United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1981
Patent Term Restoration Act of 1981 - Amends the patent law to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or a method for using a product any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a seven year limitation. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for products subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Act of March 4, 1913 (relating to virus, serum, toxin, and analogous products).
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1981
Cigarette Safety Act - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate, within 24 months, final performance standards for cigarettes and little cigars ensuring a minimum capacity for igniting smoldering fabric fires. Authorizes the Commission to prohibit manufacturers from stockpiling such products to which such standards apply. Provides for judicial review of such standards in an appropriate U.S. court of appeals. Declares such cigarette safety standards to be subject to all remedial and penalty provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out this Act for the first three fiscal years beginning after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Establishes within the Department of Commerce an office to: (1) promote the formation of export trade associations and export trading companies; (2) provide information; and (3) facilitate contacts between producers of exportable goods and firms offering export trade services. Title I: Export Trading Companies - Authorizes any banking organization to invest up to specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with the prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate Congressional committees with their recommendations concerning implementation of this Act, related changes in U.S. law, and effects of ownership of U.S. banks by foreign banking organizations. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Authorizes appropriations for initial investments and operating expenses for fiscal years 1982 through 1985. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees to export trading companies or exporters to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories when adequate financing is not otherwise available and such guarantees will facilitate expansion of exports. Title II: Antitrust Provisions - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the export trade, activities, and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association or trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Authorizes the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to bring an action to invalidate a certification. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish guidelines for determining whether an association or export trading company will meet the certification requirements. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Requires, with specified exceptions, that all applications for certification be kept confidential. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force seven years after enactment to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations. Applies, with a specified exception, the antitrust laws in effect before enactment of this Act to any existing export trade association and its trading activities. Provides for automatic certification of existing associations. Title III: Taxation of Export Trading Companies - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to make banking organizations which have invested in an export trading company eligible for treatment as domestic international sales corporations (DISC). Includes the gross receipts from the export of services produced in the United States and from export trade services as qualified export receipts, in the case of a DISC which is an export trading company. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and distribute information concerning the utilization of the DISC provisions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to make export trading companies eligible for Subchapter S treatment if the shareholders of such companies are otherwise small business corporations. Exempts such companies from restrictions on the amount of foreign income they can receive and still be eligible for Subchapter S tax treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, to: (1) conduct a clinical investigation of the safety and efficacy of dimethyl sulfoxide as a drug to be used by persons with arthritis; and (2) report to Congress within one year of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit married individuals filing separate income tax returns an election to be taxed at rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Educational Testing Act of 1981 - Requires each postsecondary education admissions testing agency to provide to a test subject information concerning: (1) the purposes of the test; (2) the subject matters and the areas of skill or knowledge being tested; (3) interpretation of test results; (4) various effects upon, and uses of, test scores; (5) the form in which the scores will be reported; (6) any promises made by a testing agency with regard to accuracy, forwarding, and privacy of information of such scores; (7) the property interest of a test subject in such scores, and their storage, disposal, or future use; (8) the time period for mailing such scores to a test subject and designated recipients; (9) special services to accommodate handicapped test subjects; and (10) notice of the information rights and review procedure available to a test subject. Requires a testing agency to notify a test subject and designated recipients if the scores will be delayed ten days or more. Requires a testing agency to provide the Secretary of Education with information concerning any study or statistical report pertaining to a test which it prepares or for which it provides data. Declares that such information shall be considered records for public information purposes. