United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1979
Capital Cost Recovery Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Allows a ten percent investment tax credit for buildings and tangible property, and a six percent credit for automobiles, taxis, and light duty trucks. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 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 · 21 June 1979
Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to permit local distribution companies to provide natural gas service to residential customers for use in outdoor lighting fixtures installed before the enactment of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1979
Priority Energy Project Act of 1979 - Title I: Purposes and Definitions - Sets forth the purposes and definitions of terms as used in this Act. Title II: Priority Projects - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to designate a maximum of six proposed energy facilities as priority energy projects during each calendar year. Allows any person planning or proposing an energy facility to apply to the Secretary for an order designating such facility as a priority energy project. Sets forth the procedure and criteria for designating priority energy projects. Excludes such determinations by the Secretary from the definition of major Federal action within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Directs the Secretary to encourage prospective applicants to file applications for any necessary Government actions or approvals with the appropriate agencies as soon as possible. Requires such Federal agencies to submit specified information to the Secretary not later than 30 days after public notice of an order designating a proposed energy facility as a priority energy project. Directs the Secretary to establish a decision deadline schedule. Provides for the extension of such deadlines. Delegates decision authority to the President if a deadline on the decision deadline schedule has elapsed without Federal agency decision or action. Provides for the Presidential extension of such deadlines. Directs the Secretary to grant certification of completed Federal agency review upon the determination that all Federal actions and approvals necessary to the completion of a priority energy project have been granted. Specifies that such certification shall indicate Federal approval expiration dates and shall constitute conclusive evidence in any judicial or executive proceeding that all necessary Federal permits have been granted. Directs the Secretary to notify the Governor of any State within which any portion of a priority energy project would be located and to request the Governor to submit specified information to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to submit all such information to the priority energy project and propose a decision schedule to assist State and local authorities in coordinating their activities with actions by the Federal Government. Title III: Judicial Review and Miscellaneous Provisions - Exempts from judicial review the actions of Federal officers or agencies pursuant to this Act, except as specified in this title. Exempts from judicial review a decision of the Secretary granting or denying an order designating a proposed energy facility as a priority energy project except as required by the Constitution of the United States. Sets forth judicial procedures for claims arising out of actions pursuant to this Act. Grants to the Supreme Court the exclusive authority to review an interlocutory judgment or order of the court of appeals pursuant to this title. Sets forth certiorari and certification procedures. Makes this Act effective 30 days after the date of its enactment. Provides for the expiration of the Secretary's authority to designate priority energy projects seven years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1979
Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt from applicable Federal regulations any State having in effect a law, rule, or regulation applicable to underground injection control related to the production or recovery of oil or natural gas unless the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that such law, rule, or regulation fails to protect underground sources of drinking water. Provides that any State for which such finding is made may amend its law, rule, or regulation in order to benefit from such exemption where approved by the Administrator. Exempts from the underground injection well permit requirements any State having in effect such law, rule, or regulation approved by the Administrator. Exempts from the administrative procedure and judicial review requirements of the United States Code any action relating to national interim primary drinking water regulations, revised national primary drinking water regulations, and State underground injection control program regulations, except as expressly provided by this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish a docket for such actions, and sets forth notice and public and agency commenting requirements for any proposed rulemaking. Sets forth procedures and other requirements for promulgating rules concerning drinking water regulations, and establishes procedures for judicial review of such actions. Amends the definition of "primary drinking water regulation". Revises the standard for the promulgation of primary drinking water regulations. Makes technical and conforming amendments to such Act. Requires any State having primary enforcement responsibility to submit notice to the Administrator that its public water system supervision program conforms to any revision or amendment to any national primary drinking water regulation made by the Administrator. States that failure to submit such notice shall be grounds for withdrawal of State primary enforcement responsibility. Amends such Act to authorize a State having such enforcement responsibility to exempt from maximum contaminant level requirements or treatment technique