSDR's activities under this Act. Directs the Administrator of EPA to abate significant risks to the human population through exposure by providing alternate household water or relocation of individuals. Requires peer review of all ATSDR studies and research. Requires the Administrator of ATSDR to provide States and health professionals with educational materials on exposure-related issues. Requires the Administrator of EPA to provide a reasonable opportunity for public comment on any proposed plan for remedial action before it is implemented. Requires the Administrator to publish an explanation of any divergences from such plan or public comments. Authorizes the Administrator to make assistance available to affected individuals to help them evaluate and assess technical information and data. Prohibits the Administrator from taking a response action to certain types of releases unless such releases constitute a public health or environmental emergency. Prohibits response to releases: (1) of naturally occurring substances; (2) of building products; (3) into drinking water supply systems due to ordinary deterioration; and (4) from coal mining sites. Grants highest cleanup priority to releases which have contaminated or closed a sole or principal drinking water source. Requires the consideration of certain factors when adopting offsite remedies, including the long-term risks and uncertainties of land disposal. Exempts response-action contractors from liability for nonnegligent cleanup activities if they would not otherwise have been liable. Includes Federal facilities under CERCLA as if they were private facilities, except for certain financial responsibility and time period provisions. Requires the Administrator to establish a Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket for each Federal agency and department which will include information on off-site contamination and monitoring data, and releases of reportable quantities of hazardous substances. Requires that such information be made available to the public. Requires the Administrator to evaluate certain Federal facilities by January 31, 1987, for placement on the NPL, using National Contingency Plan (NCP) criteria. Requires the commencement of a RIFS within six months of a Federal site's placement on the NPL. Directs the Administrator to review the RIFS and enter into interagency agreements for cleanup when necessary, allowing for public participation. Requires each agency to report annually to the Congress on its implementation progress. Requires Federal agencies to notify buyers or transferees of Federal land where hazardous substances were disposed of or stored. Requires the Administrator to select appropriate cost-effective remedial actions in accordance with the NCP. Requires remedial actions selected to provide sufficient control or amelioration of the hazardous substance so as to protect human health and the environment. Requires such measures to take into account the long-term effectiveness of the solution and the alternative technologies available to the maximum extent possible. Requires a standard of control at least as strict as that provided by any other applicable Federal environmental law such as the Safe Drinking Water Act. Requires onsite disposal to be in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into agreements whereby the releasor or any potentially responsible person conducts the remedial response. Permits the Administrator to fund part of such response. Limits the liability of the cleaning up party to that specified in the agreement. Permits the Administrator to take action against any person not a party to such agreement. Enters such agreements in the appropriate U.S. district court as consent agreements, enforceable as such. Directs the Administrator to notify potentially responsible parties of each other's identities and of the seriousness of the necessary cleanup, providing a moratorium on the commencement of remedial action for a specified period after such notice has been given. Grants notified persons an opportunity to submit a proposal to the Administrator for the undertaking or financing of remedial action. Permits the Administrator to commence remedial action if no good faith proposal is forthcoming within a specified period. Authorizes the Administrator to proceed on remedial actions where a significant public health threat exists, regardless of the status of negotiations. Authorizes the Administrator to agree to refrain from pursing any future liability of a person if an approved response action would be expedited and the person is in full compliance with the consent decree. Permits such an agreement only in the public interest after an evaluation of the effectiveness of the remedy and the nature of the remaining risks. Places premiums from such agreements into a contingency fund for future remedial actions at other facilities. Permits the Administrator to settle with persons whose share of response costs is not substantial. Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions - Terminates the Post-Closure Liability Fund's responsibility to fund the cleanup of already closed sites where hazardous waste was stored in compliance with the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Requires the promulgation of natural resource assessment damage claims regulations within six months of this Act's enactment. Requires the Department of Transportation to promulgate regulations requiring shippers to notify transporters whenever hazardous substances are offered for transportation. Establishes a federally-required commencement date for the running of State statutes of limitations for injury or damages caused by exposure to a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Makes such date the time a plaintiff should reasonably have known exposure to such a substance caused or contributed to a personal injury. Renames the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund the Hazardous Substances Superfund. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize the Administrator to provide for the cleanup of leaking underground storage tanks. Requires the Administrator to use funds in the Petroleum Release Response Account of Superfund for such purposes, but holds the owners and operators of such tanks strictly liable for such costs. Authorizes State implementation of such authority under specified conditions, authorizing the Administrator to make grants to such States for such purpose. Establishes the Petroleum Release Response Account within Superfund out of specified funds. Authorizes citizen suits against violators of this Act, including the Administrator and other government officials who have failed to perform nondiscretionary duties. Permits citizen suits against nongovernment officials in the Federal district court in which the violation occurred. Permits citizen suits against any Federal official only in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Empowers such courts to impose civil penalties and to order the performance of required acts. Requires plaintiffs to give notice to the Administrator, the alleged violator, and the State in which the violation occurred before commencing proceedings. Prohibits citizen suits where the Administrator has commenced and is pursuing an enforcement action. Permits the awarding of court costs to the substantially prevailing party. States that the United States may intervene as a matter of right in all citizen suits in which it is not otherwise a party. Requires the Federal Government to provide the assurances that it will pay a share of the remedial action and maintenance costs of a cleanup on Indian lands that is otherwise required to be made by a State. Authorizes Indian tribes to recover damages for injury to natural resources from hazardous substance releases, except as specified. Includes Indian tribes on the same basis as States under certain provisions of CERCLA. Requires the Administrator to commence a study on the adverse effects of drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with the production of crude oil or natural gas on human health and the environment within six months of this Act's enactment. Title III: Community Right to Know and Emergency Planning - Requires owners and operators of facilities which produce, use, or store hazardous chemicals to file with local and State officials and periodically revise a material safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical. Requires such sheets to contain the same information as the sheets required under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Requires each State Governor to designate the appropriate government officials to receive such information and who in turn must make such information available to the public. Requires such owners and operators to supply such information to any other facility owner or operator who is receiving shipments of such chemicals. Requires owners and operators to supply health professionals with specific chemical information on a substance if requested to do so. Requires owners or operators to provide a material safety data sheet to such professionals when an emergency arises or it is medically necessary to do so. Limits the use of certain information to health-related needs. Directs each Governor to appoint a Hazardous Substance Emergency Response Commission to coordinate response planning in such State. Directs these Commissions to designate local Emergency Response Committees to develop and implement Emergency Response Plans in case of a a hazardous substance emergency. Requires such Plans to include emergency notification personnel and procedures, evacuation plans, and an assessment and use plan for local medical and police resources. Requires the owner or operator of a facility having a hazardous substance emergency to immediately notify the appropriate authorities according to the Plan, including providing an emergency bulletin for the community which provides sufficient chemical and response information to inform the public of the nature of the crisis. Preempts State and local law in the area of chemical hazard communication. Establishes civil penalties for violations of these requirements and provides for court-ordered enforcement of the medical information provisions. Permits owners and operators to withhold trade secret information from their material safety data sheets, but not from medical personnel. Title IV: Provisions Relating to Taxation - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the environmental tax on petroleum and certain chemical feedstocks for five years, through FY 1990. Repeals the Post-Closure Liability Trust Fund and tax. Exempts certain chemicals from such tax, including: (1) methane or butane used as fuel; (2) substances used in the production of fertilizer; (3) sulfuric acid produced as a byproduct of air pollution control; (4) substances derived from coal; (5) substances used in the production of motor fuel; (6) substances having transitory presence during the refining process; and (7) substances used in the production of animal feed. Allows refunds or credits for certain uses. Imposes a waste end tax sufficient to raise $300,000,000 in each of the five years of the environmental tax extension period. Imposes a broad-based corporate tax sufficient to raise $900,000,000 in each of those five years. Deposits all such revenues in Superfund. Imposes taxes sufficient to raise $250,000,000 in each of the five years for deposit in the Petroleum Release Response Account.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1985
Natural Gas Consumer Supply and Marketing Act - Title I: Wellhead Pricing Provisions - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to eliminate price controls placed upon the first sale of natural gas. Exempts certain interstate and intrastate contracts from such price decontrol. Makes wellhead price controls inapplicable to the first sale of: (1) new enhancement natural gas; and (2) natural gas under a renegotiated contract. Permits the sale of natural gas from certain new production wells to any person at any price. Repeals: (1) the price controls for high-cost natural gas; and (2) congressional oversight functions regarding reimposition of natural gas price controls. Title II: Transportation and Access - Requires a pipeline, upon written request, to transport natural gas to the extent of its available capacity. Exempts from such transportation obligation local distribution companies and pipelines not under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction. Requires FERC to prescribe regulations which allocate available capacity whenever a pipeline does not have sufficient total capacity to satisfy all of its obligations. Sets guidelines for: (1) contract carriage compensation (prohibiting unduly discriminatory rates and charges); (2) adjustments of interstate pipeline obligations (including service reductions); and (3) reestablishment of interstate pipeline transportation service obligations. Provides that one year after enactment