United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1974
Fusion Energy Act - Expresses the findings of Congress that the general welfare of the United States would be enhanced through the development of various applications of controlled fusion energy, commonly known as thermonuclear energy. Establishes the Advisory Committee on Thermonuclear Energy, to develop proposals to expand and accelerate the research and development of experimental and prototype fusion systems to be used for electrical power production, space propulsion, and resource element production. Requires the Committee to submit a report of such proposals to the Energy Resources Council within 180 days of the enactment of this Act. Provides that the Committee shall cease to exist 30 days after submitting its report. Establishes the Advisory Committee for Fusion Systems Development, which shall advise and consult with the Energy Resources Council with respect to the implementation of the proposals set forth in the report of the Advisory Committee on Thermonuclear Energy and the experimental and demonstration fusion systems under current development. Establishes the Advisory Committee for International Coordination of Fusion Energy Development, to consult with the Energy Resources Council with respect to the coordination of joint programs with other nations in the area of fusion systems for energy, propulsion and resource materials. Provides that these two committees shall cease to exist two years after the submission of the report of the Advisory Committee on Thermonuclear Energy, or upon the termination of the Energy Resources Council, whichever occurs first. Prescribes the membership and compensation of the three advisory committees, and their powers and responsibilities. Defines the terms used in this Act. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1974
Authorizes the use of ad valorem taxes to satisfy the user charge system requirement for applicants for treatment works grants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. (Amends 33 U.S.C. 1284)
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1974
Emergency Housing Finance Assistance Act - Declares the finding of the Congress that: (1) inflationary conditions affecting the economy and necessary actions to curb inflation have had a disproportionately severe impact upon housing and related industries, and this impact has persisted despite a number of governmental measures adopted to date; and (2) pending development and implementation of other possible measures in the restoration of eocnomic stability, there is an urgent need for additional housing assistance authority which, through maximum use of existing mechanisms, can be immediately implemented to mitigate hardships and ameliorate conditions in the housing industry that could have serious adverse consequences for the economy as a whole. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in order to carry out the purpose of this Act, subject to such conditions as he may prescribe consistent with the provisions of this Act, to authorize the Government National Mortgage Association, pursuant to commitments or otherwise, to purchase, service, sell (with or without recourse) or otherwise deal in mortgages which are not insured or guaranteed by any Federal agency or authority within the meaning of its authority under the National Housing Act and which have an original principal obligation which does not exceed $45,000 per family residence or dwelling unit. Provides that such Association shall have, with respect to any mortgages purchased under this Act, all the powers and authorities specified in the National Housing Act with respect to mortgages eligible for purchase by the Association under such Act. Provides that the purchase by the Association of any mortgage originated more than one year prior to such purchase shall be subject to such conditions or certifications as the Secretary may require to assure that the proceeds of the transaction or equivalent funds are used by the seller for additional mortgage lendings in furtherance of the purpose of this Act. Authorizes such Association to guarantee securities based on pools or trusts of mortgages assisted under this Act, as provided in the National Housing Act with respect to federally insured or guaranteed mortgages, and to act as issuer of such guaranteed securities. Provides that the total amount of outstanding purchases and commitments authorized by the Secretary to be made pursuant to this Act shall not exceed $8,000,000,000 at any one time. Provides that no mortgages shall be purchased under this Act after October 31, 1976, except pursuant to a commitment issued on or before such date.
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 1974
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Federal Communications Commission take immediate steps to prevent the telecast of the death leap of Evel Knievel in order to preserve the safety and lives of certain impressionable youth of America.
United States · United States Congress · 21 August 1974
Prohibits a petroleum refiner or distributor from cancelling, failing to renew, or otherwise terminating a franchise unless he furnishes notification in writing to each affected distributor or retailer by certified mail not less than ninety days prior to the date on which such franchise will be canceled, together with a statement of the reasons of such cancellation and of the remedies available. Provides that a petroleum refiner or distributor shall not cancel, fail to renew, or otherwise terminate a franchise unless the retailer or distributor whose franchise is terminated failed to comply substantially with any essential and reasonable requirement of such franchise or failed to act in good faith in carrying out the terms of such franchise. States that if a refiner or distributor engages in conduct prohibited under this Act, a retailer or distributor may maintain a suit against such refiner or distributor.