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding such information within one year of enactment of this Act. Requires a testing agency (with regard to any tests administered to 5,000 or more subjects nationally over a testing year) to file with the Secretary: (1) a copy of all test questions used in determining such test's raw score; (2) the corresponding correct answers; and (3) all rules for transferring raw scores into the scores as reported to a test subject and designated recipients. Declares that such information shall be considered records for public information purposes. Requires a testing agency, upon request, to send to a test subject: (1) a copy of the test questions used to determine the raw score; (2) such test subject's answer sheet, along with the corresponding correct answers; and (3) a statement of the raw score, if such request is made within 90 days of the release of the test score to the subject. Authorizes a fee to be charged to cover the costs of providing a test subject with such information. Prohibits test scores from being disclosed by a testing agency to any person, institution, or governmental agency unless specifically designated as a recipient by a test subject. Authorizes previous scores to be released to any currently designated recipient. Requires a testing agency to report specified cost-related information to the Secretary to ensure that such tests are being offered at a reasonable cost. Requires additional cost-related information to be submitted if a separate fee is charged for admissions data assembly or score reporting services (as defined by this Act). Provides a civil penalty of up to $2,000 for each violation of this Act by a test agency. Defines "standardized test" to mean a test affecting, or distributed through, interstate commerce (exclusive of one used by an individual institution for its own purposes or one used for non-admission or credit-examination purposes) and used for: (1) postsecondary admissions; or (2) preliminary separation for such postsecondary admissions tests.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Title I: Export Trading Companies - Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote export trading companies by providing information and by facilitating contacts between producers of exportable goods and export trading companies. Authorizes any banking organization to invest up to specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate Congressional committees with their recommendations concerning implementation of this Act, related changes in U.S. law, and effects of ownership of U.S. banks by foreign banking organizations. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Authorizes up to $20,000,000 to be appropriated for initial investments and operating expenses for each of the fiscal years 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees to export trading companies or exporters, to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories, when adequate financing is not otherwise available and such guarantees will facilitate expansion of exports. Directs the Board of Directors to try to insure that a major share of such guarantees promotes exports from small, medium-size, and minority businesses or agricultural concerns. Title II: Export Trade Associations - Export Trade Association Act of 1981 - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the trade activities and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Delays the effectiveness of any certificate upon the notification of the Secretary of Commerce by the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of disagreement with the decision to issue a certificate. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association or export trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Permits automatic certification for existing associations. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Authorizes the Attorney General or the FTC to bring an action to invalidate a certification. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish guidelines for determining whether an association or export trading company will meet the certification requirements. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Department of Commerce an Office of Export Trade to promote export trade associations and trading companies. Requires such Office to report annually to the appropriate Congressional committees on all East-West trade transactions requiring validated licenses and on the role of U.S. export trading companies in East-West trade. Grants a temporary exemption from the Sherman Act antitrust provisions for existing associations. Requires that all applications for certification be kept confidential with specified exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force seven years after enactment to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Elementary School Guidance and Counseling Incentive Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations: (1) in fiscal years 1983 through 1987 for comprehensive elementary school guidance and counseling programs, supplemental grants to States for such programs and research and demonstration programs; (2) through fiscal year 1988 for employment of one new and/or additional elementary guidance counselor per school district, evaluation of programs, and in-service counselor training; and (3) for teacher and counselor centers. Provides formulas, based on the population of elementary school children, for determining allotments to States for such programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary of Elementary/Secondary Education to administer State allotments and State plans through the Office of Guidance and Counseling of the Department of Education. Requires that each State, to be eligible for such allotments, submit to the Assistant Secretary a State plan for providing comprehensive elementary school guidance and counseling programs for a five-year period, with necessary annual revisions, which meets such criteria as the Assistant Secretary may by regulation prescribe. Sets forth required provisions of such plans and programs. Provides for appeal by a State of a final action of the Assistant Secretary to a circuit court of appeals. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary, through the Office of Guidance and Counseling, to make supplemental grants to States with approved plans for distribution to local educational agencies and for support of States with approved plans for distribution to local educational agencies and for support of State agency leadership activities on the basis of statewide needs and priorities in elementary school guidance and counseling. Sets forth approved uses of such grants. Directs the Assistant Secretary to carry out a research and demonstration program relating to elementary and secondary school guidance and counseling. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make an annual evaluation report to the appropriate Congressional committees. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include training for counselors under the teacher centers program. Provides for a program of in-service training for elementary school guidance counselors. Requires the designation of professionally trained counselors: (1) at the Federal level, to provide information on, and to administer, such programs; and (2) at the State, local school district and intermediate administrative unit levels, to supervise such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Amends the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 to provide that provisions of such Act shall not apply to: (1) any surface sand or gravel, stone, or clay mine; or (2) any surface structure or road, if constructed by employees not engaged in mining.