United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1980
Commodity Letter of Credit Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to issue commodity letters of credit each fiscal year to each State participating in the food service programs under such Act or under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 for the purchase of domestic agricultural commodities and other foods for use in carrying out these programs. Directs the Secretary to specify the types of commodities and other foods to be purchased with such letters, with special emphasis to be given to high protein foods. Establishes the national average value of commodity letters of credit for fiscal year 1981. Sets forth the formula for the periodic adjustment of such average. Apportions such letters to each State based upon the number of school lunches served in such State. Directs each State to further apportion the value of the letters received to each school based upon the number of lunches served in such school. Directs the Secretary to forward to each State an advance program payment to be used by the State under the letters for the purchase of foods for the requirements of lunches and breakfasts. Substitutes such commodity letter program for the direct purchase and donation of commodities by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance for the reduction of transportation, storage, handling, and labor costs through the use of commodity letters of credit. Directs the Secretary to issue commodity letters of credit in lieu of direct purchase and donation for the purchase of agricultural commodities for use in institutions participating in the child care food program. Sets forth the formula for determining the value of such letters. Permits each State participating in such program to elect to receive cash payments in lieu of some or all of such letters. Directs the Secretary to make available to the Department of Defense the same payments and commodity letters of credit as are provided to the States for breakfasts and lunches for students attending dependents' schools outside the United States. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to substitute the commodity letters of credit for the direct purchase and donation of commodities by the Secretary. Permits the Secretary to use funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation for the purpose of issuing commodity letters for specified programs. Establishes criminal penalties for violations respecting the application, procurement, claim for reimbursement, or record keeping in the commodity letters program. Permit the issuance of commodity letters for summer camps for children. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to permit the use of cash payments in lieu of the commodity letters.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1980
Amends the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to prohibit the President from taking action, pursuant to the President's authority to adjust the imports of articles which threaten national security, to impose import fees on petroleum and petroleum products imported into the United States without specific authorization from Congress, effective March 1, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1980
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to reduce the value of the allotment received by a household containing members who have available to them meals provided under the national school lunch program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1980
Authorizes the President to impose a $50,000,000 fine against the Iranian government for each day after a date designated by the President that U.S. citizens continue to be held hostage. Authorizes the President to collect such fine from the Iranian assets blocked by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1980
Youth Act of 1980 - Title I: Youth Training and Employment Programs - Youth Training and Employment Act of 1980 - Amends the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) to extend through fiscal year 1984 the authorization of appropriations for the Job Corps (title IV, part B) and the Summer Youth Program (title IV, part C). Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1981 through 1984 for the new title IV, part A, Youth Training and Employment Programs established by this Act. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1981 and 1982 to carry out the Private Sector Opportunities for the Economically Disadvantaged program (title VII). Revises title IV, part A to eliminate Youth Employment Demonstration Programs and to establish Youth Training and Employment Programs to assist eligible youth in obtaining job opportunities and in improving their opportunities for future employment and increased earnings. Requires that, to be eligible for part A programs, a youth must be 16 to 21 years of age (inclusive), and have a family income at or below 85 percent of the lower living standard income level. Allows ten percent of each recipient entity's funds to be used for youths of such ages who do not meet such income requirement but who otherwise demonstrate the need for such services. Includes as eligible youth of such ages: (1) those who are economically disadvantaged as defined under such Act; or (2) in accordance with standards prescribed by the Secretary of Labor, those who are handicapped individuals, youths under the supervision or jurisdiction of the juvenile or criminal justice system, pregnant teenagers or teenage mothers, or youths attending target schools under the basic skills program under the Youth Education and Training Act established in title II of this Act. Permits any youth aged 14 and 15 (inclusive), who is otherwise eligible, to receive counseling, occupational information, and other transition services on an individual or a group basis. Directs the Secretary of Labor ("the Secretary") to issue regulations which, as a condition of participation in programs under part A, shall require: (1) a specific period of joblessness prior to application; or (2) a specific initial period without stipend and with counseling, occupational information, career assessment, job referrals, and other transitional services. Directs the Secretary to assure that such programs will give priority to youths experiencing the most severe handicaps in obtaining employment. Applies the same eligibility requirements established under part A to summer youth employment programs under part C, except that otherwise eligible youth ages 14 and 15 (inclusive) may participate if the program includes an educational component. Provides for the allocation of funds among various programs under the Youth Employment and Training Programs and among the States and the territories and possessions of the United States. Requires prime sponsors to provide employment opportunities, appropriate training, and employment related and supportive services for eligible youths. Subjects funds available for such Basic Programs to specified conditions of use. Requires prime sponsors serving areas which include target schools funded under the Youth Education and Training Act to make adequate part-time work experience opportunities available for youths in such schools in conjunction with programs under such Act, pursuant to an agreement with the local educational agency and in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Education. Requires prime sponsors receiving equal chance supplemental allocations to primarily use such funds to serve youths residing in communities and neighborhoods which have particularly severe economic and social problems which generate multiple obstacles to the employment and employability development of such youths. Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance under Youth Employment and Training Programs only to a prime sponsor submitting a youth plan, as part of its comprehensive plan, which meets specified conditions. Provides for review of such plans by the Secretary. Requires prime sponsors to develop and use, as appropriate to individual needs, specified benchmark standards, accepted in the community and based on recommendations from various organizations, of youth achievements needed to obtain and retain jobs. Allows each sponsor to provide both monetary and non-monetary incentives for good performance and appropriate assistance for youths unable to perform satisfactorily. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) basic criteria for such benchmark standards; and (2) prime sponsor performance standards. Requires each prime sponsor to establish service deliverer performance standards based on program outcomes. Provides that such performance standards be revised annually. Requires prime sponsors to establish youth opportunity councils to assist in the planning and review of youth programs under CETA and under the Youth Education and Training Act. Requires that funds available under Youth Employment and Training Programs to the Governor of each State, be used for special statewide youth services. Provides for special purpose incentive grants to prime sponsors, Governor's special statewide youth services, Native American programs, and migrant and seasonal farmworker programs. Provides for education cooperation incentive grants to prime sponsors to carry out programs developed on a cooperative basis with local educational agencies. Authorizes the Secretary to make arrangements with prime sponsors, public agencies, private organizations, and Federal departments and agencies to carry out innovative, experimental, developmental, and demonstration programs dealing with youth employment problems and the enhancing of future employability for participant youths. Directs the Secretary to consult with specified Federal agencies with regard to such discretionary programs. Authorizes the Secretary to use funds under such discretionary programs for staff training, technical assistance, and knowledge development and dissemination. Prohibits the payment of basic hourly allowances to participating youths under age 18 for time spent in a classroom or institutional training activity, except in special circumstances. Permits the payment of: (1) basic hourly allowances to participating youths age 18 and older; (2) allowances to cover documented costs of program participation; and (3) monetary performance incentives. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe rates of pay, within specified limits, and appropriate time limitations with respect to work experience under Youth Employment and Training Programs. Directs the Secretary to: (1) encourage the granting of academic credit by educational institutions or agencies to eligible youth in classroom or institutional training activities under such programs; and (2) to cooperate with the Secretary of Education to make suitable arrangements with appropriate State and local educational officials for the award of academic credit for competencies derived from work experience and other activities under such programs. Requires prime sponsors to include the summer youth program component as part of the youth plan. Directs the National Commission on Employment Policy to establish a committee on youth to consider problems caused by youth unemployment, make recommendations to enhance interagency coordination of youth programs, and evaluate training and employment policies and programs affecting youths. Directs the Secretary to include a report on programs, activities, and actions taken under title IV in an annual CETA report. Makes technical and clarifying amendments. Provides for appropriate references to the Departments and Secretaries of Education and of Health and Human Services. Sets forth transitional provisions for financial assistance under specified CETA title IV programs. Title II: Financial Assistance to Meet Basic and Employment Skills Needs of Secondary School Youth - Youth Education and Training Act - Directs the Secretary of Education ("the Secretary") to make payments to State educational agencies for grants made on the basis of entitlements created under this title during the fiscal years 1981 through 1984. Sets forth eligibility standards for basic grants for programs operated by local educational agencies. Bases such eligibility upon the relative numbers of children aged five to 17 in a county: (1) from families below the poverty level; (2) living in non-Federal institutions for neglected or delinquent children, but not counted for purposes of a grant to a State agency under this title; or (3) being supported in foster homes with public funds. Sets forth procedures for determining such numbers. Provides formulas for determining the amount of grants to which the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is entitled and amount of grants to which each county in a State is eligible to receive, based on such relative numbers of children in the county and average per pupil expenditure in the State. Provides for payment to the States of the amounts to which counties are entitled and allocation of such amounts by the States to eligible local educational agencies who have submitted an application to the State educational agency. Requires local educational agencies to use such funds received for fiscal year 1981 to assist selected secondary schools to develop three-year plans to improve basic and employment skills. Limits such planning assistance to secondary schools which serve: (1) a large number or percentage of children from low-income families; or (2) a student body of which at least 75 percent score below the 25th percentile in basic skills achievement on an objective test. Provides for ranking and selection of such schools, amounts of planning grants, plan requirements, school site councils, and the use of funds for inservice training. Requires local educational agencies to select from among school plans those schools that are to receive implementation assistance on the basis of criteria established by such agencies, taking into account specified considerations. Requires such agencies to establish advisory councils, with specified representatives, to make recommendations to such agencies on which schools should receive planning and implementation assistance, which services should be provided to nonpublic school student, and to evaluate each school's progress toward program goals. Requires local educational agencies receiving funds under such program to maintain overall expenditures for education and to ensure that schools receiving such program funds receive regular non-Federal and special Federal, State, and local funds in amounts equivalent to those received by similar schools not receiving funds under this title. Provides for complaint resolution and for reports with regard to such programs. Requires local educational agencies to set aside, from funds available for such programs in any fiscal year, a proportionate amount to arrange for the provision of special services to disadvantaged students enrolled in nonpublic secondary schools within their districts, on a basis comparable to those provided to similar students enrolled in the secondary schools of such agencies. Directs such agencies to give priority, in arranging provision of such services, to students enrolled in nonpublic secondary schools with high concentrations of students who are from low-income families or who demonstrate limited academic achievement. Authorizes such agencies to provide such services: (1) directly to students enrolled in nonpublic secondary schools that do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin; or (2) through payments to such schools, provided that such schools are not devoted to religious ends or uses and that such schools are subject to specified requirements. Directs the Secretary to arrange for provision of services to such children from withheld funds whenever a local educational agency fails to do so, or is impeded or prohibited from doing so. Allows States or local educational agencies to appeal for review of such determinations and actions by the Secretary. Entitles a State educational agency or a combination of such agencies, upon application for a fiscal year, to a grant to establish or improve programs for: (1) migratory children of migratory agricultural workers or of migratory fisherman; and (2) children in institutions for neglected or delinquent children or in adult correctional institutions. Bases the amount of such grant to each State on the relative populations of such children and the average per pupil expenditure, within specified limits, in such State. Makes two and one-half percent of the funds appropriated for this title in any fiscal year available for such programs for special populations. Requires that such program be at the secondary school level, be designed to improve the basic and