requirements any public water system not having any reasonable alter native source of drinking water available. Revises the dates for compliance by public water systems with contaminant level and treatment technique requirements. Extends the effective date for State underground injection control regulations approved by the Administrator. Authorizes the waiver of the prohibition against State grants being made for any period beginning more than one year after the date of a State's first grant having been made for a period of 18 months after the effective date of any amendment or revision of the national primary drinking water regulations if the State has assumed primary enforcement responsibility and is making diligent efforts to comply with such amendment or revision. Prohibits the Administrator from making grants to any State unless the State has assumed primary enforcement responsibility within two years after the Administrator promulgates State underground injection control program regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1979
National Energy Self-Sufficiency Act of 1979 - Title I: Duty on Imported Crude Oil - Imposes on imported crude oil an additional duty equal to the amount by which the average synthetic fossil fuel price is greater than the imported crude oil price. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, to establish methods for the determination of such prices. Provides for the monthly redetermination of such prices. Title II: Synthetic Fossil Fuel Fund - Establishes the Synthetic Fossil Fuel Fund in the U.S. Treasury. Stipulates that such Fund shall consist of the equivalent of amounts received from the duty imposed under title I, in addition to such other amounts as may be appropriated. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress concerning such Fund. Requires the Secretary to invest the portion of such Fund, not required to meet current withdrawals, in interest-bearing obligations of the United States. Declares that such Fund shall be available for making loans for synthetic fossil fuel production. Establishes the Synthetic Fossil Fuel Board to make loans for the construction of synthetic fuel production facilities. Sets forth the criteria to be used by the Board in making such loans.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1979
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude from its coverage any individual certified by a private nonprofit institution of higher education to be a full-time student at that institution and employed by that institution as a resident assistant or counselor living in a resident hall or dormitory of such an institution.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1979
Requires a ten percent reduction in the number of civilian employees of the executive branch from the number of such employees on September 30, 1977, to be attained through attrition by September 30, 1984. Limits the percentage of low level positions which may be involved in such reduction. States that the reduction of positions among agencies shall be proportionate to the size of each agency's work force. Requires a similar reduction in the work force of the legislative branch. Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report annually to Congress on work force reductions in the executive branch. Requires the Director of the Federal Judicial Center to submit to Congress recommendations for similar reductions in the Judicial branch.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1979
Veterans' Obligated Period of Service Completion Act - Redefines "veteran" for veterans' benefits purposes to mean an individual who served in, and was not dishonorably discharged from, the active armed services before the period ending 90 days after enactment of this Act, or who entered the active armed services on or after such 90-day period and: (1) served the entire term of duty and was other than dishonorably discharged; (2) was discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability; or (3) before the completion of such term of duty was discharged other-than dishonorably for a satisfactory reason (including joining a reserve unit or enrolling in an educational program). Redefines "eligible veteran" for post-Vietnam era educational assistance to mean an individual who initially entered the armed services on or after January 1, 1977, and: (1) if active service was before such 90-day period under this Act, served more than 180 consecutive days and was discharged other than dishonorably or for a service-connected disability; and (2) if active service was on or after such 90-day period, served more than 180 consecutive days.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1979
Congratulates the men and women of the Apollo program upon the tenth anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon and requests the President to designate the period of July 16 through July 24, 1979, as "United States Space Observance" in honor of such event.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1979
Intelligence Agents Protection Act of 1979 - Establishes maximum criminal penalties of 20 years imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine for anyone who knowingly and willingly discloses classified information identifying an individual engaged in foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities for the United States Government. Establishes maximum criminal penalties of ten years imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine for anyone who falsely asserts, publishes, or otherwise claims that an individual is engaged in such activities. Directs the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief in the United States district court whenever the head of a department or agency engaged in such activities determines a person is about to engage in such prohibited conduct. Prohibits the payment of a Federal service annuity, retired pay, or gratuitous veterans benefits to an individual, or his survivor or beneficiary, convicted of such offenses. Directs the Attorney General to notify the Director of Office of Personnel Management and the Administrator of the Veterans' Administration of the advent and disposition of such criminal proceedings.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President, at the Tokyo Summit, should request those nations dependent on Middle East stability to cooperate with the United States in financing the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend for one additional year (until January 1, 1981) provisions which allow taxpayers to treat as deductible expenses expenditures to remove architectural and transportation barriers to the handicapped and elderly.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1979