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Presidential Nomination Commission Resolution - Establishes the Commission of Presidential Nominations to make an investigation regarding the presidential nominating process. Directs the Commission to report to the President and Congress respecting such investigation including recommendations for the 1984 presidential elections. Terminates the commission 60 days after submission of such report. Sets forth the powers of such Commission, and related administrative provisions. Authorizes necessary appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to a person entitled to notice of a summons to a third-party recordkeeper to produce records of such person: (1) to repeal the current right of such person to stay compliance with the summons; and (2) to authorize such person to move to quash the summons within 14 days after notice is given. Requires accompaniment of such motion by an affidavit stating the reasons that the records sought are not relevant to a legitimate tax inquiry or any other legal basis for quashing the summons. Requires any third party upon receipt of a summons to proceed to assemble the records requested and to be prepared to deliver them at the required time.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of "return information." Defines as "nonreturn information" identifying information: (1) collected by the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to a taxpayer or return relating to liability for any penalty; and (2) any part of any written determination or any background file document closed to public inspection. Allows disclosure of return information to an officer or employee of the Department of Justice for use in preparing any administrative, judicial, or grand jury proceedings involving the enforcement of a specific Federal criminal statute (but not involving tax administration) or in an investigation which may result in such a proceeding. Authorizes such disclosure only by ex parte order of a Federal district court judge or magistrate. Sets forth grounds for the granting of such order. Permits further disclosure by the Government attorney who has authorized the application for the ex parte order to Government personnel required to assist in a criminal investigation. Requires the Secretary to disclose nonreturn information (other than nonreturn information which would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation), upon written request of the head or the Inspector General of a Federal agency or the Attorney General or his designee, to such officers and employees directly engaged in administrative, judicial, or grand jury proceeding involving the enforcement of a specific Federal criminal statute (but not involving tax administration) or in an investigation which may result in such a proceeding. Permits further disclosure of such information to other Government personnel required to assist in a criminal investigation. Directs the Secretary to disclose, as soon as practicable, nonreturn information (other than information which would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation) which may constitute evidence of a violation of Federal criminal laws to the extent necessary to apprise the head of the appropriate Federal agency responsible for enforcing such laws. Authorizes the Secretary, upon recommendation to the Department of Justice for prosecution for violation of the Internal Revenue Code, to disclose to the Department return information reviewed, developed, or obtained during a tax investigation which constitutes evidence of a violation of Federal criminal laws. Allows information disclosed pursuant to this Act to be entered into evidence in a proceeding not involving tax administration or in an ancillary proceeding to which the United States is a party. Limits such disclosure to the extent required by applicable discovery requirements. Prohibits admission of such information into evidence if the Secretary determines that it would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation, unless a court otherwise directs disclosure. Permits the Secretary or his designee, in specified emergency circumstances, to disclose information to the extent necessary to apprise the appropriate Federal agency of such emergency. Permits the Internal Revenue Service to assist the Department of Justice or any other Federal agency in joint tax and nontax investigations of criminal matters which may involve tax violations. Allows a Federal official authorized to apply to a district court judge or magistrate for an ex parte order to disclose to the appropriate State attorney general or district attorney any return or nonreturn information in his possession which is relevant to the violation of a State felony statute. Authorizes the disclosure of return or nonreturn information to a competent authority of a foreign government which has a convention relating to the exchange of tax information with the United States. Provides a procedure for the disclosure of return or nonreturn information sought pursuant to a treaty on mutual assistance in criminal matters for use in an investigation or proceeding unrelated to the tax laws of the foreign country. Adds as an affirmative defense to a prosecution for the unauthorized disclosure of return or nonreturn information that such disclosure resulted from a good faith, but erroneous, interpretation of this Act. Permits a taxpayer aggrieved by the knowing or negligent disclosure by a Federal employee of return or nonreturn information in violation of this Act to bring a civil action for damages exclusively against the particular Federal agency.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to limit, to 12 1/2 percent of the value of the coal produced yearly, the amount of all State and local severance taxes or fees on coal shipped in interstate commerce to any powerplant or major installation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