employment skills of such children, and meet other specified conditions. Authorizes the Secretary to arrange with other public or nonprofit private agencies for such private agencies for such programs for such children whenever this would be more beneficial to the children, or more economical or efficient, than relying upon State agencies. Entitles a State educational agency, upon application for a fiscal year, to a grant to establish or improve, through local educational agencies, programs designed to improve the basic and employment skills of disadvantaged secondary school students. Bases the amount of such State supplemental program grants upon the relative incidence of children from low-income families in their respective States and upon the average per pupil expenditure, within specified limits, within such States. Makes ten percent of the funds appropriated for this title in any fiscal year available for such State supplemental program payments. Requires that such such programs be conducted at secondary schools which meet specified eligibility requirements, regardless of whether such schools are within local educational agencies eligible for other program assistance. Requires States to establish advisory councils to advise the State educational agency on the selection of schools to be assisted. Directs the Secretary to pay, from the amount available to each State for grants under this title, an amount (equal to 25 percent of the total funds to which the State is entitled under the local educational agency operated programs, the State supplemental programs, and the payments for State administration) to the sole State agency for vocational education, to plan and implement, through local educational agencies, programs to improve basic, employment, and special occupational skills of disadvantaged in-school youth enrolled in grades ten through 12 and out-of-school youth aged 16 through 19 who left school prior to earning a certificate of graduation and who are eligible for CETA Youth Training and Employment Programs. Sets forth requirements for States to receive such program assistance and for local educational agencies applications to receive such assistance from the State vocational agency. Makes the provisions of the General Education Provisions Act relating to local, State, and Federal administration of programs applicable to the programs assisted under this title. Requires State educational agencies to: (1) coordinate activities assisted under this title with employment, training, and other relevant activities conducted in the State; (2) provide technical assistance to local educational agencies; (3) disseminate information to State and local agencies; (4) submit State monitoring and enforcement plans to the Secretary; and (4) provide for complaint resolution. Authorizes such agencies to suspend specified withholding actions while there is a compliance agreement in effect. Authorizes the Secretary to pay State administration costs under this title. Directs the Secretary to develop and disseminate complaint resolution procedures, with specified inclusions. Authorizes the Secretary to make program research and development grants. Directs the Secretary to set aside one percent of the funds appropriated to carry out this title in any fiscal year for the purpose of making payments for basic and employment skill improvement programs for disadvantaged youth run by: (1) local educational agencies in Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and (2) the Secretary of Interior, on behalf of disadvantaged Indian youth. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1981 through 1984 to carry out the provisions of this title.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that recent attempts to undermine the stability of Tunisia constitute a serious threat to international peace and U.S. national security interests. States that the United States should furnish economic and security assistance to Tunisia.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Soviet Union should release Andrei Sakharov from internal exile immediately. Urges the President to: (1) protest Sakharov's exile and the continued suppression of human rights in the Soviet Union; (2) call upon other nations to join in such protests and impose sanctions against the Soviet Union; and (3) inform Helsinki signatory governments that the U.S. delegation intends to raise these violations at the 1980 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe review meeting.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1980
Expresses appreciation to Canada for: (1) its historic close relations and cooperation with the United States in conducting foreign policy; (2) its support for U.S. efforts to obtain the safe release of the hostages in Iran; and (3) its efforts to protect and arrange the safe departure of certain U.S. citizens from Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should press for the immediate release of Andrei Sakharov from internal exile. Declares that Congress will continue to raise the issue of Sakharov's treatment until he is accorded his legal rights by the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1980
Fusion Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1980 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish research, development, and demonstration programs involving magnetic fusion energy systems to: (1) construct and operate a fusion engineering test facility by 1986; (2) construct and operate a magnetic fusion demonstration facility before the end of this century; (3) maintain and expand the base programs for fusion energy research and the development and testing of appropriate alternative confinement technologies; (4) maintain a strong research and development program in advanced fusion fuels; and (5) ensure an uninterrupted source of scientific and engineering talent from institutions of higher learning to support such effort. Requires such programs to include a study of the potential of using fusion energy for the production of synthetic fuels and the electrification of ground transportation systems. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information promoting the practical uses of fusion energy.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1980
Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to prohibit "special activity" (as defined by this Act) abroad unless the President determines such activity to be important to national security, and reports to the House and Senate select intelligence committees regarding such activity. Stipulates that such prohibition shall not apply to operations pursuant to a declaration of war, or under authority of the War Powers Resolution. Repeals a provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 requiring the President to report to the appropriate Congressional committees regarding expenditures for Central Intelligence Agency operations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 1979
Provides for an exemption from the windfall profits tax for independent oil producers for an amount equal to 1,000 barrels of crude oil multiplied by the number of days in the taxable period.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 1979
Calls upon the President to consult with friendly nations to coordinate naval and other resources in a Sealane Security System to provide lifesaving assistance and insure free passage through East and Southeast Asian sealanes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1979
