United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1983
Increases the amount of reimbursement which the Administrator of Veterans Affairs shall pay to a State for furnishing domiciliary, hospital, or nursing home care to eligible veterans who receive such care in State facilities. Directs the Administrator to report to the Veterans' Affairs Committees every three years on the appropriate rates for payments.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1983
Modified Dairy Price Support Program - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 to repeal the 50-cent milk producer assessments. Decreases milk price supports from $13.10 per hundredweight to $12.10 per hundredweight for the period from April 1, 1983 through September 30, 1984. Permits increases of up to $1 if Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) purchases fall below specified levels. Bases milk supports on a parity formula (sliding scale of 61 to 83 percent of parity based on CCC purchase estimates) as of October 1, 1984. Sets Class I milk prices (3.5 percent milk fat) at not less than $12.56, as of April 1, 1983, or enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1983
Economic Recovery Through Railroad Revitalization and Roadbed Restoration Act of 1983 - Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants for eligible projects involving the maintenance, restoration, rehabilitation, and improvement of railroad lines and facilities. Requires that jobs created under this Act be given to certain furloughed maintenance employees, other unemployed railroad workers, and individuals registered on State unemployment rolls, in that order. Directs the Secretary to establish regulations to govern such projects. Authorizes appropriations and sets forth project eligibility requirements. Requires the Secretary to make periodic reports to Congress and the President on actions taken under this Act, including statements on progress made in reducing unemployment and in improving rail transportation systems. Exempts such projects from the interlocking directorate provisions of the Clayton Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1983
Amends the Automobile Dealers Day in Court Act to prohibit a manufacturer from selling, leasing, or offering to sell or lease any passenger car, truck, or stationwagon to any person (or any other dealer) at a price lower than the price at which the same model is sold to its franchised dealers. Prohibits a manufacturer from imposing restrictions on some purchasers of automobiles, but not others. Requires that all rebates, discounts, refunds or other promotional inducement or benefit be provided to all ultimate purchasers of the same model of motor vehicle during the same period of time. Establishes an exception to the Act for the sale of automobiles to Federal, State or local governmental units. Applies this Act to importers of covered motor vehicles who import directly or through distributorships. Allows an automobile dealer to recover reasonable attorneys fees resulting from an action under this Act. Limits standing for a cause of action for termination of an agreement under this Act to dealers who comply with all reasonable provisions of the franchise agreement in question.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1983
Veterans' Education Assistance Act of 1983 - Establishes a new educational assistance program for the all-volunteer force. Excludes graduates of service academies from eligibility for such assistance. Entitles veterans who are graduates of a secondary school and who have served in the armed forces on continuous active duty for at least three years to basic educational assistance. Entitles veterans of the Selected Reserve who are graduates of secondary school and who have served at least two years of continuous active duty in the armed forces and at least four years of continuous duty in the Selected Reserve to basic educational assistance. Sets forth the formula for determining the length of such assistance based on the length of time served. Entitles such veterans to a monthly assistance allowance of $200 for a full-time approved program of education. Permits the Secretary concerned to establish a higher rate of assistance, but not more than $400 a month, for individuals possessing a skill or specialty designated as being in critical shortage. Permits enrollment, if eligible, in a program of education while an individual continues to perform his duties. Entitles veterans who have served five or more consecutive years of active duty in addition to those required for basic educational assistance to supplemental educational assistance. Entitles veterans of the Selected Reserve who have served two or more consecutive years of active duty and four or more consecutive years of duty in the reserves in addition to that required for basic educational assistance to supplemental educational assistance. Entitles such veterans to a monthly supplemental assistance allowance of $100 a month. Permits the provision of assistance at a higher rate, but not more than $300 monthly, to any individual entitled to basic educational assistance who has a skill or specialty in which there is a critical shortage of personnel. Permits the Secretary of Defense to authorize specified individuals to transfer to a dependent part or all of such individuals' entitlement to educational assistance. Sets forth the conditions under which transferred benefits may be provided. Establishes a ten year delimiting period for educational assistance. Excludes time spent as a prisoner of war subsequent to discharges and time spent physically or mentally disabled. Limits educational assistance to individuals being furnished subsistence to the amount an institution would charge similarly circumstanced nonveterans. Prohibits participation in more than one program of educational assistance. Allocates the administration and costs of such programs to the Veterans Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Defense Education Benefits Fund. Requires the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator to submit to Congress a biennial report on the operations of such programs. Amends the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Act of 1977 to terminate the right to enroll in the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program after December 31, 1981. Directs (rather than permits) the Secretary of each military department to establish a program to provide educational assistance to members of the Selected Reserve who agree to remain in such Reserve for at least six years. Sets forth the amount of such assistance. Requires that such assistance be given for pre-degree work at an institution of higher learning. Sets forth further eligibility requirements for such assistance. Establishes a delimiting period of ten years from the date of entitlement or from the date of separation from service, whichever comes first. Prohibits the provision of assistance to any member already receiving assistance as a member of the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program or a member who fails to perform satisfactorily in training. Expands the penalties for failure to participate satisfactorily in such program to include orders to active duty. Designates the Veterans Administration to administer such program. Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress annually rather than quarterly on its operation. Establishes in the Treasury a Department of Defense Education Benefits Fund to be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury for the accumulation of funds to finance Department education liabilities on an actuarially sound basis. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer amounts from the Fund to the Administrator of Veterans Affairs and to the Secretary of Defense as necessary to make required payments. Establishes in the Department of Defense a Department of Defense Education Benefits Board of Actuaries to: (1) report annually to the Secretary on the actuarial status of the Fund; (2) report not less than every four years to Congress and the President on the valuations and status of the fund; and (3) determine the present value of future benefits payable from the Fund. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make periodic actuarial valuations of the educational programs; (2) determine an amortization methodology and schedule for the liquidation of gains or losses to the Fund; and (3) determine the amount necessary to be appropriated for the Fund for each fiscal year. Sets forth other terms and conditions for administering such Fund. Permits the Secretary concerned to grant an eligible member a leave of absence of not more than two years for such member to pursue a program of education. Sets forth the terms and conditions for such leave. Requires the Secretary concerned to provide individual predischarge counseling which includes a discussion of educational benefit entitlements.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1983
Eliminates the social security offset against annuities provided under the Survivor Benefit Plan of the armed service when the benefits received are based on the annuitant's own employment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit farmers who participate in a Federal payment-in-kind program to elect to treat commodities they receive as income in the year of receipt or the year of sale. Permits farmers to elect a deferral of the income resulting from the cancellation of Commodity Credit Corporation loans. Provides that farmers participating in a payment-in-kind program do not forfeit eligibility for the special use valuation provisions for farm property.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1983
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to design and construct a flood retarding dam at full Federal expense on the Pearl River in the vicinity of Shoccoe, Mississippi. Requires non-Federal interests to agree, prior to construction of the dam, to: (1) hold the United States free from damages due to the construction and operation of the dam; and (2) operate and maintain the dam in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1983
National Heritage Resource Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow creators of artistic properties an income tax deduction for the current fair market value of literary, musical, or artistic compositions which they contribute to charitable organizations. Requires: (1) that the artistic property be created by the taxpayer at least one year prior to the time of such contribution; (2) that the fair market value of such property be appraised within one year of the date of contribution; and (3) that the donee of such property show that the use of the property will be related to the charitable purpose or function of his organization. Denies a fair market value deduction for contributions of any letter, memorandum, or similar property produced by a Federal or State employee which arose out of the performance of such employee's official duties. Exempts such fair market value deduction from the application of the minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1983
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Administrator of Veterans Affairs should be a member of and full participant in all activities of the Cabinet.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1983
Equal Access to Voting Rights Act - Directs the Attorney General to promulgate guidelines to assure that registration and polling place facilities used for Federal elections are readily accessible to handicapped and elderly individuals. Sets forth minimum requirements for these guidelines. Requires States to make available registration and voting aids for handicapped and elderly individuals in Federal elections. Authorizes the Attorney General and aggrieved persons to bring actions in Federal court to enforce this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1983
Housing Finance Opportunity Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to permit the continued issuance of tax-exempt (interest excluded from gross income) mortgage revenue bonds after December 31, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1983
Fair Practices in Automotive Products Act - Sets forth for all motor vehicle manufacturers which produce over 100,000 motor vehicles for ultimate retail sale in the United States "minimum domestic content ratios" (the domestic value, including labor and parts, of the manufacturer's production costs of all automotive products sold in the United States). Requires all vehicle manufacturers producing more than 100,000 motor vehicles for sale in the United States to provide information to the Secretary of Transportation for the purpose of administering this requirement. Establishes penalties for a vehicle manufacturer who fails to meet the minimum domestic content ratio. Directs the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and prepare a written report regarding policies and practices of vehicle manufacturers used to persuade U.S. motor vehicle dealers to favor foreign made parts rather than domestically produced parts.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1983
Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to exempt from the termination provisions of such Act provisions relating to the export of domestically produced crude oil.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that funding for community service employment programs for senior citizens under title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 for FY 1984 and subsequent fiscal years should be provided at levels sufficient to maintain or increase the number of employment positions provided under such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1983
Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to establish an Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to advise the Administrator or on the administration of benefits for and needs of women veterans. Directs Committee to report annually to the Administrator on the activities of the Veterans Administration pertaining to women, together with assessments of needs and recommendations for future action. Directs the Administrator to submit such report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $25,000 to $100,000 the allowable amount of the income tax tax deduction for eliminating architectural and transportation barriers for the handicapped and aged. Makes such tax deduction permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1983