Amends the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 to implement a new civil defense program designed to: (1) enhance the survivability of the American people and its leadership; (2) enhance deterrence and stability; (3) continue reliance on strategic nuclear forces as the preponderant factor in maintaining deterrence; and (4) plan for population relocation during times of international crisis. Requires the President to develop and execute such program. Stipulates that such program include the following elements: (1) a survey of shelter inherent in existing facilities; (2) nuclear civil protection planning for both in-place protection and population relocation during times of international crisis; (3) planning for the crisis development of additional shelters; (4) improvement of warning systems; (5) improvement of systems and capabilities for direction and control of emergency operations; (6) improvement of radiological defense capabilities; (7) improvement of emergency public information and training programs and capabilities; and (8) development of such other systems and capabilities as may be necessary to maximize lifesaving potential. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of such Act, with provision for inflation adjustments.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1979
Amends the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to divide any lands subject to such Act classified for coal leasing into leasing tracts which will permit the mining of all coal which can be economically extracted from such tracts. Permits the Secretary to negotiate the sale at fair market value of Federal coal.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1979
Veteran Senior Citizen Health Care Act of 1979 - States the purposes of this Act to be: (1) to provide for the increasing demand for geriatric and extended health care and medical services being placed on the Veterans' Administration (VA) hospital system; and (2) to make the VA hospital system foremost in the area of geriatric health care and the repository of gerontology medical knowledge. Directs that within the Office of the Chief Medical Director of the VA one Assistant Chief Medical Director shall be doctor of geriatrics, and shall be responsible for the VA's geriatric services. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to designate 15 VA hospitals as demonstration centers of geriatric research, education, and clinical operations. Stipulates that such centers shall operate until September 30, 1983. Directs the Administrator to provide that: (1) each hospital operating as a geriatric center on the date of enactment of this Act be designated as the location for a demonstration center; (2) the desirability of designating hospitals which are affiliated with an accredited medical school having an organized geriatrics program; and (3) such designated hospitals be geographically dispersed across the United States. Directs the Administrator to establish a Geriatrics and Extended Care Task Force within the VA's Special Medical Advisory Group. Stipulates that such Task Force shall assess: (1) the VA's capability to provide geriatric services on a sustained and growing basis to eligible veterans; and (2) the current and projected needs for geriatric and extended health services among eligible veterans. Requires such Task Force to submit a report to the Administrator and the Special Medical Advisory Group within 18 months after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Administrator to transmit such report (within 90 days of receipt), along with any comments, to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees. Requires a final report to be submitted by such Task Force within four years after the effective date of this Act. Authorizes appropriations of: (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1980; (2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1981; (3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1982; and (4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1979
Title I: Authorizations and Miscellaneous Amendments - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize appropriations for specified programs and expenses of the Small Business Administration. States that all appropriations, whether specifically or generally authorized, shall remain available until expended. Authorizes the Administration to make disaster loans available to small business concerns affected by a shortage of energy-producing resources caused by a strike, boycott, or embargo unless such strike, boycott or embargo is directly against such small business concern. Makes specified low-interest loans available under the Small Business Act until October 1, 1982, for the relief of small business concerns affected by disasters occurring on or after October 1, 1978. Provides loans bearing interest at three percent for amounts not exceeding $55,000, for the repair or replacement of a principal residence or personal property. Makes the following disaster loans available under the Small Business Act and the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act: (1) loans bearing interest at three percent on amounts for the repair or replacement of property damaged or destroyed if the applicant is unable to obtain sufficient credit elsewhere; and (2) loans bearing interest at the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable to the average maturities of such loans, plus not to exceed one percent if the applicant is able to obtain credit elsewhere. Stipulates that the total amount outstanding and committed to any one borrower shall not exceed $500,000. Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to repeal the authority of the Administration to invest sums from the revolving fund for surety bond guarantees in Treasury bonds, obligations, and other guaranteed debt securities. Authorizes such investments from the revolving fund for qualified contract guarantees. Title II: Small Business Development Centers - Authorizes the Small Business Administration to make grants to States, State agencies, regional entities, State- chartered development credit corporations, and institutions of higher learning to assist in establishing Small Business Development Centers. Requires such grants to be matched in equal amounts by funds from non-Federal sources. Establishes additional restrictions on such grants for fiscal years 1979 through 1982. States that Small Business Development Centers shall have a full-time staff, business and technology analysts, information and professional specialists, and access to laboratory and engineering facilities. Requires such Centers to provide small businesses with business and technology counseling, information on government regulations, library services, and comprehensive studies and surveys. Directs federally funded laboratories and innovation centers to cooperate with the Small Business Development Centers. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to appoint a Deputy Associate Administrator for Management and Technical Assistance to administer the Small Business Development Center program. Establishes a National Small Business Development Center Advisory Board consisting of nine civilian members. Sets forth provisions governing the appointment of members, a Chairman, meetings, and compensation of the Board. Directs the Small Business Administration to conduct an evaluation of the Development Center program and to submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress within three years. Title III: White House Conference on Small Business - White House Conference on Small Business Act - Directs the President to convene a White House Conference on Small Business by June 30, 1980, to identify the problems of small business concerns and to make recommendations for executive and legislative action. Requires the Conference to submit a report to the President and the Congress within one year of the date it convenes. Requires the Small Business Administration to report to the Congress within three years on the status and implementation of the findings and recommendations of the Conference. Makes such sums as are appropriated to carry out the provisions of this Act available until expended.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1979
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that disability insurance benefits for an individual having a terminal illness shall begin with the first month during all of which such individual has such illness. Defines the term "terminal illness" to mean, a medically determinable physical impairment which is expected to result in death within the next 12 months.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1979
Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to contract for the furnishing of private health care to veterans when such health care is authorized by a Veterans' Administration physican, after seeing such veteran, as necessary for the treatment of a medical emergency. Provides that any disability of a veteran of World War I shall be treated as a service-connected disability for medical care purposes, including hospital and outpaitent care services. Extends authorizations of appropriations to fiscal year: (1) 1985 to assist States in constructing facilities for providing veterans with domiciliary care, nursing home care, and for the alteration and expansion of existing structures for providing such care in State homes; and (2) 1984 for medical information pilot programs. Prohibits the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs from entering into any agreement for providing any assistance to health manpower training programs to Veterans' Administration affiliated medical schools, or to establish new State medical schools, after December 31, 1979. Authorizes appropriations for such medical school and training programs for each succeeding fiscal year (presently authorized for each of the six succeeding fiscal years). Eliminates a requirement for grants to affiliated medical schools and to health manpower training institutions that a proposed project will substantially increase the number of students at such medical school or training institution.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1979
Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to exempt from pre-slaughter animal examination and post mortem carcass inspection requirements all meat food products processed by a federally inspected establishment and derived from meat which has been slaughtered or processed at a State-inspected establishment in a State whose meat inspection requirements have been determined by the Secretary to be at least equal to the Federal requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1979
Legal Fees Reimbursement Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Federal Government to reimburse taxpayers who prevail in tax litigation initiated by the Government or by the taxpayer contesting a tax deficiency assessment for all reasonable litigation expenses incurred by such taxpayer. Includes within the meaning of "reasonable litigation expenses" all actual attorneys' fees, court costs, expert witnesses, clerical assistance, travel expenses, preparation of documents, and other related and necessary expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from a decedent's gross estate for purposes of the estate tax the value of real property used in farming. Excludes up to the first $250,000 of the value of the farm property and certain percentages of the value in excess of $250,000. Requires a percentage reduction of the amount of the exclusion for farm property in excess of $450,000.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1979