United States · United States Congress · 14 August 1974
Anti-Inflation Act - Authorizes the President to establish, within the Executive Office of the President, a Cost of Living Task Force to: (1) review and analyze industrial capacity, demand, and supply in various sectors of the economy, working with the industrial groups concerned and appropriate governmental agencies to encourage price restraint; (2) work with labor and management in the various sectors of the economy having special economic problems, as well as with appropriate government agencies, to improve the structure of collective bargaining and the performance of those sectors in restraining prices; (3) improve wage and price data bases for the various sectors of the economy to improve collective bargaining and encourage price restraint; (4) conduct public hearings necessary to provide for public scrutiny of inflationary problems in various sectors of the economy; (5) focus attention on the need to increase productivity in both the public and private sectors of the economy; (6) monitor the economy as a whole by acquiring, as appropriate, reports on wages, costs, productivity, prices, sales, profits, imports, exports, and interest rates, and rents; (7) review the programs and activities of Federal departments and agencies and the private sector which may decrease supply and increase prices; and (8) evaluate the inflationary effects of international transactions. Authorizes to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1975 to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1974
Solar Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act - Expresses the findings of Congress and declares that it is the policy of the United States to pursue a vigorous and adequately funded program with the objective of utilizing solar energy as a major source for our national energy needs. Defines the terms used in this Act. Establishes the Solar Energy Coordination and Management Project to have responsibility for management and coordination of a national solar energy research, development and demonstration program. Directs the Project to carry out its duties in cooperation with specified Federal agencies, including the Atomic Energy Commission and the Federal Power Commission. Instructs the Chairman of the Project to initiate a solar energy resource determination and assessment program. emphasizing identification of promising areas for commercial exploitation and development. Enumerates the specific goals of the determination and assessment program. Directs the Chairman of the Project: (1) to initiate a research and development program for resolving the major technical problems inhibiting commercial utilization of solar energy in the United States; (2) to implement a research and development program to demonstrate the technological means for securing and utilizing the solar energy resource base; and (3) to initiate a program to design and construct facilities to demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the various forms of solar energy. Details the goals of each such program. Authorizes the National Science Foundation to support, coordinate, and encourage the development of policies set forth in this Act. Establishes a Solar Energy Research Institute to perform research functions in connection with the Project activities under this Act. Calls for the creation of a Solar Energy Information Data Bank, specifying the content of data to be collected and compiled. Authorizes to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for fiscal year 1975, $2,000,000 for use in the preparation of the comprehensive program. Authorizes to be appropriated to carry out this Act, for fiscal years beginning after fiscal year 1975, such sums as the Congress may hereafter authorize.
United States · United States Congress · 8 August 1974
Provides that the President should take immediate action to control inflation and allocate credit pursuant to the Credit Control Act by authorizing the Federal Reserve Board to channel extensions of credit toward essential and productive capital investment, low-and middle-income housing, State and local governments, and small business, and away from loans for speculation in real estate and commodities, to finance anticompetitive acquisitions, and for other inflationary purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1974
International Science and Technology Act - Title I: Short Title, Declaration of Policy, and Definitions - States it to be the purpose of this Act to insure fuller international usage of earth-orbiting satellites and the data obtained from them for the benefit of all nations. Title II: Federal Coordination Planning and Regulation - Establishes the semiautonomous International Science and Technology Transfer Institute. Describes the membership of its Advisory Council, to be chaired by the Director of the National Science Foundation. Directs the Council to advise the Institute on standards and procedures concerning using the Institute's communication center and the communication center of any less developed country to provide support for and encourage the transfer of science, technology, culture, and other information from such less developed country to researchers and institutions in the United States. Directs the Institute to monitor discoveries and research, including satellite application thereof. Permits the transfer of Institute information to less developed countries if such countries abide by the qualifications set forth in this Act. Permits technical and financial assistance for establishments in less developed countries to communication centers to receive information from the Institute's communication center. Directs the Institute to transmit to less developed friendly countries which have a communication center for the purposes of this Act recommendations constituting a technology assessment for any project in that country which uses information transmitted from the Institute's communication center pursuant to this Act. Authorizes participation in the program provided under this Act by Columbia, Indonesia, and the Arab countries. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1974