Retirement Income Incentives and Administrative Simplification Act of 1979 - Sets forth the findings and policies of this Act, including: (1) the consolidation in a single independent agency of certain administrative, regulatory, and policymaking functions relating to employee benefit plans; (2) the establishment of a national policy to encourage savings to meet the needs of employees and their families in the event of death, disability, or retirement; and (3) the clarification and simplification of certain provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and of the Internal Revenue Code relating to employee benefit plans. Title I: Employee Benefit Administration - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to direct the President to establish by the beginning of the third calendar year after enactment the Employee Benefit Administration as an independent agency within the executive branch to be headed by a five member Board of Directors. Creates two new positions, entitled "special liaison officer to the Administration," one within the Department of Labor and one within the Department of the Treasury, to serve as directors. Provides that the remaining three directors shall be an Executive Director and two additional members appointed by the President. Transfers to the Administration the authority of the Secretary of Labor granted under ERISA, and functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating to employee benefit plans. Directs the President to transfer to the Administration additional functions of any Federal agency which is necessary to effectuate the maximum feasible consolidation of administrative and related functions of the Government relating to employee benefit plans. Retains the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation within the Administration. Directs the Administration to promulgate regulations providing for the maximum consolidation of all reports respecting employee benefit plans and governmental plans required under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. Title II: Deduction by Certain Employees and Their Spouses for Contributions to Retirement Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit employees participating in employer pension plans an income tax deduction for contributions to an individual retirement account. Establishes the amount of such deduction at the lesser of 15 percent of an employees' taxable compensation or $1,000. Permits such employees to apportion one-half of the total deductible amount to individual retirement accounts established for the benefit of such employees' spouses. Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe rules applicable to one or more categories under which severance pay arrangements and supplemental retirement income arrangements shall be considered to be welfare plans instead of pension plans. Specifies supplemental retirement income arrangements which are to be considered welfare plans. Authorizes the Secretary to exempt any severance pay or supplemental income arrangement from provisions applicable to welfare plans and to provide alternative methods of compliance with any such provision. Conforms the definitions of "part in interest" and "governmental plan" with the Internal Revenue Code. Revises the definitions of "normal retirement age" and "relative". Requires, rather than allows, accountants to rely on the correctness of any actuarial matter certified by an enrolled actuary. Requires, rather than allows, an enrolled actuary to rely on the correctness of accounting matters to which a qualified public accountant has expressed an opinion for purposes of certification. Allows a pension plan which is held in a trust consisting of the assets of two or more participating plans which are maintained by a single employer or two or more employers all of whom are members of the same controlled group, to elect to include as part of its annual report certain information relating to all of the assets of the trust in lieu of the information currently required respecting the assets of the plan. Modifies the current requirement that a plan administrator furnish to a participant or beneficiary a copy of certain financial statements to direct such administrator to post such statements at the principal work sites of employee participants, along with a statement of the right of employee participants to receive copies of the latest annual report and summary plan description. Directs the Secretary to provide for alternative means by which such information may be adequately communicated to employee participants. Sets a $10 limit on the amount an administrator can charge for a copy of the full annual report. Specifies notice requirements which the Secretary of the Treasury, before issuing an advance determination of whether a pension or other type plan meets the requirements of a qualified plan under the Internal Revenue Code, shall require the person applying for the determination to provide. Allows such applicant to establish to the Secretary that the employees have been adequately notified of the filing of the request for such a determination by other satisfactory means. Revises the information which each administrator of an employee benefit plan must furnish to any plan participant or beneficiary who so requests in writing. Requires in the case of individual account plans that the balance in the account be furnished. Directs each administrator to issue a report informing each plan participant of the nature, amount, and form of the deferred vested benefit to which he is entitled if such participant: (1) separated from the service covered by the plan if such separation resulted in a one-year break in service; (2) is entitled to a deferred vested benefit; and (3) with respect to whom retirement benefits are not paid during the particular plan year and are not scheduled for payment before the end of the 180-day period following the plan year. Requires each employer to maintain records with respect to each of the employees sufficient to determine the benefits which are due, or which may become due, to such employee. Requires pension report information to be provided in computer-compatible form to the public only after a statement has been filed with the Secretary by the person receiving the information which provides that the information will not be used for commercial purposes. Requires, rather than allows, the Secretary to prescribe an alternative method for satisfying certain reporting requirements, under specified circumstances. Sets forth additional alternative methods of compliance with certain reporting requirements. Specifies circumstances in which the administrator of any multiemployer plan shall be considered to have satisfied certain reporting requirements. Revises certain participation and vesting provisions. Permits the determination of pension plan eligibility on a plan-year basis. Allows multiemployer plans to suspend the payment of benefits while an employee is reemployed in the same industry, trade, or craft, and the same geographic area covered by the plan, as when such benefits commenced. Stipulates that the employee notification and election requirement (triggered when vesting schedules are changed), is only applicable to employees who might be adversely affected by the change. Makes 125 days of service in any maritime industry equivalent to 1,000 hours of service. Allows a multiemployer plan to provide that a participant's accrued benefit upon his separation from the service is the sum of the different rates of benefit accrual for different periods of participation as defined by one or more fixed calendar dates or by employment in different bargaining units. Permits the accrued benefit to be determined, for purposes of the three-percent accrual method or the fractional method, by projecting the normal retirement benefit to which a participant would be entitled if he continued to accrue benefits at the average of the rates applicable to this period of actual participation. Provides that a plan offering optional benefit forms shall not be treated as altering a participant's accrued benefits by reason of a change in the actuarial assumptions used to compute such benefits if an enrolled actuary makes an appropriate certification. Defines "seasonal establishment" and "seasonal employee" for the purposes of ERISA. Requires plans in which a majority of employees are seasonal employees to use 500 hours, rather than 1000 hours, for purposes of defining a year of service. Makes certain revisions with respect to joint and survivor annuities. Specifies the circumstances in which pension benefits may be paid to another person pursuant to a State court decree of divorce, annulment, legal separation, or family support. Prescribes certain notification requirements with respect to any such payment. Directs the Secretary to prescribe by regulation methods of determining length of service by an elapsed time measurement. Makes certain revisions with respect to funding, including a requirement that changes in funding method or plan year need be approved only when such changes are made more than once in a three-year period. Makes certain revisions with respect to fiduciary responsibilities. Provides, with respect to a plan funded by a contract or policy of insurance, that the