United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1977
Amends Title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the automatic cost-of-living increases in benefits be made on a semiannual basis (rather than on an annual basis as at present).
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1977
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of Labor, through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to prepare, as part of the Consumer Price Index published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a consumer price index (to be known as the Consumer Price Index for the Aged and Other Social Security Beneficiaries) designed to reflect the relevant price information for individuals, as a group, who are 65 years of age or older or are otherwise entitled to monthly benefits under Title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1977
Declares it the sense of the House of Representatives that the Attorney General should appoint a special prosecutor to serve in the Department of Justice to investigate and prepare prosecutions with respect to illegal acts to obtain influence for foreign governments from Federal elected or nonelected officials.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1977
Declares that the Federal Power Commission and other Federal agencies with authority over the allocation of natural gas shall give the highest priority to specified agricultural uses, including irrigation, grain drying, and the production of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1977
Amends Title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare benefits for individuals who require total parenteral nutrition (TPN) as a result of intestinal surgery.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1977
Declares it the sense of the House of Representatives that the Attorney General should appoint a special prosecutor to serve in the Department of Justice to investigate and prepare prosecutions with respect to illegal acts to obtain influence for foreign governments from Federal elected or nonelected officials.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1977
Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, acting through the States, to make loans to homeowners to assist them in purchasing and installing qualified solar heating and cooling equipment. Describes the financial assistance available under this Act. Sets forth the formula for the allocation of appropriated funds to the States. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information concerning recommended standards and types of qualified solar heating or solar and cooling equipment appropriate for use in residential structures. Imposes criminal penalties for making false or misleading statements in attempting to obtain loans under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1977
Denies veterans' retroactively to any individual whose entitlement is based on an upgraded discharge under specified revised standards not made applicable to all persons administratively discharged or released from active military service under less than honorable conditions. Requires the board of review to make a separate determination whether an upgraded individual would have been awarded an upgraded discharge under discharge review standards made applicable to all persons administratively discharged under less than honorable conditions. Entitles to veterans' benefits any individual whose upgraded discharge would have been awarded under previous unrevised review standards. Denies, as of the date of enactment, benefits for any disability incurred or aggravated during a period of service from which a veteran was discharged by reason of a bad conduct discharge. States that the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs should not promulgate any new or revised regulations providing any unique or special advantage to veterans who have received upgraded discharges under revised standards, or otherwise make any special distinction between such veterans and other veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1977
Provides that recipients of veterans' pensions and compensation will not have the amount of such pension or compensation reduced because of increases in social security benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1977
Directs the Librarian of Congress to transfer one of the Gettysburg Address manuscripts to the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose of placing such manuscript on display in Gettysburg National Park, Pennsylvania.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1977
Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to entitle spouses of persons receiving an annuity on account of disability to an annuity at age 60 if the disabled individual would have completed 30 years of service by age 60.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1977
Alcohol Fuel Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code: (1) to allow the election of a deduction with respect to the amortization, based on a 60-month period, of any qualified facility producing alcohol from coal, wood, waste, or agricultural products for primary use as a motor fuel; (2) to exempt from specified excise taxes the sale of any gasoline or fuel at least ten percent of which is alcohol; and (3) to allow the tax-free withdrawal from bonded premises of distilled spirits to the extent such spirits are alcohol produced by a qualified alcohol-producing facility for primary use as motor fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1977
Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1974, to increase to three the number of Lyndon Baines Johnson congressional interns which may be hired by each Member of the House of Representatives. Authorizes the payment of additional compensation to such interns from the clerk-hire allowance.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that the President should declare a moratorium on United States manufacture of chemical weapons (lethal and incapacitating nerve and mustard agents and "binary agents') and order the destruction of certain United States stockpiles of such weapons. Urges other nations to destroy their stockpiles. Urges the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament to conclude a treaty banning the manufacture and possession of such weapons.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1977
Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compute automobile fuel consumption rate statistics based on actual road tests. Requires that such fuel consumption rates, in addition to the presently required fuel economy label, be affixed in a prominent place on each automobile manufactured after 1976. Directs the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) to conduct a study to determine the most accurate and realistic testing procedures which may be used by the EPA for its study of automobile consumption rates. Requires the NBS to report the results of such study to the EPA and to the President and Congress before January 1, 1977.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1977
Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, acting through the States, to make loans to homeowners to assist them in purchasing and installing qualified solar heating and cooling equipment. Describes the financial assistance available under this Act. Sets forth the formula for the allocation of appropriated funds to the States. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information concerning recommended standards and types of qualified solar heating or solar and cooling equipment appropriate for use in residential structures. Imposes criminal penalties for making false or misleading statements in attempting to obtain loans under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax-exempt status to certain computer and fiscal management services which serve social service organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1977
Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to transfer the responsibility for investigating Communist and subversive organizations affecting the internal security of the United States to a standing Committee on Internal Security established by this Resolution. Confers upon such committee the responsibility for investigating all organizations within the United States aimed at overthrowing or altering the Government of the United States by force, insurrection or other unlawful means or inciting or employing violence to obstruct the authority of the Federal Government with respect to matters of internal security of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1977
Beverage Container Reuse and Recycling Act - Prohibits the sale of carbonated beverages in beverage containers by retailers and distributors unless such containers carry a refund value of not less than five cents. Requires that retailers and distributors pay the amount of the affixed refund value of brands of beverages bought and sold by such retailers or distributors. Prohibits States from imposing any tax on the collection or return of refund values established by this Act. Prohibits distributors and retailers from selling beverages in metal beverage containers with detachable openings. Imposes penalties of up to $1,000 and/or 60 days imprisonment for violation of the provisions of this Act. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor the rate of reuse and recycling as a result of this Act. Stipulates that the labeling of refund values shall be required within three years of the date of enactment of this Act. Stipulates that the prohibition on detachable metal openings shall take effect one year after the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny tax-exempt status to certain organizations if such organizations hold farm real property purchased after the date of enactment of this Act and the holding of such property is not substantially related to the charitable or educational purpose which would otherwise make the organizations tax-exempt.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain individuals to compute the amount of the deduction for retirement savings on the basis of the earned income of their spouses.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1977
Amends the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 to permit importation of chrome, shipped from a country other than Rhodesia under a contract entered into prior to March 18, 1977, if the seller is not of Southern Rhodesian origin.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1977
Constitutional Amendment - Requires Congress to assure that the total outlays of the Government, during any fiscal year, do not exceed the total receipts of the Government during such fiscal year. States that by the fourth fiscal year after the ratification of this amendment the budget shall be balanced. Permits expenditures to exceed national revenues in time of declared emergency, but states that such expenditures shall never exceed receipts by more than ten percent. Provides that during the fifth fiscal year beginning after the ratification of this amendment and for the next 19 succeeding fiscal years thereafter, the total receipts of the Government shall exceed outlays by an amount equal to five percent of the Federal indebtedness at the beginning of the fifth year fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1977
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Statistical Reporting Service, to take an annual enumeration of horses in the United States, by the "sampling" method if preferred beginning in 1978. Authorizes the appropriation of $1,250,000 for fiscal year 1978 and $1,250,000 for each following fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1977
Consumer Communications Reform Act - States that Congress finds that the revenues from integrated interstate and foreign common carrier telecommunications services helped maintain a level of charges for telephone exchange service which is lower than otherwise would be required. Expresses the sense of Congress that the authorization of lines, facilities, or services of specialized carriers which duplicate the lines, facilities, or services of other telecommunications common carriers is contrary to the public interest. Reaffirms the intent of Congress that the complete authority to regulate terminal and station equipment used for telephone exchange service shall rest with the States even though such terminal and station equipment also may be used in connection with interstate services. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that no compensatory charges for or in connection with such communication service may be found to be unjust or unreasonable on the ground that it is too low. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from holding the charge of a carrier up to a particular level to protect the traffic or revenues from a communication service offered or provided by another carrier if such charge proposed by the carrier is compensation. Provides that the Commission shall not grant or authorize any construction permit, station license, or certificate, for the construction, acquisition, or operation of any communication or transmission line or facility, or extension thereof, or any modification or renewal thereof, unless the Commission shall find, after full opportunity for evidentiary hearing on the record, that such permit, license, or certificate will not result in increased charges or unnecessary duplication of communication lines.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1977
Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, acting through the States, to make loans to homeowners to assist them in purchasing and installing qualified solar heating and cooling equipment. Describes the financial assistance available under this Act. Sets forth the formula for the allocation of appropriated funds to the States. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information concerning recommended standards and types of qualified solar heating or solar and cooling equipment appropriate for use in residential structures. Imposes criminal penalties for making false or misleading statements in attempting to obtain loans under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1977