of this Act a State regulatory commission shall not have authority to impose terms and conditions upon a natural gas shipper (over whom it would otherwise have jurisdiction) if the FERC determines that such State does not require certain local distribution companies to provide non-discriminatory transportation services to the extent of available capacity. Sets guidelines for the initiation of transportation services. Directs FERC to: (1) require pipelines to publish separate, nondiscriminatory natural gas tariffs; and (2) prohibit any pipeline from conditioning the transportation or storage of natural gas by a contract carriage customer upon purchases by such customer of natural gas from such pipeline. Authorizes FERC to require a pipeline to expand its total capacity after notice and opportunity for comment. Prohibits any pipeline from discriminating against unaffiliated shippers in favor of affiliated shippers regarding transportation services. Requires FERC to make recommendations to the Congress regarding interstate pipeline contract carriers, and to include an analysis whether legislation requiring interstate pipelines to operate as common carriers would enhance competition in the natural gas market. Authorizes FERC to permit any interstate pipeline or local distribution company to transport natural gas on behalf of any person. Permits FERC to authorize any pipeline or local distribution company to: (1) sell natural gas to any pipeline or local distribution company; and (2) assign the right to receive surplus natural gas at any first sale. Declares certain provisions of any natural gas sales contract to be against public policy and unenforceable. States that certain natural gas transactions by an intrastate pipeline or local distribution company are not subject to FERC jurisdiction by reason of purchasing natural gas in a covered transaction. Prohibits FERC from conditioning or denying any authorization of natural gas sale or transportation on the basis of whether the gas is consumed in the interstate or intrastate market. Title III: Repeal of Fuel Use Act and Incremental Pricing Requirements - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to: (1) repeal the prohibitions against the use by electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations of petroleum and natural gas as primary energy sources: (2) remove the restrictions placed upon Federal major fuel-burning installations against the use of natural gas and petroleum as primary energy sources; (3) repeal the guidelines for the emergency use of natural gas or petroleum as a primary energy source by any person operating a peakload powerplant or a major fuel-burning installation. Revokes the authority of the Secretary of Energy to require any major fuel-burning installation to furnish certain information regarding the use of primary energy sources of fuel. Title IV: Pipeline and Affiliate Transactions - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to prohibit an interstate pipeline from selling to its affiliate during any month in interstate commerce a greater percentage of contractually available natural gas than the percentage of contractually available lower average-priced natural gas which such affiliate purchases during the same month from nonaffiliate interstate pipelines. Requires FERC to promulgate regulations which prohibit an interstate pipeline from recovering natural gas purchasing costs attributable to its own production (or from any affiliate for certain periods). Prohibits an interstate pipeline from recovering any costs for, or collecting any rate of return on, payments made under a take-or-pay clause for natural gas attributable to its own production (or from any affiliate). Title V: Minimum Bill Requirements and Restrictive Tariffs - Declares contract or tariff payment requirements regarding natural gas sales or transportation costs which were not actually incurred by a pipeline upon non-delivery to be against public policy and unenforceable. Title VI: Savings Provision and Effective Date - Retains the effectiveness of contracts in existence on the date of enactment of Act which are not contracts for a first sale for resale of natural gas. Makes the effective date of this Act the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1985
Designates the period of October 1, 1985, through September 30, 1986, as the time to reflect on the achievements of the Peace Corps during its 25 years and on ways such programs might be used in the future. Authorizes and requests the President to proclaim this period as a time to honor Peace Corps volunteers and reaffirm the Nation's commitment to such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1985
Expresses the Senate's commendation of the Soil Conservation Service on its 50th anniversary, and the Senate's commitment to vigorous soil and water conservation efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Bank Bribery Amendments Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal criminal code to modify the state of mind requirements for certain bank bribery offenses. Requires a knowing state of mind with the intent to influence corruptly any transaction as elements of the offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present gold medals to Jan Scruggs, Robert Doubek, and Jack Wheeler, in recognition of their tireless efforts to give the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the Nation. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to sell bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Young Astronaut Program Medal Act - Commemorates the Young Astronaut Program by directing the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and deliver to the Young Astronaut Council no more than 750,000 medals with emblems, devices, and inscriptions determined by the Secretary. Authorizes the Council to dispose of the medals at a premium and to have them delivered as required in quantities of no less than 2,000. Directs that no medals be struck after December 31, 1987. Directs the Secretary to set the price of the medals at no less than the manufacturing cost plus a surcharge of ten percent of such cost. Requires the furnishing of security sufficient to fully indemnify the United States for such costs. Directs that the medals be struck in gold, silver, and bronze and in such size or sizes as determined by the Secretary. Gives the U.S. Comptroller General the right to examine the records of the Council which are related to the medals.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Korean War Veterans Memorial Act of 1985 - Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to erect a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Korean war. Subjects the selected site, design, and plans for the construction of such memorial to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Directs that, upon its completion, the memorial shall be turned over to the Department of the Interior which shall then be solely responsible for its maintenance. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for therapeutic shoes for individuals with severe diabetic foot disease, if the shoes are prescribed by a physician and fitted and furnished by a certified orthotist. Limits such coverage to one pair of shoes annually and $375 annually.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1985