Provides for television and radio coverage of proceedings in the Chamber of the House of Representatives on any resolution to impeach the President of the United States. Authorizes the Speaker to appoint a committee of five members to provide such arrangements as may be necessary in connection with such a broadcast.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1974
Provides under title II of the Social Security Act that the special procedure for expediting benefit payments (where such payments are not regularly made when due) shall apply to benefits based on disability in the same way it applies to other benefits under such title if entitlement has already been established and the benefits involved have been paid for one or more months.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1974
Provides for the expansion of the powers and functions of the Export-Import Bank of America. States that the Bank shall, in connection with the export financing of instrumentalities of other governments, seek to minimize competition in Government-supported export financing. Stipulates that no loan, guarantee, or insurance or combination thereof made to a Communist country or agent or national thereof in an amount which equals or exceeds $50,000,000 shall be finally approved by the Board of Directors of the Bank unless the Bank has submitted to the Congress with respect to such loan, guarantee, or insurance or combination thereof, a statement explaining the transaction at least thirty legislative days prior to the date of final approval. Provides that pending consideration and action by the Senate upon the bill H.R. 10710, as introduced in the first session of this Congress, cited as the "Trade Reform Act of 1973, and as amended and passed by the House, no loan, guarantee, insurance, or credit shall be extended by the Bank to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall not participate in any program of the Government of the United States which extends credits or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, directly or indirectly. Authorizes the Bank to charge against the limitations imposed by the Export-Import Bank Act not less than 25 percent of the related contractual liability which the Bank incurs for guarantees, insurance, coinsurance, and reinsurance against political and credit risks of loss. States that the aggregate amount of guarantees, insurance, coinsurance, and reinsurance which may be charged on this fractional basis pursuant to this section shall not exceed $20,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1974
Rice Act - Title I: Rice - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, under the provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, to establish for each of the 1975 through 1977 crops of rice a national acreage allotment which shall be the number of acreas which the Secretary determines on the basis of the estimated national average yeild for the crop for which the determination is being made will produce an amount of rice equal to the estimated domestic consumption and exports (less imports) of rice for the marketing year beginning in the year in which the crop is to be produced, adjusted as the Secretary determines necessary to maintain adequate supplies or to prevent execessive carryover stocks. Requires that the national acreage allotment shall not be less than two million acres. Directs the Secretary to allocate the national acreage allotment to States, counties, farms, and in producer States and administrative areas to producers on the basis of the rice allotments established for the preceding crops, adjusted to the extent deemed necessary to establish a fair and equitable apportionment base for each State, county, farm, and producer. Provides for reserving a portion of the rice allotment for apportionment to new rice farms and new rice producers. Sets forth criteria for reducing the rice allotment. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer for any year because of natural disaster all or part of such rice acreage for any farm in the county or in any other nearby county on which one or more producers on the farm from which the transfer is to be made will be engaged in the production of rice and will share in the proceeds thereof, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe. Directs the Secretary to permit the owner and operator of any farm for which a farm acreage allotment has been established to sell, or lease all or any part, to any other owner or operator of a farm in the same State, or to transfer all or any part of such allotment to any other farm owned or controlled by him in the same State. Title II: Rice Research - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out regional and national research programs with regard to rice for the following purposes: (1) to reduce fertilizer and herbicide usage in excess of production needs; (2) to develop varieties of rice more susceptible to complete fertilizer utilization; (3) to improve the resistance of rice plants to disease and to enhance their conservation and environmental qualities; (4) to increase the usage of rice and processing byproducts; (5) to develop better husbandry practices in production and conservation of rice; (6) to develop more efficient rice storage practices; (7) to improve domestic and international marketing of rice; and (8) to benefit the general welfare. Authorizes the appropriation of up to $1,000,000 in any fiscal year to carry out such research. Title III: Miscellaneous - Provides, under the Agricultural Act of 1949, that for the 1975 through 1977 crops of rice, a cooperator shall be a producer on a farm on which a farm acreage allotment has been established or to which a producer acreage allotment has been allocated, who has set aside the acreage required under such Act and who complies with the conditions of eligibility prescribed by the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1974
Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Act - Expresses the findings of Congress and declares that it is especially appropriate to honor former President Harry S. Truman through the creation of a perpetual educational scholarship program to develop increased opportunities for young Americans to prepare and pursue careers in public service. Establishes as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the United States Government, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, to be subject to the supervision and direction of the Board of Trustees. Authorizes the Foundation to award fifty-one scholarships in any fiscal year beginning after June 30, 1973, for undergraduate study for persons who plan to pursue a career in public service. States that each recipient shall be knows as a Truman scholar. Sets forth provisions governing: (1) the scholarship requirements; (2) the procedures for selection of Truman scholars; (3) stipends and institutional allowances; and (4) the scholarship conditions. Establishes in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund. Prescribes the procedures for expenditures from the fund. Directs that there shall be an Executive Secretary of the Foundation, appointed by the Board, who shall be the chief executive officer and shall carry out the functions of the Foundation subject to the supervision and direction of the Board. Authorizes to be appropriated $30,000,000 to the fund. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for administrative expenses incident to carrying out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1974
Provides for the recomputation of military retirement benefits. Provides that a member or former member of a uniformed service: (1) who is sixty years of age or older, and is retired for reasons other than physical disability, whose disability is finally determined to be of a permanent nature and less than 30 percent under the disability rating system, and is entitled to retired pay computed under the rates of basic pay in effect before January 1, 1972; or (2) who is entitled to retired pay for physical disability, whose disability was finally determined to be of permanent nature and at least 30 percent under the schedule of rating disabilities, and whose retired pay is computed under rates of basic pay in effect after October 11, 1949 and before January 1, 1972, is entitled to have that pay recomputed upon the rates of basic pay in effect on January 1, 1972.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1974
International Science and Technology Act - Title I: Short Title, Declaration of Policy, and Definitions - States it to be the purpose of this Act to insure fuller international usage of earth-orbiting satellites and the data obtained from them for the benefit of all nations. Title II: Federal Coordination Planning and Regulation - Establishes the semiautonomous International Science and Technology Transfer Institute. Describes the membership of its Advisory Council, to be chaired by the Director of the National Science Foundation. Directs the Council to advise the Institute on standards and procedures concerning using the Institute's communication center and the communication center of any less developed country to provide support for and encourage the transfer of science, technology, culture, and other information from such less developed country to researchers and institutions in the United States. Directs the Institute to monitor discoveries and research, including satellite application thereof. Permits the transfer of Institute information to less developed countries if such countries abide by the qualifications set forth in this Act. Permits technical and financial assistance for establishments in less developed countries to communication centers to receive information from the Institute's communication center. Directs the Institute to transmit to less developed friendly countries which have a communication center for the purposes of this Act recommendations constituting a technology assessment for any project in that country which uses information transmitted from the Institute's communication center pursuant to this Act. Authorizes participation in the program provided under this Act by Columbia, Indonesia, and the Arab countries. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1974
Solar Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act - Expresses the findings of Congress and declares that it is the policy of the United States to pursue a vigorous and adequately funded program with the objective of utilizing solar energy as a major source for our national energy needs. Defines the terms used in this Act. Establishes the Solar Energy Coordination and Management Project to have responsibility for management and coordination of a national solar energy research, development and demonstration program. Directs the Project to carry out its duties in cooperation with specified Federal agencies, including the Atomic Energy Commission and the Federal Power Commission. Makes conforming amendments to the National Science Foundation Act and the National Aeronautics and Space Act. Instructs the Project to initiate a solar energy resource determination and assessment program, emphasizing identification of promising areas for commercial exploitation and development. Enumerates the specific goals of the determination and assessment program. Directs the Project: (1) to initiate a research and development program for resolving the major technical problems inhibiting commercial utilization of solar energy in the United States; (2) to implement a research and development program to demonstrate the technical means for securing and utilizing the resource