assets of the plan shall include such contract or policy, but shall not include the insurer's general account assets. Allows a collectively bargained plan maintained by more than one employer to return an employer contribution within one year after the plan administrator knows that the contribution was made by mistake of fact or violated the Labor-Management Relations Act ( currently, such contribution must be returned within one year of the payment). Amends the cofiduciary provision to stipulate that, with respect to a fiduciary who is not a natural person, "knowledge" means knowledge actually communicated to an officer or employee of the fiduciary. Stipulates, with respect to qualifying employer real property, that the current requirement that the parcels be dispersed geographically must be met only when three or more parcels are involved. Conforms certain provisions relating to transactions by parties in interest with provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Makes the exemption procedure relating to prohibited transactions available to persons who are "owner-employees". Establishes a special exemption procedure with respect to certain currently prohibited transactions, by which certain pending exemption applications shall be considered to have been granted where a fiduciary or class of fiduciaries satisfy specified requirements. Makes certain revisions with respect to the indemnification of fiduciaries, including allowing a multiemployer plan to pay the cost of defending plan trustees in certain circumstances and to indemnify them subject to a determination that the trustees acted in good faith. Provides that amounts collected by the Department of Labor from persons requesting information shall inure to the Department. Requires that at least one member of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans be a representative of employers maintaining small plans. Directs the Secretary of Labor to publish at least annually a report showing the number of plans and plan participants, plan assets, and other plan information by type and size. Provides that a State insurance law which requires that a specific benefit be provided by a contract or policy of insurance issued to an employee benefit plan is preempted by ERISA. Limits, in the case in which two or more plans covered under title IV of ERISA are terminated simultaneously be any employer, such employer's liability to 30 percent of net worth. Provides that the amount of such liability shall be reduced by the amount of any payments relating to a previously incurred liability. Directs the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct jointly a detailed study of: (1) the reporting requirements of ERISA and an analysis of means to improve such requirements to reduce the administrative burdens on employee benefit plans; and (2) means by which certain institutions, such as registered investment advisors, banks, savings and loan associations, and insurance companies, may be enabled to develop master and prototype pension plans for adoption by employers. Title IV: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to conform such Code to the amendments made to ERISA by title III of this Act. Provides that employee participation in a predecessor employer pension plan or other plans of related employers is to be counted toward the eligibility requirements for capital gains treatment and the ten year averaging of lump sum distributions from such plans. Specifies that multiemployer plans established by tax-exempt charitable, labor, agricultural, or horticultural organizations shall be classified as single defined benefit and contribution plans for purposes of the capital gains treatment and ten year averaging of lump sum distributions from such plans. Provides that a separation from service will be deemed to have occurred for purposes of determining eligibility for capital gains tax treatment of lump sum distribution from a multiemployer plan if any employee has not worked in service covered by such a plan for a period of six consecutive months. Permits a taxpayer to roll over a complete distribution from a money purchase plan or report income from such distribution according to the ten year income averaging rules, even if there is no similar distribution from another pension plan of the same employer in which the taxpayer is a participant. Provides for the deductibility of employer contributions to plans which are maintained outside the United States primarily for the benefit of nonresident aliens. Title V: Individual Retirement Payroll Deduction Plans for Employees Not Covered by Pension Plans - Amends ERISA by adding a new title V, "Individual Retirement Payroll Deduction Plans for Employees Not Covered by Pension Plans." Requires a covered employer to have in effect an individual retirement payroll deduction plan for eligible employees. Excludes from such requirement: (1) an employer having fewer than ten eligible employees; and (2) an employer who has conducted a referendum of eligible employees and the number of such employees wanting such a plan is less than the greater of ten or ten percent of the number of eligible employees. Establishes civil penalties for covered employers who fail to deduct an amount from the wages of an eligible employee in accordance with an election under an individual retirement payroll deduction plan. Charges the Employee Benefit Administration with the administration of such plans.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1979
Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require Federal agencies to provide general notice of, and an opportunity for public participation in, rulemaking proceedings concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should terminate U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe-Rhodesia upon the appointment and arrival of a British Governor in Salisbury.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should terminate all military training of Iranian personnel pursuant to sales under the Arms Export Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1979
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal of appropriate design to Bryan Lewis Allen, the first aviator to cross the English Channel in a self-powered plane. Authorizes appropriations of up to $15,000 to strike such medal. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike bronze duplicates of such medal for sale to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1979
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Research and Development Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy to prepare a comprehensive plan and program of research, development, and demonstration of ocean thermal energy conversion systems. Directs the Secretary to prepare a comprehensive technology application plan designed to realize the goal of producing 10,000 megawatts of electrical capacity or energy product equivalent from ocean thermal energy conversion systems by the year 1999. Sets forth criteria for the selection of programs and the establishment of priorities concerning ocean thermal energy conversion systems. Establishes an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Advisory Committee to study and advise the Secretary on the implementation and conduct of the programs established under this Act and on other matters concerning ocean thermal energy conversion. Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress an annual report on the activities undertaken pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations for plant and capital equipment for specified ocean thermal energy conversion demonstration plants.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1979