Permits any use, including aerial application, of the pesticide mirex on fire ants or imported fire ants during the calendar years 1979 and 1980, notwithstanding provisions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to the contrary. Subjects such use to Environmental Protection Agency restrictions in effect on October 1, 1977 (excepting only period of use restrictions). Prohibits the Agency from altering the terms of any such restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that disability insurance benefits for an individual having a terminal illness shall begin with the first month during all of which such individual has such illness. Defines the term "terminal illness" to mean, a medically determinable physical impairment which is expected to result in death within the next 12 months.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the waiver of residency requirements for individuals residing in a foreign country who claim income tax deductions for living expenses incurred in such country, if such individuals are prevented from conducting normal business in such country due to war, civil unrest, or similar adverse conditions, and such individuals prove to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that they would have met such residency requirements under normal conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Soft Drink Interbrand Competition Act - Declares that exclusive territorial arrangements made as a part of a licensing agreement for the manufacture, distribution, or sale of a trademarked soft drink product are lawful under the antitrust laws provided such product is in substantial and effective competition with other products of the same general class. Prohibits recovery in private actions under the Clayton Act based on territorial provisions in a trademark licensing agreement prior to a final determination that such provisions are unlawful.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the transfer of the Forest Service and the Farmers Home Administration business and industry programs from the Department of Agriculture is unacceptable, and that any reorganization proposal which would diminish the Department's resources is unacceptable.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1979
Speedy Trial Act Amendments Act of 1979 - Amends the Speedy Trial Act of 1974 to increase from 30 to 60 days the period in which an information or indictment must be filed from the date on which the individual was arrested or summoned with respect to a Federal offense. Modifies the current provisions requiring (1) the arraignment of a defendant within ten days of the filing of the information or indictment, and (2) commencement of trial within 60 days of arraignment, to require commencement of trial within the later of these two days: (1) 120 days from the filing date of the information or indictment; or (2) the date of the defendant's appearance before a judicial officer.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1979
Fair Trade Enforcement Act of 1979 - Title I: Amendments to Antidumping Act, 1921 - Amends the Antidumping Act of 1921 to require the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a formal investigation within 30 days of receiving information that foreign goods are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value. Directs the Secretary to make public any determination and advise the International Trade Commission of any affirmative determination. Requires the Commission to determine whether U.S. industry is being, or is likely to be, injured due to imports at less than fair value. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish the Finding of the affirmative determinations of both the Secretary and the Commission; and (2) assess a special dumping duty. Sets forth the procedure by which a foreign exporter or a domestic importer may petition: (1) the Secretary to terminate a final determination of sales at less than full value; and (2) the Commission to terminate its determination that U.S. industry is likely to be harmed by such sales. Requires the Secretary or the Commission to conduct a hearing at the request of interested parties. Exempts such hearings from specified administrative procedure requirements. Requires the Secretary to impose provisional dumping duties when making a tentative determination that imports are being sold at less than fair value. Stipulates that duties shall either be refunded or adjusted based on the difference between the purchase price and the fair market value (the margin of dumping), depending on the Secretary's final determination. Imposes a special dumping duty on imported goods after a finding has been made. Requires the Secretary to periodically revise the applicable margin of dumping and apply it retroactively to the imported goods. Sets forth methods for determining the special dumping duty, the foreign market value, and the constructed value of merchandise (when home market sales are made at less than the costs of production). Requires the Secretary to make annual reports to Congress concerning findings, duties collected, and negative determinations. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to direct the Secretary to require a certified invoice with imported goods which includes a statement of the prices at which such goods are sold in the exporting country (home consumption prices). Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce and the Commission Chairman to publish quarterly a statistical enumeration of the purchase prices and home consumption prices. Requires a verified statement from foreign manufacturers whose goods supply ten percent or more of the U.S. market showing the home market value and the purchase price. Title II: Countervailing Duty Law Amendments - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to prohibit offsetting the net amount of any bounty or grant for any fiscal charge or indirect tax related to the export of the article that is subject to the bounty or grant. Requires the Secretary to investigate whether any bounty or grant is being paid or bestowed on exports into the United States within 30 days after a petition is filed or information is received concerning such bounty or grant, and to forward an affirmative determination to the Commission. Directs the Commission to investigate whether the likelihood of any U.S. industry being injured due to such export bounty or grant. Directs the Secretary to publish a Countervailing Duty Order following final determinations by the Secretary and the Commission. Sets forth the procedure by which a foreign exporter or domestic importer may petition the Secretary and the Commission to terminate the final determinations of export bounties or grants. Provides for a public hearing before any determination is made at the request of an interested party. Specifies the formula for establishing and revising countervailing duties. Title III: Amendments to Other Provisions of Law - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to stipulate that all imported merchandise shall be assessed duties, countervailing duties, or antidumping duties in accordance with the Secretary's determination 30 days after notice of such duty is published. Permits domestic manufacturers, producers, or wholesalers to contest in the U.S. Customs Court any determination that goods are not being sold at less than fair value, that bounties or grants are not being paid, or that U.S. industry is not being injured by such activities. Amends the provisions setting forth Customs Court procedure to permit actions contesting: (1) the termination of findings that imported goods are being sold at less than fair value; (2) the termination of Countervailing Duty Orders; (3) determinations that U.S. industry is not being harmed by sales of imported goods at less than fair value or export bounties or grants; or (4) determinations that there is no information that goods are being sold at less than fair value or bounties or grants are being paid or bestowed. Imposes civil penalties on persons who violate Commission findings and orders concerning unfair trade practices. Permits the President to disapprove the Commission's determination concerning unfair trade practices for 90 days after notifying Congress and the Commission. Requires congressional approval of the President's actions within the 90 day period if such suspension is to be indefinite. Gives domestic manufacturers a remedy for damages suffered as a result of unfair trade practices. Amends a provision of Federal law which makes it unlawful to import or sell articles in the United States at less than market value to give the burden of rebutting the prima facie case, by showing justification, to the person charged with the violation. Permits any person injured by a violation to sue for treble damages. Requires such suit to be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrued. Stipulates that the Commissioner of Customs shall be the agent upon whom all lawful process may be served in any action or proceeding against foreign manufacturers or exporters. Title IV: Transfer of Certain Functions under the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws from the Secretary of the Treasury to the International Trade Commission - Amends the Antidumping Act of 1921 and the Tariff Act of 1930 to transfer from the Secretary to the Commission the responsibilities for investigating and making determinations about (1) imported goods being sold at less than fair value or (2) bounties or grants being paid or bestowed on imported goods, effective January 1, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1979
Outstanding Americans Gold Medallion Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell gold medallions to the general public commemorating Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, George Washington Carver, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Alva Edison.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1979
Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the transfer of the Forest Service and the Farmers Home Administration business and industry programs from the Department of Agriculture is unacceptable, and that any reorganization proposal which would diminish the Department's resources is unacceptable.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1979
Department of Agriculture Restoration Act of 1979 - Transfers to the Secretary of Agriculture specified functions of the Department of Commerce (National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Office of Sea Grant of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in part), the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (the Bureau of Foods and the Bureau of Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration), and the Department of the Interior (the Bureau of Land Management, in part, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Division of Fisheries Research of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Water Research and Technology). Vests such functions in the Secretary in order to permit him to coordinate, integrate, and administer programs conducive to: (1) increasing the production and improving the marketing and the quality of food, fiber, and forest products; and (2) improving the economic condition of families engaged in farming. Authorizes the Secretary to delegate any such function to any appropriate employee of the Department of Agriculture, but prohibits the establishment of any organizational unit within the Department for the sole purpose of carrying out one or more of such functions. Creates an Under Secretary of Agriculture for Domestic Agricultural Affairs to perform functions relating to the productive and marketing of food, fiber, and forest products in the United States and in its territories and possessions. Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to create an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Science and Education.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to subject nonresident aliens and foreign corporations to a tax on the gain from the sale or exchange of farm or rural lands situated in the United States. Requires foreign corporations which hold United States farm lands comprising 20 percent of their assets to make reports on such holdings as the Secretary of the Treasury may require.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1979