base; and (3) to initiate a program to design and construct facilities to demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the various forms of solar energy. Details the goals of each such program. Authorizes the National Science Foundation to support, coordinate, and encourage the development of policies set forth in this Act. Establishes a Solar Energy Research Institute to perform research functions in connection with the Project activities under this Act. Calls for the creation of a Solar Energy Information Data Bank, specifying the content of data to be collected and compiled. Transfers specified functions, documents, and personnel to the Energy Research and Development Administration. Authorizes to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for fiscal year 1976, $2,000,000 for use in the preparation of the comprehensive program. Authorizes to be appropriated to carry out this Act, for fiscal years beginning after 1976, such sums as the Congress may hereafter authorize.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1974
Establishes a Select Committee on Aging in the House of Representatives. Authorizes the committee to conduct a full and complete investigation and study of any and all matters pertaining to problems of older people, including, but not limited to, problems of maintaining health, of assuring adequate income, of finding employment, of engaging in productive and rewarding retirement activity, of securing proper housing, and, when necessary, of assuring adequate care or assistance. Directs the Committee to report to the House from time to time the results of its investigation and study, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1974
Authorizes to be appropriated without fiscal year limitation four annual installments of $375,000,000 each for payment by the Secretary of the Treasury to the International Development Association. Repeals the prohibitions on purchasing, holding, selling, or otherwise dealing in gold in the United States or abroad, effective either on December 31, 1974, or at any time prior to such date that the President finds and reports to Congress that private ownership of gold will not adversely affect the U.S. monetary position.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1974
Housing and Urban Development Act - Title I: Community Development Block Grants - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to States and Units of general local government to help finance Community Development Programs. Authorizes the Secretary to incur obligations for such grants of up to $8,050,000,000 until July 1, 1977. Authorizes $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1975, 1976, and 1977 for grants to general local government units for urgent community development needs. Requires grant applicants to: (1) formulate community development programs and housing assistance plans; (2) operate such programs in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Public Law 90-284 (relating to fair housing); and (3) inform affected citizens of the various aspects of the program. Requires an annual review and audit to determine if grantees are carrying out their programs as required by this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to release funds for projects to applicants who assume all of the responsibilities of environmental review, decision making, and action pursuant to the Environmental Policy Act that would otherwise apply to the Secretary. States that community development programs approved under this title may include: (1) acquisition of real property that is deteriorating or useful for public purposes; (2) installation of public works facilities; (3) rehabilitation of buildings; and (4) provisions for health, social, counseling and training services under activities within this title. Prescribes the allocation of grant funds under this title, including a ratio to determine amounts for individual cities which relates to poverty and housing overcrowding in the city. Requires that 80 percent of the non-urgent grant funds go to metropolitan areas. Prescribes the full "hold-harmless" amount of a metropolitan city or urban county under this title. Preserves a discretionary grant fund for special projects, including new communities, United States territories, and diaster-caused development needs. Authorizes the guarantee of notes or other obligations of general local government units for acquisition of real property for community development programs. Prohibits discrimination based upon race, color, national origin, or sex under programs funded by this title. Sets wage standards for labor performed under contracts funded by this title. Requires the termination or reduction of funds to grantees failing to comply with this title. Allows judicial review of such actions. Allows 20 percent of the urgent-need grants to be applied toward the payment of principal and interest on temporary loans made to a local government unit under the Housing Act of 1949. Permits continuance of local building codes (where assistance is sought under this Act) whose standards are as high or higher than those required by this Act. Provides for the employment of low-income persons under programs approved by this title. Title II: Assisted Housing - Authorizes assistance, under the United States Housing Act of 1937, to low-income families. Allows public housing agencies to make assistance payments for the use of existing dwelling units. Allows assistance payments for contracts with owners or prospective owners who construct or rehabilitate housing which will be used at least in part for low-income families. Allows the Secretary to enter into contracts with public housing agencies by which they may assist owners or prospective owners of units over which such agencies assume management. Requires such assistance contracts to set a maximum monthly rent, according to prescribed guidelines. Disallows material differences in rents for