Urges the United States Postal Service to issue a postage stamp commemorating members of the uniformed services who have been prisoners of war or missing in action especially those missing as a result of the conflict in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
American Conservation Corps Act of 1983 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to establish and administer a public lands conservation, rehabilitation, and improvement program called the American Conservation Corps. Requires the Secretary to provide assistance to program agencies (any Federal or State agency responsible for the management of public lands) to establish and operate residential and nonresidential conservation centers to implement program projects. Describes the types of projects which will receive program preference. Limits program projects to those on public lands or Indian lands, except where projects on nonpublic lands provide documented public benefits. Sets forth requirements for establishing conservation centers and eligibility criteria for enrollees in the program. Makes persons eligible for enrollment and employment in the program if they are: (1) unemployed; (2) between the ages of 16 and 25 years; and (3) citizens, lawful permanent residents, or lawfully admitted alien parolees or refugees. Provides that, in the selection of enrollees for the program, preference shall be given to economically, socially, physically, and educationally disadvantaged youth and youth residing in areas having substantial unemployment. Requires program agencies to provide services, facilities, supplies, and equipment for conservation centers as the Secretary deems necessary. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to, or enter into agreements with, program agencies for the funding and operation of conservation centers. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 through 1989. Requires that such appropriations come from specified Treasury receipts. States that program enrollees shall not be deemed Federal employees, except for certain purposes. Directs the Secretary to establish pay rates and to coordinate the program with related Federal, State, local, and private activities. Directs the Secretary to submit a report to Congress, within one year of enactment of this Act, on the feasibility of allowing enrollees who have completed two years in the program an exemption from training and service under the Military Selective Service Act. Directs the Secretary to make arrangements with educational institutions to award academic credit to enrollees for competencies developed under this Act. Authorizes program agencies to make arrangements with such institutions for academic study by enrollees during nonworking hours. Requires program agencies to provide certification of skills acquired by program participants and to provide job guidance and placement information as necessary. Directs the Secretary to submit an annual report to the President and Congress detailing the activities carried out under this Act. Entitles to an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board any Federal employee displaced rightly or wrongly by activities under this Act. Grants similar appeal rights to the employees of any contract grantee similarly displaced.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1983
American Defense Education Act - Authorizes a national program to provide incentives to local educational agencies to improve: (1) instruction in mathematics, science, communication skills, foreign languages, and technology; and (2) guidance and counseling. Title I: Elementary and Secondary Education Programs - Requires local education agencies which desire to participate in such national program to develop and carry out a program of improvement of instruction and student achievement. Sets forth requirements for such programs. Entitles participating local educational agencies to receive basic payments for each fiscal year equal to two percent of an established payment rate multiplied by the average daily attendance. Entitles agencies which show substantial evidence of meeting program goals to an incentive payment equal to an additional two percent of the established payment rate multiplied by the average daily attendance. Sets forth a formula for establishing such payment rate. Sets forth requirements for applications for payments. Directs the Secretary of Education ("the Secretary") to approve applications which meet such requirements. Sets forth provisions for participation in such program by children enrolled in private schools. Title II: Teacher Training and Postsecondary Programs - Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of grants to institutions of higher education for coordination between such institutions and local education agencies in improving science and mathematics education, through precollege teacher training, development, and recruitment programs. Sets forth requirements for grant proposals and priorities in grant selection. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1987 for such grants. Title III: Research to Improve Instruction - Directs the Secretary to administer, through the National Institute of Education (NIE), in consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, a program to support research and development into effective education in mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and technology. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Education to be made available to NIE to carry out such educational research program for FY 1985 through 1987. Title IV: General Provisions - Directs the Secretary to administer the program and to pay each local educational agency with an approved application the amount to which it is entitled for each fiscal year. Provides for a joint survey and report to Congress by the Secretaries of Defense and Education, for each year from 1983 through 1987, on the academic achievement levels of U.S. 18-year-olds and the personnel training and educational needs of the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1983
Declares that the House of Representatives considers Arland D. Williams, Jr., to be a national hero for his sacrifice after the airplane crash into the Potomac River on January 13, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1983