Regulatory Agency Abolition Act - Abolishes specified Federal regulatory agencies three years after enactment of this Act unless prior to such date the President and Congress study the effectiveness of such agencies and Congress thereafter adopts a resolution disapproving such abolition. Provides that each regulatory agency established after the date of enactment of this Act shall be abolished three years from the date on which it was first empowered unless the President and Congress take the steps outlined above. Directs the President to submit to Congress a plan for the orderly transfer of duties essential to the public health, safety or welfare from an abolished agency to the President or to a successor agency. Provides that all orders, rules, certificates, judicial proceedings and licenses made effective by agencies abolished by this Act shall continue in effect until repealed or superceded by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1979
Military Selective Service Amendments of 1979 - Directs the President to resume the registration of individuals pursuant to the Military Selective Service Act. Amends the Military Selective Service Act to state that the Selective Service System should remain administratively independent of any other agency, including the Department of Defense. Removes the restriction that only males may be subject to the selective service. Stipulates that the President shall provide for the induction of not more than 200,000 male persons into the armed forces in each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 1980 for service in the Individual Ready Reserve of the Ready Reserve of the Army Reserve. Stipulates that individuals so inducted shall be required to serve not less than 12 weeks of active duty for training. Stipulates that a random sequence drawing shall be conducted for inductment for all registrants who have attained the age of 18 but have not yet attained the age of 20. Stipulates that effective upon the enactment of authority to induct persons into the armed forces no deferment will be granted to persons enlisting in any reserve component of the armed forces or the Ready Reserve of any such reserve component. Stipulates that the entire Selective System shall be required to annually participate in training to simulate emergency mobilization procedures. Exempts the Selective Service System from executive reorganization orders. Entitles individuals inducted into the Individual Ready Reserve pursuant to this Act to the same educational benefits as those to which enlisted members of the Selected Reserve are entitled.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1979
Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to subject to garnishment as alimony under such part any payment or transfer of property or its value between spouses or former spouses in compliance with a community property settlement, equitable division of property, or other division of property directed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1979
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act to repeal the requirement that the Secretary of Agriculture consider the approval or disapproval of any marketing order by any cooperative association of producers as the approval or disapproval of its individual members, stockholders, or contractors. Requires the Secretary to determine the approval or disapproval of each such member, stockholder, or contractor individually.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1979
Veterans' Disability Compensation and Survivors' Benefits Amendments of 1979 - Title I: Veterans' Disability Compensation Benefits - Increases the rates of veterans' compensation for (1) wartime disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for dependents; and (3) clothing allowances paid to certain disabled veterans. Title II: Survivors' Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Benefits - Increases the rates of veterans' dependency and indemnity compensation for (1) a surviving spouse; (2) surviving children; and (3) supplemental children's benefits. Title III: Effective Date - States that the provisions of this Act shall take effect on October 1, 1979.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that total expenditures in any fiscal year shall not exceed the net amount of revenue received by the Government in that year. Authorizes the suspension of such prohibition in time of war declared by Congress or by a concurrent resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress. Stipulates that any unanticipated deficit in any fiscal year shall be considered an expenditure for the succeeding fiscal year. Directs the Congress to provide an appropriate increase in the level of total receipts if the amount of such deficit exceeds two percent of the total expenditures for the succeeding fiscal year. Authorizes the Congress to apportion any deficit over the four following fiscal years or, by a two-thirds vote of both Houses, to include such deficit in the debts of the United States.
![Official portrait of Rep. Hall, Sam B., Jr. [D-TX-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000070_200.jpg)