assisted housing and comparable unassisted housing. Sets forth a time limit on such contracts for assistance payments. Reserves all ownership, management, and maintenance responsibilities in the owners. Requires 30 percent of families assisted under this title to be "very low-income" families. Requires the Secretary to insure that special projects for the handicapped authorized under the United States Housing Act of 1937 provide quality services and management consistent with the needs of the occupant. Prohibits the approval of a housing assistance plan under the United States Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, or the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 unless the general local government unit certifies that such assistance is consistent with a housing assistance plan approved under title I of this Act. Requires the allocation of assistance under provisions of the above-mentioned laws according to rates of poverty, overcrowding, and substandard housing. Makes public housing agencies eligible as mortgagors under the National Housing Act's provisions relating to housing for moderate income and displaced families. Specifies minimum rentals for low-rent housing under the United States Housing Act of 1937. Requires the establishment of sound management practices by public housing agencies. Increases the annual contribution to public housing to maintain low rents to $400,000,000 for fiscal year 1973 and $965,000,000 for fiscal year 1974. Extends the home ownership, cooperative and rental mortgage provisions of the National Housing Act until June 30, 1975. Makes special provision for housing assistance to American Indians, the elderly and handicapped, and to areas where assistance is otherwise unavailable. Title III: Mortgage Credit Programs - Extends the regular FHA insurance programs and the interest rate authority for veterans' home loans. Increases the maximum mortgage amount under the FHA one-to four-family and multifamily mortgage insurance programs. Makes changes in downpayment requirements for regular FHA one-to four-family mortgages. Provides for FHA insured financing on resale of cooperative dwellings. Increases the amounts and time limits on home improvement loans. Permits the co-insurance of any mortgage, advance, or loan in addition to co-insurance otherwise provided by this Act. Prohibits the issuance of such insurance until it is determined that such co-insurance demonstration program will not disrupt the mortgage market or reduce the availability of mortgage credit to borrowers who depend upon mortgage insurance under this Act. Prohibits the purchase of mortgages by the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation if the outstanding principal balance of the mortgage at the time of purchase exceeds 80 percent of the value of the property. Eliminates the provisions of Federal law concerning the retirement of common and preferred stock in FNMA. Prohbits sex discrimination in Federal mortgage assistance payments under this title. Adds osteopathic and podiatric facilities to the provisions of the National Housing Act regarding mortgage insurance for group practice facilities. Title IV: Rural Housing - Allows loans for the repair and improvement of rural dwellings to make them safe and sanitary (where the borrower does not otherwise qualify) of up to $5,000. Extends veterans preference to rural housing programs under the Housing Act of 1949. Authorizes funds for loan programs for rural housing programs. Authorizes direct and insured loans to provide housing and related facilities for elderly persons and families in rural areas. Authorizes direct and insured loans to provide condominium housing for low-and moderate-income families in ruarl areas. Permits the Secretary to make loans to public or private nonprofit organizations for the acquisition and development of land as building sites to be subdivided and sold to families, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and cooperatives. Allows borrowers, under provisions of the Housing Act of 1949, to prepay taxes and insurance to the Secretary, who will hold such payments in escrow and pay them out at the appropriate time. Provides for contracts with public or private nonprofit organizations to provide information and technical assistance, provided such private nonprofit organizations are sponsored by a State or local government entity. States that such information and assistance shall relate to construction, rehabilitation, and operation of low-and moderate-income housing, as well as counseling on household management and budgeting. Authorizes loans and insurance for rental or cooperative housing for persons and families of low income in multifamily housing projects, as well as assistance payments to owners of such rental housing to make available to such persons such housing at rates not exceeding 25 percent of their incomes. Title V: Miscellaneous - States that it is the purpose of this part to encourage the formation of State development agencies which have authority to carry out development activities designed to: (1) provide housing and related facilities for persons and families of low and moderate income; (2) promote the sound growth and development of neighborhoods through the revitalization of slum and blighted areas; and (3) increase and improve employment opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed through the development and redevelopment of industrial, manufacturing, and commercial facilities. Permits the guarantee of bonds, debentures, notes and other obligations issued by State development agencies to finance development activities described in the purposes of this title. Establishes a revolving fund to provide for timely payment of liabilities incurred as a result of such guarantees. Allows supplementary grants for projects assisted by the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities. Includes waste disposal facilities among