Amends the Internal Security Act of 1950 by adding Title II: Terrorism. Prohibits issuance of a visa, admittance to the United States, or granting of United States citizenship to: (1) any person who has been convicted in the United States or elsewhere of any crime of terrorism; (2) any person not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who, while outside of the United States, advocated orally or in writing any crime of terrorism; or (3) any person who has engaged in terrorist activities. Makes it unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to: (1) send or receive funds, arms, explosives or any other thing of value for the purpose of committing any crime of terrorism; or (2) knowingly possess, transport, receive, or dispose of, funds or anything of value coerced or induced by any crime of terrorism. Defines the term "crime of terrorism" as espionage, sabotage, kidnapping, extortion, skyjacking, robbery, bombing, holding a person prisoner or hostage or any threat of any of the above. Provides for a fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both for persons violating the provisions of this Act. Penalizes persons convicted of a crime of terrorism which resulted in the death of a hostage with imprisonment for life without parole, time off for good behavior or any pardon or mitigation of the sentence. Grants the United States a civil right of action to impose a constructive trust upon all property acquired by violation of any Federal criminal statute unless such property is found to have been acquired by a purchaser in good faith. Directs that the action be brought by the Department of Justice. Sets forth regulations and procedures for the constructive conduct of such civil action. Provides that all property recovered under this Act which is free of equitable claims shall inure to the use of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the taxpayer's age requirement (65 years) and the dollar limitation on the adjusted sales price ($35,000) for the exclusion from gross income of gain realized on the sale of the taxpayer's principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Natural Gas Act Amendments - Amends the Natural Gas Act to terminate Federal Power Commission authority to regulate sales of new natural gas in interstate commerce. Stipulates that prices for offshore sales of new natural gas shall not exceed the ceiling price for sales of new natural gas produced from onshore Federal lands. Stipulates that emergency sales of natural gas to curtailed customers who qualify as essential users shall not affect such exempt status. Authorizes the Commission to terminate such exemptions on or after April 15, 1978, if they are no longer deemed necessary to protect high priority consumers of natural gas. Directs the Federal Power Commission to conduct studies and make reports regarding the nature and availability of natural gas reserves. Requires that the Commission keep current information available relating to the estimated natural gas reserves for individual fields. Establishes procedures for the establishment of ceiling prices for new natural gas produced from offshore Federal lands through December 31, 1982. Authorizes the Commission to grant exemptions to price ceilings within high-cost production areas. Establishes procedures for adjustments to price ceilings established pursuant to this Act. Directs the Commission to prohibit the curtailment of adequate supplies of natural gas for essential agricultural purposes. Directs the Commission to prohibit the use of natural gas as boiler fuel where adequate alternatives are available. Authorizes exemptions from such prohibition where necessary to comply with pollution control or environmental protection and safety standards.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the carryover basis provisions enacted by the Tax Reform Act which provide that beneficiaries receiving property from a decedent's estate will retain the decedent's basis in the property. Restores prior law which "stepped up" or "stepped down" the property's basis to its market value at the time of death without imposing tax consequences on the appreciation or depreciation the property underwent while held by the decedent.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to credit against the income tax specified higher education expenses, including tuition, fees, books and supplies, incurred by the taxpayer for himself or any dependent. Limits the credit to those expenses incurred for each individual which do not exceed $100 during taxable year 1978, $200 during 1979, and $300 during 1980. Limits the credit to expenses incurred by full-time students at institutions of vocational and higher education, minus scholarships and veterans benefits. Limits the total credit allowed the taxpayer to his income tax liability minus the sum of all other credits applied thereto. Disallows any deduction of educational expenses used to determine the amount of the credit allowed by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1977
Directs the Librarian of Congress to transfer one of the Gettysburg Address manuscripts to the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose of placing such manuscript on display in Gettysburg National Park, Pennsylvania.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1977
Child Exploitation Prevention Act - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to prohibit the sexual exploitation of children by making it unlawful for any individual to (1) cause or permit a child to be photographed or filmed engaged in a sexual act prohibited under this Act; (2) photograph or film a prohibited sexual act; (3) knowingly transport any film or photograph depicting a prohibited sexual act; or (4) receive for sale or sell any such film or photograph, if such individual knows or should know such film or photograph has or may be transported in such a manner as to affect interstate or foreign commerce. Imposes a fine of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years for a violation of sexual exploitation of children provisions of this Act. Imposes a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 15 years for a violation of the transportation of photographs and films of children engaged in sexual acts provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1977
Grants the consent of Congress to retired members of the uniformed services, members of Reserve components of the armed forces, and members of the Public Health Service Reserve Corps to accept employment with foreign governments with the approval of the Secretary concerned and the Secretary of State.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1977
Exempts saccharin from the provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act banning the marketing of any food additive which induces cancer in man or animal. Requires a label warning of the possible risk of saccharin causing cancer on packages of saccharin sold to the consumer.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1977
Department of Education Act - Establishes an executive department to be known as the Department of Education to be administered by a Secretary of Education. States that the principal function of such Department is to promote the cause and advance of education throughout the United States. Transfers to the Secretary specified functions of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and the Commissioner of Education and various educational responsibilities of other Federal agencies and instrumentalities. Creates the Federal Interagency Committee on Education, the National Advisory Commission on Education, and the Office of the Inspector General within the Department of Education. Redesignates the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of such Department as the Department of Health and Welfare, and the Secretary of Health and Welfare.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1977