Hazardous Waste Response Fund Act of 1979 - States that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to oil or other pollution of navigable waters. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to establish a hazardous waste response program for dealing with emergencies involving the release or threat of release of hazardous waste into the environment from sites now regulated under Federal law. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to take such emergency response actions as determined to be immediately necessary to prevent or minimize any harm to public health or the environment when any hazardous waste is released or is threatened to be released into the environment. Stipulates that where the Administrator determines that the owner or operator of such site, the generator of such waste, any other person responsible for such release or threatened release, or the State or local government concerned, will take such emergency actions, the Administrator shall not exercise such emergency response authority. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, State or local governments to undertake such emergency actions where it is determined that such entities have the capability to carry out those actions. Sets forth the types of emergency actions which are authorized. Authorizes the Administrator to remove, contain, and clean up hazardous waste at or associated with any hazardous waste site which may present a danger to public health or the environment. Directs the Administrator not to exercise such authority if he determines that the owner or operator of such site, the generator of waste treated, stored or disposed of at such site, any other person responsible for such site, or the State or local government concerned, will take the action referred to in this paragraph. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, State or local governments to undertake such actions where it is determined that such entities have the capability to carry out those actions. Sets forth the types of containment and removal actions which are authorized. Authorizes the Administrator to provide special rapid emergency assistance to State and local governments and to take such action, or assist other Federal agencies in taking actions as are deemed necessary to protect health and the environment from hazardous substances released into the environment in a manner which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or the environment. Stipulates that such assistance may be rendered and actions taken even where the Administrator is unable to immediately determine the applicability of any Federal law other than this Act or the existence of any authority to take remedial action with respect to such hazardous substance release. Requires the Administrator or such other Federal agency or instrumentality to reimburse the Fund established under this Act for amounts expended for emergency assistance or actions where it is determined that such action taken or assistance provided is authorized under any authority of law other that this Act. Directs the Administrator to issue a National Hazardous Waste Response Plan after appropriate public review and public hearings are completed. Sets forth the components of such plan, and requires that hazardous waste removal and containment and emergency assistance for releases of such wastes shall be in accordance with such plan. Requires that such plan set forth recommended methods, procedures, criteria, and equipment for handling released hazardous waste. Authorizes the Administrator to provide equipment and other items necessary for damage assessment and response capability of Federal, State, and local strike forces or other emergency response teams. Limits the Federal share of the cost of actions taken by the Administrator under this Act. Establishes in the United States Treasury a Hazardous Waste Response Fund to finance emergency response, removal, containment, cleanup, and other actions authorized by this Act, including administrative and personnel costs. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1981 through 1984 for such fund. Includes in such fund: (1) fees collected under this Act; (2) damage payments received for liability for hazardous waste releases; (3) reimbursements for emergency assistance or for the costs of actions taken for removal, containment, or cleanup of hazardous waste releases; (4) penalties assessed under this Act; and (5) amounts authorized to be appropriated. Imposes fees to be set by the Administrator on: (1) suppliers of petrochemical feedstocks; (2) suppliers of inorganic elements and compounds; and (3) refiners and exporters of crude oil. Specifies the aggregate amounts of fees imposed under this Act which are to be collected from such parties. Authorizes the Administrator to reduce such fees upon his determination that any such feedstock, element, or compound is derived from the waste stream of a production process or from recycled materials. Imposes civil penalties for the failure or refusal to pay such fees. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations prohibiting the release of hazardous waste into the environment. Requires owners or operators of hazardous waste sites and persons responsible for hazardous waste releases or threatened releases violating the regulations issued under this Act to notify the Administrator thereafter. Prohibits any person from knowingly destroying or concealing records relating to hazardous wastes or hazardous waste sites. Authorizes the Administrator to require, by order, any owner or operator of a hazardous waste site or generator of hazardous waste to take such action as may be required for removal, containment, or cleanup of released hazardous waste. Authorizes the Administrator to commence a civil action against any person to impose a civil penalty for violation of regulations issued under this Act, up to $50,000 for single violations, and $250,000 for willful and knowing violations. Authorizes the Administrator to issue abatement orders or to seek equitable relief in the event of hazardous waste releases endangering or threatening to endanger public health or safety. States that the United States district courts shall have jurisdiction to grant such relief. Authorizes criminal penalties and imprisonment upon the owner or operator of a hazardous waste site or upon any other party responsible for a hazardous waste release for failure to comply with the notification requirements of this Act. Authorizes anyone taking actions under this Act as authorized by the Administrator to exercise the entry, inspection, and other authority contained in the applicable inspection provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Imposes strict liability upon any person causing or contributing to the release or threatened release of hazardous waste into the environment. Specifies the damages and costs for which such person shall be liable and states that such liability shall be to the governmental entity which incurred costs relating to removal, containment, emergency assistance or other actions, and to persons who sustained damages for personal injury, injury to property, and economic loss resulting from such release or threatened release. Stipulates that nothing in this Act shall affect the liability of any person under any other law except that the amount recovered under such other laws shall reduce the amount recoverable under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1979
Congressional Pay Reform Act of 1979 - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 and the Federal Salary Act of 1967 to specify that pay adjustments for Members of Congress shall become effective on the March 1 following the beginning of the next Congress following the Congress during which such adjustment was approved. Conditions such adjustment on the adoption of a concurrent resolution by each House of Congress. Requires the vote on such resolution to be recorded to reflect the vote of each Member. Prohibits any congressional employee from being paid at a rate in excess of the rate payable for Senators and Members of the House of Representatives. Requires the President to transmit to the Congress, within the first 15 days of January after the date on which the report and recommendations, concerning salaries, of the Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries are required to be submitted, his recommendations with respect to the rates of pay of Members of Congress, legislative, and judicial employees. Prohibits the House of Representatives and the Senate from considering any bill or joint resolution carrying an appropriation for compensation of Members of Congress for any fiscal year if such bill or joint resolution carries an appropriation or a limitation on appropriations for any other purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1979