IRA Work and Savings Incentive Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers an income tax credit equal to 50 percent of their qualified contributions to individual retirement accounts for a taxable year. Limits the amount of such credit to the lesser of $3,000 or the compensation includible in the taxpayer's gross income for the taxable year. Specifies that no credit may be allowed for such contributions made to the account of any individual who has reached age 59 1/2. Permits certain limited amounts of employer contributions to a simplified employee pension plan to qualify for the credit. Limits the amount of such credit for an individual who has paid any designated voluntary employee contributions to the lesser of $3,000 or the compensation includible in the taxpayer's gross income for the taxable year reduced by the amount of such designated voluntary employee contributions. Increases the dollar limitation on the income tax deduction for contributions to pension plans for the self-employed from $7,500 to $10,000. Increases the amount of the income tax deduction for contributions to an individual retirement account to the lesser of $3,000 or the taxpayer's compensation which is includible in his gross income. Requires an individual to be between the ages of 59 1/2 and 70 1/2 in order for contributions made to such individual taxpayer's retirement account to qualify for the retirement savings tax deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $20,000 to $75,000 the amount of the earned income tax exclusion for Americans working abroad. Repeals the income tax deduction for expenses of Americans living abroad.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase from $1 to $50 the penalty on businesses for each failure to file a statement of payments made to persons in the course of business; and (2) increase from $1,000 to $25,000 the total amount imposed for all such failures during the calendar year. Removes the exemption from such filing requirements with respect to payments made to a corporation after December 31, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Export Promotion and Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to encourage the formation of export trading companies by providing information and advice to interested persons. Requires the Secretary to provide a referral service to facilitate contacts between producers of exportable goods and services and concerns offering export trade services. Permits State and local governments to participate in such export trading companies. Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt trading companies, solely with respect to their export trade activities, from antitrust restrictions. Directs the President, five years after enactment, to appoint a task force to study and report any recommendations concerning the effect of this Act on domestic competition and the U.S. trade deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Truth in Testing Act of 1981 - Prohibits any educational or occupational admissions test from being administered unless: (1) each applicant is provided written notice describing the nature of the test, to whom the results will be distributed, and a statement of the applicant's rights; and (2) performance-related information is provided, upon request, to any individual taking such test. Provides that an individual adversely affected by a test administered, or about to be administered, in violation of this Act may sue for preventive relief in a United States district court.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the payment of benefits based on self-employment income if the self-employment tax on such income has not been paid. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to maintain records on the amount of self-employment tax which has been paid and to provide, upon request, information on delinquent and insufficient payments. Specifies the evidentiary weight to be afforded to such records and establishes procedures for the correction of errors. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allocate sums derived from a partial payment of income tax to satisfy the self-employment tax imposed for old age, survivors and disability insurance before applying such sums to satisfy the income tax liability of the taxpayer. Specifies the amount of self-employment tax that shall be deemed received and credited for benefits in the case of a partial payment of tax on self-employment income filed under a joint return.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Marriage Penalty Relief Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit married couples to file a combined income tax return under which each spouse computes taxable income separately and applies the tax rate for unmarried individuals to such income. Allows specified items of income and deductible expenses to be attributed to the particular spouse who earns or incurs them.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the special farm valuation for estate tax purposes, to deem the material participation requirement met if, before the decedent's death, there was material participation by the decedent or any spouse in the operation of the farm or other business during periods aggregating 20 years or more. Requires treatment of the activities of any agent or fiduciary as the activities of a qualified heir if performed for him or her in order to satisfy the material participation requirement for purposes of determining that real property has not ceased to be used for the qualified use. Limits such special rule for activities of agents to the case of a qualified heir who is: (1) under 21; (2) a student; (3) under a physical or mental disability which prevents him or her from participating materially in the operation of the farm or other business; or (4) a spouse of the decedent aged 62 or more.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from ten to eleven percent the rate of the earned income credit. Increases the maximum allowable dollar amount of such credit and the income eligibility ceiling. Repeals provisions of the Social Security Act which include the earned income credit in determining entitlement to Aid for Dependent Children and Supplemental Security Income benefits under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Authorizes the immediate supervisor of any Federal employee who has applied for continuation pay during a period of disability caused by a work injury to require such employee to submit to an examination by a physician designated by the supervisor for the purposes of obtaining a second opinion concerning the employee's claim. Prohibits the payment of continuation pay for the first three days of disability unless the period of disability exceeds 14 days.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of the Congress specially struck gold medals to fifty-three individuals held hostage in the United States Embassy in Iran. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) strike fifty-three gold medals with suitable emblems, devices and inscriptions; and (2) coin and sell bronze duplicates of such medals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from taxation income earned from sources outside the United States for all individuals who are bona fide residents of foreign countries or who are present in a foreign country for a specified time (current law excludes such income of such individuals only if they reside in camps located in hardship areas). Eliminates restrictions on such tax exclusion with respect to: (1) the dollar amount of such exclusion; (2) the taxable year to which the income earned abroad is attributed; (3) community income earned abroad; and (4) meals and lodgings provided by the employer. Repeals provisions added by the Tax Reform Act of 1976 which allow income tax deductions for various expenses related to living abroad.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Establishes a Joint Select Committee on Defense Readiness and Mobilization Capability to investigate and report on defense readiness and mobilization capability, including an analysis of: (1) the kind and extent of threats to the national defense; and (2) the quality and quantity of manpower, material, transportation, budgetary, and programmatic resources needed at present and able to be mobilized in the future. Sets forth the requirements for appointment to the joint select committee.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that each department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States that utilizes the Draize rabbit eye irritancy test should develop and validate alternative testing procedures that do not require the use of animal test subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow preference visas to be given to an alien who: (1) requests such treatment; (2) was born after 1950 in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, or Thailand; (3) was fathered by an American serviceman; and (4) provides a guarantee of financial support. Stipulates that such guarantee must: (1) be signed by a citizen or lawful permanent resident who is at least 21 years old; and (2) provide that such signing sponsor will provide necessary financial support for five years. Allows the Attorney General to enforce such guarantee against the sponsor in a civil suit unless such sponsor dies or is adjudicated bankrupt.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Regulatory Procedure Act of 1981 - Title I: The Analysis, Management, and Organization of Agency Functions - Requires the head of each Federal agency to publish for each proposed major rule a preliminary regulatory analysis which describes: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the projected benefits, adverse economic effects, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; and (5) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards. Requires that each agency publish for each final major rule a final regulatory analysis which includes: (1) an explanation of the selection of the rule considering its adverse economic effects; (2) a summary of the significant issues raised by public comments; and (3) the total costs to the agency of the preliminary and final regulatory analysis. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule, instructions of how the public may obtain copies of such analyses; and (2) send a copy of such analyses to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Authorizes an agency to delay completing such analyses by publishing a finding that the rule is being adopted in response to an emergency that makes completion of such analyses impossible. Terminates any such emergency rule if such analyses are not completed within 180 days of the publication of the rule. Bars judicial review of such regulatory analyses. Requires the Director of OMB and the Comptroller General to report to Congress on agency compliance with the requirements of this title. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of major and other rules for the next year and certain specified information concerning such rules. Directs each agency to submit its proposed major rules to the President for incorporation into a semiannual Calendar of Federal Regulations. Requires the Director of OMB to review and publish a list of rules submitted which potentially duplicate or conflict with other proposed or existing rules. Directs each agency: (1) include in the notice of a rulemaking or adjudicatory proceeding the date by which the agency intends to complete such proceeding; and (2) to prepare and publish in the first regulatory agenda of the year a report on such proceedings which includes the number of proceedings the agency failed to complete by the established deadline and the reasons for such failure. Requires that such report also disclose specified information concerning the use of funds by the agency for procuring services for the preparation of any report in connection with such a proceeding. Requires each agency, within 6 months of the effective date of this Act, to: (1) establish an office, within such agency, to be responsible for regulatory planning and management; (2) issue guidelines for determining which rules are significant rules; and (3) issue guidelines to insure that an adopted major or significant rule meets certain criteria including requirements that: (a) the rule is written to be easily understood; (b) there has been full consideration with affected State and local governments; and (c) the public has been given a full opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. Requires that each agency submit to OMB and publish in the Federal Register a draft schedule for the review, over a ten-year period, of its major rules and practices. Sets forth guidelines for such review. Directs each agency to publish a final review schedule within one year. Requires that each agency announce the review date for each major rule upon its publication. Requires each agency to publish an assessment of each precept reviewed. Declares that such review requirements shall not apply to any rule or practice involving the internal revenue laws of the United States. Title II: Reorganizing and Improving Agency Proceedings - Requires that the general notice of a proposed rule include: (1) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (2) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Subjects rules concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts to notice and comment rulemaking procedures. Directs each agency to maintain a file of each rulemaking proceeding. Requires each agency to transmit semiannually to the appropriate Congressional committees an agenda listing all areas in which the agency intends to propose major rules during the following year. Directs each agency to transmit a copy of each final rule to each House of Congress and to such committees on the day the rule is published. Prohibits the rule from becoming effective: (1) until 30 days after it is received by such committees; (2) until the earlier of the expiration of 60 days after the date on which a committee reports a resolution disapproving the rule or the date on which such resolution is rejected; or (3) if such a resolution is enacted. Exempts from such time constraints any major rule promulgated in response to an emergency situation. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule substantially the same as a disapproved rule. Requires agencies to respond in an appropriate manner to good faith requests from interested persons for interpretations of agency rules. Creates a new procedure for administrative proceedings required by statute. Establishes an "expedited procedure" which applies to any proceeding predominantly concerning policy issues of a general character, including rulemaking and initial licensing. Requires "trial-type procedures" for proceedings which predominantly concern specific factual questions, including proceedings to assess a civil penalty or fine or to determine a claim for certain individual benefits. Directs the agency to conduct a hearing in such a proceeding to afford parties an opportunity to submit written data, arguments, and responses, and, at the request of any party, an opportunity for oral argument. Requires the presiding employee to designate a disputed question for formal cross-examination upon determining, at the conclusion of the hearing, that there is a substantial dispute of fact which can be resolved sufficiently only by formal cross-examination and upon which the decision of the agency is likely to depend. Sets forth procedures for issuing subpoenas in formal proceedings under the expedited or trial-type procedures. Enumerates the powers and responsibilities of a presiding employee at proceedings under trial-type procedure. Allows an agency to designate an appropriate employee to recommend a decision for a proceeding under expedited procedure when the presiding employee submits the record of the proceeding without a recommended decision. Authorizes each agency to establish employee boards to review the decisions of presiding employees. Directs each agency to specify conditions under which it will accept an appeal of a decision of a presiding employee or such a board, and the conditions under which it will exclude a decision from the jurisdiction of a review board. Requires an action to be brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the review of an agency rule for which there is no applicable special statutory review procedure. Prohibits a court reviewing an agency action involving a rule from making any presumption in favor of or against the agency action. Requires such court to determine the agency's jurisdiction on the basis of the language of the authorizing statute or other evidence of legislative intent.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Directs the Secretary of Labor to pay a benefit of $50,000 to the survivors of any Federal law enforcement officer or firefighter who has died as the direct result of an injury sustained in the line of duty. Sets forth the order of precedence as to the beneficiaries of such payment. Authorizes the Secretary to make an interim payment not to exceed $3,000 to a survivor who, in the Secretary's determination, probably will receive such a benefit. Declares that no such benefit shall be subject to execution or attachment. Prohibits payment of such benefit: (1) if death was caused by the intentional misconduct, suicide, or intoxication of the officer or firefighter; and (2) to any beneficiary whose actions contributed to the death of the officer or firefighter. Declares that the provisions of this Act shall apply with respect to injuries sustained on or after September 23, 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Research Modernization Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within the National Institutes of Health a National Center for Alternative Research to develop and coordinate alternative methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. States that the Center shall be managed by a Director appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that the head of any Federal agency which conducts or sponsors research or testing involving the use of live animals appoint one employee to serve as a member of the Center. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Center an Advisory Committee to advise the Center. Requires the Secretary to make and publish in the Federal Register descriptions of alternative methods of testing which meet the regulatory scientific needs of the agencies and which have been reported in summary or plan. Prohibits the use of Federal funds to sponsor research or testing involving the use of live animals if alternative methods have been published in the Federal Register or if such work duplicates work performed by another agency. Requires each agency conducting research involving the use of live animals to: (1) implement a program to develop and utilize alternative methods of research and testing that would reduce or eliminate reliance on the use of live animals; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts with educational institutions to establish courses for the training of scientists in methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress annually a summary of the Director's annual report of the performance of the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the categories of deportable aliens foreign students who knowingly participated in a political demonstration resulting in, or intending to result in, injury or damage to another's person or property. Permits the Attorney General to suspend deportation of such students.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Declares it the public policy of the United States to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of leg-hold and steel-jaw traps in the United States and abroad. Prohibits the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of fur or leather products from animals trapped in a State or foreign country which has not banned such traps. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish a list of States and foreign countries which have not banned such traps. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Requires that each State establish and maintain an approved workfare program as a condition of its eligibility for Federal payments or other assistance under the: (1) program of aid to families with dependent children under the Social Security Act; (2) food stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977; and (3) public housing and assisted housing programs under the United States Housing Act of 1937. Requires that such State workfare program shall require every State resident applying for or receiving aid under such Federal public assistance program to perform work in return for, and as a condition for, such aid. Directs the appropriate Federal agencies to promulgate guidelines for approval, supervision, and oversight of such State workfare programs. Exempts from required participation in such programs those who are: (1) under age 18 or over age 65; (2) disabled; (3) regularly employed for at least 40 hours a week; or (4) primarily responsible for the care of a child less than three years old (or for the care of a child more than two but less than six years old if suitable child care is not available at reasonable cost). Requires that each State workfare program must provide that if any individual who is required to participate in such program refuses to accept a bona fide offer of qualified employment or to perform qualified employment, in any month, neither such individual nor any other person in the family or household of which such individual is a member shall be eligible to receive any aid under such Federal public assistance programs for that month. Requires that State workfare programs include provision for job counseling, assistance in obtaining employment outside the program, and job search activities. Provides for: (1) Federal matching funds to cover administrative costs of such State programs; (2) Federal cut-offs of funds to State agencies for failure to comply with this Act; and (3) Federal agency reports to Congress on such State programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 to revise and increase the mandatory penalties for using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony. Defines such offense as using a firearm to commit a felony over which the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction or carrying a firearm during such a felony involving violence. Deletes the requirement that the firearm be carried "illegally." Increases the additional penalty imposed for such offense from one to ten years' imprisonment to five to ten years' imprisonment for a first offender and from two to 25 years to ten years to life imprisonment for a second or subsequent offender. Extends to first offenders the directions, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation and that the additional sentence not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the offense itself. Makes a first offender ineligible for parole for five years and a second or subsequent offender ineligible for ten years. Expresses the sense of Congress that the executive prosecute vigorously such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Apalachicola and Osceola Wilderness Act of 1981 - Designates the following lands in Florida as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) the Bradwell Bay Wilderness Addition and the Mud Swamp/New River Wilderness in the Apalachicola National Forest; and (2) the Big Gum Swamp Wilderness in the Osceola National Forest. Prohibits the Department of the Interior from issuing phosphate leases in the Osceola National Forest, Florida, unless and until the United States determines that the mining of phosphate deposits in such leases would be necessary to the national interest. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, within three years from the date of enactment of this Act, with respect to specified applicants for phosphate preference right leases which have made discoveries of valuable deposits, to exchange their applications for leases covering other minerals. Requires such an exchange to be of equal value, with a payment of money to the Secretary or the applicant if necessary, so long as such payment does not exceed 25 percent of the value of the leases to be issued by the Secretary. Permits disapproval of any such exchange, within 60 days, by a specified committee of either House. Provides that the designation of the Big Guam Swamp Wilderness will not alter phosphate lease rights applicable to lands within the wilderness.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Act of 1981 - Title I: Reauthorization of Government Programs - Sets forth a ten-year schedule for reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for fiscal year 1979. Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any bill, resolution, or amendment which authorizes new budget authority. States that it is not in order for either House to consider any legislation which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten years, for an indefinite period, or for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Provides that before the Congress can appropriate funds for any program, after its first reauthorization date, there must be a specific authorization in law to support the appropriation. Requires the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to schedule and conduct a sunset review of programs to be reauthorized. Requires that the report accompanying such reauthorizations contain specified information and be completed during the Congress in which the program is scheduled for reauthorization. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, as well as litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and specified retirement pay and benefits. Allows the reauthorization schedule set forth in this Act to be changed by concurrent resolution of the two House of Congress and sets forth the procedure for such change. Requires all legislation and other matters related to changes in the dates for programs under this Act to be referred to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and, sequentially, to the Committee on Rules in the House Representatives and to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate. Requires such committees to report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within 30 days, with a statement on each of its recommendations. Makes provisions for any proposed change which has been reported by a committee before June 1, 1982. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist Congress in carrying out reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1982. Sets forth the contents of the inventory program, including the type of authorization provided for such programs' new budget authority and the manner in which related program areas may be grouped for evaluation and review. Permits the Congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and to suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of Congress, and that such revisions be reported to each House. Requires that periodic reports tabulate the progress of Congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing budget authority for programs in the inventory. Requires the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to submit periodic reports to the Congress on the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories for grouping programs of like missions or objectives. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review, and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Directs each committee to consult with the appropriate committees of either the House of Representatives or the Senate in order to achieve coordination of program reevaluation. Directs each Committee to inform itself of the related activities of or available assistance from the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Technology Assessment, and other appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches. Requires each committee to deliver a report on the reexamination to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House at the date specified in the funding resolution first reported by such committee in 1983 and thereafter for the first session of each Congress. Allows two or more committees which have legislative jurisdiction over the same programs or portions of the same programs to examine such programs jointly and submit a joint report. Stipulates that such report: (1) contain the findings, recommendations, and justifications of the program; and (2) include specified information including, but not limited to, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the program and an identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address. Requires each executive department or agency which is responsible for a program selected for reexamination to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committees of the Congress on its findings, recommendations, and justifications of specified aspects of the program. Title IV: Tax Expenditures - Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after consultation with the Joint Committee on Taxation of the Congress, to prepare an inventory of tax expenditure provisions and to submit a report on such inventory to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House and the Senate Finance Committee. Defines the term "tax expenditure provision" as any provision of Federal law which allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction in determining liability for any tax or which provides a special credit against any tax, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability. Specifies the contents of the report, which include an estimate of the revenue loss from each tax provision. Requires the Director to: (1) submit a revised inventory to each House of Congress by December 1, 1982; (2) revise the inventory after the close of each session of Congress and report such revisions to Congress; and (3) periodically report on Congressional action on bills and resolutions which create or affect tax provisions. Directs the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance to prepare a reauthorization schedule for all tax provisions similar to the schedule set out for Federal programs in title I of this Act. Requires Congress to take final action on the reauthorization schedule for tax provisions before the end of the 97th Congress. Provides that each tax expenditure provision shall expire unless it is reauthorized by a law enacted during the Congress in which it is scheduled for review. Sets forth procedures and restrictions for the consideration of bills reauthorizing tax provisions, which are similar to the restrictions and procedures governing bills authorizing new budget authority for Federal programs as described in title I. Requires that the report accompanying a reauthorization bill include specified information. Permits Congress to prescribe technical rules necessary to mitigate adverse effects which might result for taxpayers who rely on a certain tax provision. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to permit the committees of Congress to obtain from the agencies of the Government estimates or requests for appropriations, or requests for increases in an item of any such estimate or request, and recommendations as to how the revenue needs of the Government should be met. Sets forth administrative procedures and requirements. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Requires that each such report identify duplicative or conflicting rules and regulations promulgated by executive departments, independent agencies, and State and local governments and contain recommendations which address such conflicts or duplications. Directs the chairmen of the House and Senate committees having jurisdiction over a program scheduled for reauthorization during a Congress, to introduce a bill constituting a reauthorization within 15 days of the beginning of the second session of that Congress. Declares that it shall be in order to discharge a committee from consideration of such a bill if the committee fails to report the bill by a specified date. Makes it the duty of the Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and Rules of the House of Representatives to review the operation of the procedures established by this Act and to submit a report every five years beginning December 31, 1988. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1980
Entitles veterans to wartime disability compensation for disabilities or diseases attributable to exposure to atomic or nuclear radiation during active service at the Nevada Test Site and specified sites in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from June 30, 1945, to December 12, 1962.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1980
Expresses congressional tribute and thanks to those Americans and Canadians who participated in the rescue of the people onboard the burning passenger vessel Prinsendam off the coast of Alaska during October 4-6, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service should not increase the number of digits of the zip code until: (1) the Service and the Congress have fully examined the costs, social consequences, and technical issues associated with such action; and (2) the Service has fully examined other means of improving productivity in the sorting of mail.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1980
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to Congress and the Veterans Administration on the relationship between exposure of military personnel to radiation following the atomic detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki or in the testing preceding such detonations and any health problems they may presently have.
![Official portrait of Rep. Gibbons, Sam [D-FL-11]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000153_200.jpg)