Authorizes to be appropriated funds for the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to conduct a study of the potential carcinogenic effects of saccharin. Directs the Secretary to submit a report on such study to the President and the Congress not later than 60 days after the study's completion. Prohibits any ban or restriction on saccharin in interstate commerce by the Secretary or any officer in the executive branch of the Federal Government for a period of three years.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1977
Child Abuse Prevention Act - Prohibits the sexual exploitation of children by making it unlawful for any individual to: (1) cause or permit a child to be photographed or filmed engaged in a sexual act prohibited under this Act; (2) photograph or film a prohibited sexual act; (3) knowingly transport any film or photograph depicting a prohibited sexual act; or (4) receive for sale or sell any such film or photograph, if such individual knows or should know such film or photograph has or may be transported in such a manner as to affect interstate or foreign commerce. Imposes a fine of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years for a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act to exclude from coverage (1) employers with ten or fewer employees; and (2) employees not employed on a regular basis for 30 or more consecutive days. Requires that a warning rather than a citation be given for a first instance violation, other than a willful or serious violation, to an employer who has not employed more than 25 employees at any time during the 30 days prior to an inspection or investigation. Prohibits the imposition of a civil penalty against an employer for a nonserious violation if (1) such employer has not previously received a citation for the same violation; and (2) the inspection upon which such citation was based resulted in the issuance of citations for ten or or fewer violations of a nonserious nature.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1977
Directs the President to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, additional district court judges to specified judicial districts of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1977
Amends Title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide a claimant who has been denied benefits thereunder with the opportunity to obtain informal reconsideration of his claim. Requires the maintenance of a written summary of reconsideration proceedings. Grants a claimant the right to a hearing on the denied claim if the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare affirms the denial upon review. Requires the hearing to be conducted pursuant to the requirements for an 'adjudication" under the Administrative Procedure Act under an administrative law judge (ALJ). Directs the Secretary to appoint ALJ's to conduct such hearings. Sets forth criteria under which the ALJ in charge of a hearing must remand a disputed claim to the appropriate regional commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1977
Amends the Library Services and Construction Act to authorize the appropriation of funds through fiscal year 1981 for the purpose of making grants to States for (1) library services; (2) the construction of public libraries; (3) the carrying out of interlibrary cooperation programs; and (4) the carrying out of library programs for older persons. Requires any State expending Federal funds received under such Act for the administrative costs of such programs to match the amounts expended with non-Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1977
Amends rule XVI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to apply the ten minutes of debate rules to a motion to recommit with instructions on the adoption of a simple resolution or conference report after the previous question has been ordered.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1977
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to eliminate the requirement that persons filing an application with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare include as part of application for approval of a new drug full reports of investigations which show whether or not such a drug is effective. Eliminates the power of the Secretary to disapprove a new drug on the basis that such drug will not have the effect it purports or is represented to have under the conditions of use prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the proposed labeling of the drug. Prevents the Secretary from withholding exemption for an experimental drug for investigative purposes on the basis that such drug will not be effective in a research context. Eliminates the authority of the Secretary to withhold approval of an application with respect to any new animal drugs on the basis that full reports of investigations on such drug have not proven it effective. Prevents the Secretary from withdrawing approval of a new animal drug on the basis that it poses an imminent hazard to health of man or animals because of a lack of substantial evidence that the drug will have the effect it purports or is represented to have under the conditions of use prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling of it.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1977
Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act - Provides, under the Internal Revenue Code, for automatic cost-of-living adjustments, based on the Consumer Price Index, in: (1) the income tax rates; (2) the amount of standard deductions; (3) the amount of personal exemptions; (4) the amount of depreciation deductions; and (5) the adjusted basis for property. Makes cost-of-living adjustments in specified United States savings bonds and certificates and on other obligations of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1977
Constitutional Amendment - Extends the term of office of the President and Vice President to six years and prohibits any person from being elected to such offices more than once. Establishes three year terms of office for Members of the House of Representatives. Permits any person previously holding the office of President or Vice President for less than six years to hold such office under this amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the application of the Tax Reform Act's elimination of the sick pay exclusion for persons who have not retired on total disability, to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1977
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should establish a Presidential task force to advise the President with respect to actions which may be taken to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans who are prisoners of war or missing in Southeast Asia as a result of the Vietnam conflict and to recommend to the President the adoption of national policies with respect to prisoners of war and individuals who are missing in action.
![Official portrait of Rep. Goodling, William F. [R-PA-19]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000291_200.jpg)