Amends the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 to provide for the determination of claims against Vietnam arising out of the taking of U.S. property interests. Requires the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States to receive and determine the validity and amounts of claims by U.S. nationals against Vietnam arising on or after April 29, 1975. Specifies the type of claims that may be considered. Directs the Commission to certify the amount of loss suffered by each claimant. Stipulates that the amount of any claim which has been assigned shall not exceed the amount of actual consideration paid by the last assignee. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Claims Fund for the payment of unsatisfied claims against Vietnam upon certification by the Commission. Specifies the priority of payments on such claims. Requires the Commission to complete its duties under this Act within three years. Prohibits fees in excess of ten percent of the claim. Makes specified provisions of existing law relating to the jurisdiction of the Commission, payment of claims, administrative procedure, and employee organizations applicable to the Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1979
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to furnish disaster relief to alleviate the famine in Cambodia through international agencies to the extent feasible. Stipulates that priority be given to furnishing agricultural commodities under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1979
Amends the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 to authorize payment of a gratuity (equal to one year's salary at time of death) to the surviving dependents of officers or employees of the Central Intelligence Agency who die as a result of injuries sustained outside of the United States upon a determination by the Director of Central Intelligence that the death resulted from hostile or terrorist activity or occurred in connection with an intelligence activity having a substantial element of risk.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Soviet Union should release Ida Nudel and allow her to emigrate to Israel. Urges the President to: (1) express U.S. opposition to the exile of Ida Nudel to Siberia; and (2) inform the Soviet Union that the United States will take into account the extent to which countries honor their commitments under international law, particularly concerning human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1979
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to require each Federal agency, in acquiring personal property or nonpersonal services, to: (1) request a statement of the price of such property or services from each supplier submitting a proposal; and (2) select the lowest price offered. Extends specified provisions of such Act governing the management of property of executive agencies to govern property management for all Federal agencies. Requires the Secretary of Defense to obtain the consent of the Administrator of General Services (Administrator) in order to exempt the Department of Defense from specified provisions of such Act. Declares that procurement policies and methods prescribed by the Administrator pursuant to such Act are binding on all Federal agencies. Requires Federal agencies to acquire all personal property and nonpersonal services through the Administrator. Directs any agency currently exempted from such Act to seek an exemption from amendments made by this Act from the Administrator if the head of such an agency believes such amendments adversely affect the agency's authority. Authorizes the Administrator to review the procurement policies of Federal agencies. Authorizes the Administrator to utilize multiple award schedules in the procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services under certain conditions. Directs contractors seeking awards under such a schedule to certify the accuracy of all price and cost data required to be submitted. Requires any contract awarded under a multiple schedule program to provide that: (1) the price to the Government shall be adjusted to exclude any cost increased because of inaccurate data; and (2) the Government may elect to cancel, without liability, any uncompleted portion of the contract. Authorizes the Administrator, upon determining that a contractor knew or should have known that any submitted data was inaccurate, to debar such contractor from participating in Government contracts for three years. Requires the Administrator to establish procedures affording contractors adequate notice and an opportunity for a hearing with respect to any proposed debarment. Permits the Administrator to order a temporary debarment pending such a hearing if such action is necessary to protect public interests.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1979
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should direct our United Nations Ambassador to seek an emergency agenda item concerning an emergency food and medical relief program for the people of Cambodia.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the standard mileage rate used in computing the charitable deduction for expenses incurred in the operation of a motor vehicle shall be the same as the standard mileage rate established by the Secretary of the Treasury for the business related deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the maximum amount of living expenses which a Member of Congress may claim as an income deduction shall be equal to the Federal per diem rate multiplied by the number of days, but not in excess of 180, that Congress is in session. Specifies that the residence of a Congressman in the district which he represents shall be considered his home for purposes of the income tax deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1979
Hydrogen Fuel Development and Use Act of 1979 - Title I: Hydrogen Fuel Research, Development, and Demonstration Program - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a program for the research, development, and commercial scale demonstration of hydrogen production technologies and technologies concerning the use of hydrogen as a fuel and feedstock. Sets forth the types of hydrogen-related technologies to be investigated and developed. Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance in the form of loan guarantees and loan guarantee commitments, price and purchase guarantees, and such other assistance as the Secretary is authorized to provide for the construction of hydrogen facilities or the carrying out of other hydrogen projects. Sets forth criteria for establishing terms and conditions for such loan guarantees. States that such program shall be jointly carried out by the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Establishes an advisory committee to assist the Secretary with such program. Terminates the existence of such committee on December 31, 1984. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct annual audits of activities conducted under such program. Directs the Secretary to assure the participation of small business in such program. Authorizes the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to guarantee and make commitments to guarantee loans made by State or local governments for the purpose of financing essential community development and planning necessitated by this Act. Sets forth requirements as to such loan guarantees. Authorizes the Secretary to make direct loans to State and local governments in the event such loan guarantee program will not result in sufficient funds to carry out such purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State or local governments for studying and planning for the mitigation of potential economic, environmental, and social consequences of projects authorized by this Act and for establishing related management expertise. Directs the Secretary to make annual reports to the Congress on all activities undertaken pursuant to this Act. Title II: Tax Incentives for Hydrogen Production and for Certain Equipment Which Uses Hydrogen - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction for the amortization of any qualified hydrogen-producing facility, as defined and based on a 60-month period. Sets forth procedures for electing and terminating the election of such amortization, and makes necessary conforming amendments. Amends such Act to allow tax credits for expenditures for certain hydrogen-fueled equipment in residences and businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1979