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include in the definition of "subsidy" (for countervailing duty purposes) any resource input subsidy as provided for under the provisions of this Act. States that a "resource input subsidy" is found to exist if: (1) (a) a product is provided or sold by a government-regulated or controlled entity within a country for input use within such country at a domestic price that is lower than the fair market value of the input product and is not freely available to U.S. producers; and (b) a product would, if sold at the fair market value, constitute a significant portion of the total cost of the manufacture or production of the merchandise in or for which the input product is used; or (2) under specified circumstances, the right to remove or extract such product is provided or sold by a government or a government-regulated or controlled entity within a country. Sets forth the method of calculation for the amount of a resource input subsidy. Defines "fair market value" and "input use" for purposes of this Act. Requires injury determinations by the U.S. International Trade Commission to be made in all countervailing duty investigations relating to the existence of resource input subsidies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the administration should comply with the automatic appropriation and earmarking provisions of the Wallop/Breaux Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund. States that funds owed to the States from such Fund should not be withheld or delayed.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Veterans' Housing and Memorial Affairs Amendments of 1985 - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to report to the Congress a plan to expand the national cemetery system in at least ten areas with the greatest need. Directs the Administrator to consider acquiring existing State cemeteries to meet such need. Gives contingent dates for the submission of the first such report. Amends provisions concerning national cemeteries and memorials to require that each grave marker in a national cemetery be upright. Provides an exception for individuals requesting flat markers. Requires the Administrator, no later than January 1, 1986, to designate for each cemetery in the National Cemetery System a section for graves with upright markers and a section for graves with flat markers. Directs the Administrator to establish a national cemetery in Merced County, California, on land which is donated by the Romero Ranch Company. Authorizes the Administrator to assist certain disabled veterans in acquiring a residence already adapted with special features deemed necessary due to the veteran's disability. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the one-percent loan origination fee charged by the Veterans Administration (VA) to veterans obtaining a home loan guaranteed by the VA should not be increased. Directs the President to request additional appropriations if he finds that additional funding for the VA home loan guarantee program is required.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Veterans' Compensation Benefits Amendments of 1985 - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to establish a regional office of the Veterans Administration (VA) in each State, while maintaining its central office in the District of Columbia. Adds the loss or loss of use of one hand or foot or one lung to those extremities given special consideration in the determination of veterans' disability compensation. Expresses the sense of the Congress that payments by the VA to veterans as compensation for service-connected disabilities should remain exempt from Federal taxation, and that the President should reject any proposals to tax such payments. Raises the coverage of life insurance benefits for veterans under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance program. Allows veterans who are members of the Retired Reserve as of January 1, 1986, to receive such increased coverage. Makes conforming changes to the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program, similarly granting members of the Individual Ready Reserve and the Inactive National Guard eligibility under such program. Makes eligible for certain veterans' benefits members of the National Guard or Air National Guard who perform full-time duty for training purposes after September 30, 1985. Makes former members of the National Guard or Air National Guard eligible if such member continuously served in such status for 181 days or more. Extends through September 30, 1988, the authority of the VA to operate a regional office in the Republic of the Philippines. Entitles surviving spouses of the Commandant of the Coast Guard to the same dependency and indemnity compensation rate as that accorded to surviving spouses of the chief of the other military services. Makes technical amendments to the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1984 and other Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Prohibits States from using any device to abridge or deny the right of an individual to be placed on, or to have such individual's political affiliation placed on, a ballot or similar voting materials in a Federal election. Allows States to impose specified prerequisites regarding petitions for placement on ballots. Allows States to waive such requirements for candidates or political affiliates which receive certain amounts of votes in the most recent election for President or the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a specified U.S.