Federal Employees Health Benefits Reform Act of 1983 - Increases the amount of the Government's contribution for an employee enrolled in an employee health benefits plan from 60 to 75 percent of the average subscription charge for such plan. Increases the maximum Government contribution for an enrollee from 75 to 100 percent of such subscription charge. Requires payment of a Government differential equal to five percent of the average subscription charge, in addition to the Government's contribution, for any enrollee who is over 65 years of age and not entitled to medicare benefits. Excludes such differential in determining the amount to be paid by the enrollee. Permits the following persons to elect to continue coverage under a Federal employees' health benefits plan for a specified period: (1) an employee who is involuntarily separated from the civil service due to a reduction in force; (2) the spouse of an enrollee whose marriage is dissolved by divorce or annulment, if the enrollee was enrolled for self and family; (3) an individual who elects to receive the lump-sum credit for civil service retirement benefits; and (4) an individual 22 years of age or older whose enrollment was based on such individual's being an unmarried child who was incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical disability which existed and did not terminate before the individual attained the age of 22. Requires such persons who elect to continue coverage to pay into the Employees Health Benefits Fund an amount equal to the sum of employee and agency contributions paid for the same level of benefits. Allows such a person to: (1) change to a lower level of benefits; (2) change coverage within 60 days after a change in family status; and (3) transfer enrollment to another plan under conditions prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Provides a temporary extension of coverage to allow persons who elected not to continue coverage or whose continued coverage is terminated to convert to a nongroup contract providing health benefits. Allows annuitants whose annuity is less than the amount required to be withheld for enrollment in a health benefits plan to pay the amount of any deficiency required for enrollment. Requires contracts for employee organization plans to require carriers to: (1) reinsure with other participating companies; (2) enter into an agreement approved by OPM with an underwriting subcontractor licensed to issue group health insurance in all States and the District of Columbia; and (3) meet minimum financial standards prescribed by OPM. Requires the service benefit plan and the indemnity benefit plan to provide, in addition to all currently authorized benefits: (1) nervous and mental disorder benefits; (2) alcoholism and substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation benefits; and (3) comprehensive dental benefits. Prohibits the OPM from entering into a contract for any service benefit, indemnity benefit, or employee organization plan which does not provide for 50 outpatient visits and 60 inpatient days of nervous and mental disorder benefits and two 28-day alcoholism treatment and rehabilitation benefits. Requires any limits on nervous and mental disorder benefits to be exceeded on a case by case basis only to the extent that a peer review mechanism determines such treatment to be necessary. Requires 80 percent of such excessive benefit claims to be paid from the balance of one percent of all contributions to the Employees Health Benefits Fund remaining after the expenses of administering provisions governing Federal employees health benefit plans are paid. Prohibits the OPM from entering into a contract with a carrier for any health benefits plan which does not provide 95 percent of the benefits that such plan or the most similar plan provided during the preceding year, unless the carrier and the OPM mutually agree to waive such requirement. Directs the OPM to: (1) provide a three week period during which enrollees in health benefits plans may change or cancel their enrollments before any contract term in which the rates or benefits of a plan will change, a new plan will be offered, or an existing plan will be terminated; and (2) make available to such enrollees information on such plans at least four weeks before such open enrollment period. Prohibits the OPM from entering into a contract for a health benefits plan which excludes anyone because of nonactive employee status. Eliminates the requirement that the group of physicians under a group-practice prepayment plan include physicians representing at least three major medical specialties.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit States and local governments to provide statements of tax refunds, credits, and offsets to individuals at any time during the calendar year for which such governments make a return, but not later than January 31 of the year following the year of the return. (Current law requires such statements to be furnished in January of the year following the year of the return.) Eliminates the requirement to furnish such statements with respect to any refunds, credits, or offsets made before January 1, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1983
Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to provide scholarships of up to $6,000 per school year to medical students who agree to practice for a specified length of time at a Veterans Administration (VA) facility upon completion of their professional training. Provides the United States with a right to recover expenses against an individual who fails to meet such VA service condition. Provides that certain qualified veterans and dependents of veterans shall have priority with regard to such scholarships. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1983
Federal Law Enforcement Officers' and Firefighters' Retirement Protection Act of 1982 - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 to provide that Federal law enforcement officers and fire fighters who are separated from service under mandatory retirement provisions shall not be considered to be early retirees required to receive reduced cost of living adjustments in retirement pay in FY 1983 through 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1983
States that the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) between the United States and the Soviet Union should: (1) pursue a complete halt to the nuclear arms race; (2) decide when and how to achieve a mutual verifiable freeze on the testing, production, and further deployment of nuclear warheads, missiles, and other delivery systems; (3) give special attention to destabilizing weapons; (4) pursue reductions through numerical ceilings and other means; (5) preserve present limitations on nuclear weapons; and (6) incorporate ongoing negotiations in Geneva on land-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles into the START negotiations. Requires that every effort be made to reach common positions with the NATO allies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1983
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Hunger to conduct a continuing comprehensive study of the problems of hunger and malnutrition.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1983
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families to conduct a comprehensive study and review of the problems of children, youth, and families.
![Official portrait of Rep. Dowdy, Wayne [D-MS-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000466_200.jpg)