Limits the annual rate of pay for each Senator, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate to the House of Representatives, Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, President pro tempore of the Senate, the majority and the minority leader of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, and the Speaker of the House to the annual rate of pay payable for that position on September 30, 1978, plus an amount, rounded to the nearest multiple of $100 (or if midway between multiples of $100, the next higher multiple of $100), equal to 10 percent of such rate, effective January 3, 1981. Specifies that the provisions of this Act shall cease to apply on the effective date of the first adjustment in the rate of pay for such positions taking effect during or after calendar year 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1979
Congressional Pay Raise Deferral Act - Amends the Federal Salary Act of 1967 and the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to provide that any adjustment in the rate of pay for Members of Congress proposed during any Congress shall not take effect earlier than the beginning of the next Congress. States that any such pay adjustment proposed in an even-numbered year of any Congress after the congressional elections and before the beginning of the following Congress, shall be considered as occurring during the first session of the following Congress for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1979
Constitutional Amendment - Limits the increase of total budget outlays of the United States Government during any fiscal year to a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the gross national product during the previous calendar year. Stipulates that if the inflation rate exceeds three percent annually the increase in total outlays shall be reduced by one-fourth the difference between the inflation rate and three percent. Requires any surplus in total revenues received by the Government to be used to reduce the public debt. Allows the limit on total outlays to be changed by a three-quarters vote of both Houses of Congress, or to meet an emergency declared by the President. Continues Federal aid programs to States and local governments for a period of six years. Prohibits Congress authorizing any United States agency from requiring that a State or local government engage in additional or expanded activities without compensation equal to the additional costs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should communicate U.S. insistence that the Soviet Union remove its troops from Cuba. Stipulates that ratification of the SALT II Treaty be suspended until such troops are removed.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1979
Declares a named individual to have satisfied specified requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act relating to required periods of residence and physical presence within the United States. Authorizes such individual to be naturalized.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1979
Synthetic Fuels Development Act of 1979 - Title I: Loan Guarantees for Synthetic Fuel Demonstration Facilities - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to guarantee and to make commitments to guarantee interest payments on obligations issued for the purpose of financing the construction of demonstration facilities for the conversion of domestic coal, oil shale, tar sands, biomass, peat, and other domestic resources into synthetic fuels, and for other energy sources such as ocean thermal energy conversion. Stipulates that such guarantees shall be issued under a competitive bidding procedure to the extent possible. Prohibits the issuance of a guarantee for an oil-shale conversion facility until a modular facility of the same technology has been shown to be successfully operated. Limits the total amount of loan guarantees outstanding under this Act to $10,000,000,000, and prohibits issuance of such guarantees beyond five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth procedures for handling defaults in payments on any obligation issued and guaranteed under this Act. Establishes within the United States Treasury a revolving fund into which shall be deposited authorized administrative funds, interest and principal payments, or repayments and fees, and any other moneys derived from the operation of this title. Authorizes the Secretary to issue notes or other obligations in the event moneys available in the fund are insufficient to enable the Secretary to carry out this title. Stipulates that inventions made or conceived under a guarantee authorized by this title shall be subject to the appropriate sections of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development of 1974. Directs the Secretary to provide opportunities for small business to participate in such guarantee program. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report of the activities conducted under this title. Requires that regulations issued under this title be submitted to specified congressional committees. Repeals existing provisions of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 relating to loan guarantees for alternative fuel demonstration facilities, excluding those provisions on the issuance of obligations for synthetic fuel conversion facilities and municipal waste energy generation facilities. Title II: Priority Energy Projects - Directs the Secretary of Energy to designate priority energy projects based on specified criteria. Exempts such designations from the impact statement provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1979, but requires that designated projects comply with the appropriate provisions of the Clear Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Directs the Secretary to publish a Project Decision Schedule containing deadlines for all Federal actions relating to such projects. States that the time allowed for completion of all final agency action and the issuance of all final agency decisions as to licenses, permits, and other authorizations shall be consistent with existing statutory obligations. Directs the President to make any decisions or perform any actions in the event that an agency or department fails to meet its deadline. Authorizes the Secretary to establish deadlines for Federal agency action which are shorter than the minimum period required under existing legislation in cases of exceptional national need. Provides for the coordination of the actions of Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Secretary to transmit to the Governor of a State in which a priority energy project is to be located a voluntary decision schedule setting deadlines for State and local authorities to complete their actions relating to such project. Sets forth procedures authorizing the President to waive State or local law provisions causing delay in implementing the State decision schedule. Sets time limits for filing claims arising out of any action pursuant to this Act, and bars any claims filed thereafter. Stipulates that such claims shall be brought in the United States court of appeals for the circuit where the project would be located, and grants exclusive original jurisdiction to such court in such matters. Directs such court to give precedence to such matters over all other matters on the court's docket. Authorizes the Supreme Court, exclusively, to review interlocutory judgments or orders of the court of appeals pursuant to this Act, and directs the Supreme Court to give expedited treatment to such matters. Establishes an Office for Priority Energy Projects within the Department of Energy to assist the Secretary with his duties under this Act. Terminates the Secretary's authority to designate priority energy projects seven years after enactment of this Act. Title III: Goals and Objectives - Establishes a national goal for the reduction of energy imports by the year 1990 to the equivalent of 25 percent of the crude oil and synthetic fuels consumed in the United States in that year. Directs the Secretary to conduct specified studies relating to the attainment of such goal. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to test the commercial feasibility of synthetic fuels by using such fuels in selected portions of the vehicle fleets of specified Federal agencies.
![Official portrait of Rep. Goodling, William F. [R-PA-19]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000291_200.jpg)