-Canada trade declaration should be supported as a first step toward settling trade differences with Canada; (2) the President and his trade representative should augment their efforts to negotiate with Canada in order to achieve a reciprocal trade relationship between the United States and Canada; and (3) the United States and Canada should resolve the specific impediments to trade within one year of the trade declaration. Declares that the President should report to the Congress by March 18, 1986, on the steps taken to achieve a reciprocal fair trade relationship between the United States and Canada.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it will not allow any reduction in benefits under the Social Security Act by any method, or any downward adjustment, freeze, or delay in cost-of-living increases.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Designates the week beginning on April 13, 1986, as National Garden Week. Urges the wearing of garden flowers during that week as a symbol of appreciation for the contributions of the Nation's gardeners.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Rural Electrification Program must continue to provide financing and technical assistance at reasonable cost; and (2) the people of the United States and Federal and State governmental agencies should commemorate the Rural Electrification Administration on its 50th anniversary.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Establishes in the legislative branch of the Government the Perot Commission on Americans Missing in Southeast Asia to conduct an investigation and report to the Congress its findings with respect to the existence and the release of prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. Sets forth specified administrative procedures and powers of the Commission. Requires the Commission to terminate 30 days after the filing of its report to the Congress or on January 3, 1987, whichever occurs first.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, to be held not later than 1989, to develop recommendations for improvement of such services and their public use. Requires that the Conference be planned and conducted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. Authorizes the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the National Library of Medicine, and the Director of the National Agricultural Library, upon request, to detail personnel to the Commission. Requires the Conference to submit a final report to the President within 120 days following its close. Directs that the final report be made public, and within 90 days after receipt by the President, transmitted to the Congress with recommendations. Establishes an advisory committee to assist in planning and conducting the Conference. Includes among its appointed members the Secretary of Education and the Librarian of Congress. Authorizes appropriations as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish an applicable test rate of nine percent for determining whether there is imputed interest in the case of seller-financed property. Permits a lower test interest rate of 80 percent of the Federal Treasury rate where such rates are lower than the nine percent test rate. Provides for a blended test rate for instances where the loan amount exceeds $4,000,000. Provides that in determining whether wraparound financing meets such testing rate, the test shall be applied to the net rate of interest on the seller's equity in the financing after deducting the existing third party financing. Authorizes the imputation of interest in seller-financed property sales of $4,000,000 or less of ten percent or 90 percent of the Federal Treasury rates, whichever is less, where the test interest rates have not been met. Allows for a blended imputed interest rate where the debt amount exceeds $4,000,000. Requires that all loan amounts from a single transaction or series of related transactions be aggregated for purposes of determining the loan amount. Provides that the imputed interest rules will not apply to assumptions of loans unless the terms and conditions of such debt obligations are modified in connection with the assumption. Repeals the provisions of the Code limiting the amount of interest expense a purchaser of personal use property may deduct for tax purposes. Excepts debt instruments arising from the sale or exchange of a residence from the imputed interest provisions where the obligor of the instrument uses the property as his other residence. Provides that the imputed interest rules shall not apply in the case of sales or exchanges of property where the borrowed amount does not exceed $4,000,000. Requires the interest on the obligation issued in connection with such sales or exchanges to be taken into account by both the buyer and the seller on the cash receipts and disbursement method of accounting unless both buyer and seller agree to use the accrual receipts and disbursement method of accounting.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Food Assistance and Africa Agriculture Act of 1985 - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for: (1) the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and (2) the International Fund for Agricultural Development for its Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification for each of FY 1986 through 1989. Title II: Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1986 - Makes appropriations for FY 1986 for: (1) expenses for agricultural commodities supplied in connection with dispositions abroad pursuant to the famine relief provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954; and (2) the U.S. contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development and for the Fund's Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts received from a public retirement system (pensions or annuities) which are attributable to services as a Federal, State, or local police officer or fire fighter.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that legislation should not be enacted which would further restrict: (1) eligibility for Federal student financial aid; or (2) access to higher education.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act concerning the definition of the term "physician." Includes only doctors of medicine or osteopathy within the definition of the term "physician." Classifies as an "independently licensed health care practitioner" a podiatrist, optometrist, or chiropractor. Defines a "dentist" as a doctor of dental surgery or dental medicine.
![Official portrait of Rep. Dowdy, Wayne [D-MS-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000466_200.jpg)