eligible land improvements. Authorizes appropriations for comprehensive urban planning. Title VI: Consumer Home Mortgage Assistance - Consumer Home Mortgage Assistance Act - States that savings and loan associations are authorized to invest an amount, not exceeding the greater of the sum of its surplus, undivided profits, and reserves or 5 percent of its assets, in loans or in interests therein the principal purpose of which is to provide financing with respect to what is or is expected to become primarily residential real estate within one hundred miles of their home office or within the State in which such office is located. Increase the amount that may be loaned by such associations on single family dwellings from $45,000 to $55,000. Permits any national banking association to make real estate loans secured by liens upon unimproved real estate, upon improved real estate, including improved farmland and improved business and residential properties, and upon real estate to be improved by a building or buildings to be constructed or in the process of construction, in an amount which when added to the amount unpaid upon prior mortgages, liens, encumbrances, if any, upon such real estate does not exceed the respective proportions of appraised value as provided in this title. States that the amount of any such loan hereafter made shall not exceed 66 2/3 percent of the appraised value if such real estate is unimproved, 75 percent of the appraised value if such real estate is improved by offsite improvements such as as streets, water, sewers, or other utilities, 75 percent of the appraised value if such real estate is in the process of being improved by a building or building to be constructed or in the process of construction, or 90 percent of the appraised value if such real estate is improved by a building or buildings. Allows national banking associations to make real estate loans secured by liens upon forest tracts with are properly managed in all respects. Limits the amount that Federal Credit Unions may loan to it directors and members of it supervisory credit committee to $2,500 without approval of the board of directors. Allows such credit unions to establish two-member investment committees. Prescribes meeting frequencies and procedures for credit committees of such credit unions. Provides termination procedures for insured credit unions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1974
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should (1) immediately initiate negotiations at the highest level of the Turkish Government to prevent the resumption of opium production; and (2) if such negotiations prove unfruitful, exercise the authority provided by the Congress under the Foreign Assistance Act, to terminate all assistance to the Government of Turkey.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1974
Authorizes to be appropriated without fiscal year limitation four annual installments of $375,000,000 each for payment by the Secretary of the Treasury to the International Development Association.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1974
Authorizes the partial attachment of up to 50 percent of the retired or retainer pay of members of the armed forces to satisfy judicially decreed child support contributions that are 30 days overdue. (Adds 10 U.S.C. 1407)
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1974
Designates the premises occupied by the Chief of Naval Operations as the official residence of the Vice President, effective upon the termination of service of the incumbent Chief of Naval Operations. Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to provide for the care, maintenance, repair, improvement, alteration, and furnishing of the official residence and grounds. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary from time to time to carry out the foregoing purposes. Expresses the sense of Congress that living accommodations, generally equivalent to those available to the highest ranking officer on active duty in each of the other military services, should be provided for the Chief of Naval Operations. Repeals the Federal law authorizing the planning, design, construction, furnishing, and maintenance of an official residence for the Vice President of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1974
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should (1) immediately initiate negotiations at the highest level of the Turkish Government to prevent the resumption of opium production; and (2) if such negotiations prove unfruitful, exercise the authority provided by the Congress under the Foreign Assistance Act, to terminate all assistance to the Government of Turkey.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1974
Permits the attachment of up to fifty percent of the retired or retainer pay of a member of an armed force to satisfy judicially decreed child support contributions that are 30 days overdue.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1974
Makes it unlawful, under the Interstate Commerce Act, for any railroad to refuse to transport any refrigerator car because of the fact that such car is owned or controlled by a shipper or a nonrailroad owner. Makes it the duty of every carrier by railroad to handle all refrigerator equipment in the same manner and subject to the same rules and regulations, regardless of whether such equipment is owned or controlled by railroad or nonrailroad interests.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1974
Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay a pension to each veteran who served in the active military, naval, or air service at any time during World War I and who is not eligible for other pension benefits. Defines World War I as meaning the period beginning on April 5, 1917, and ending on July 2, 1921. Provides for a schedule of pension payments under this Act. Provides that if the veteran is married and living with or reasonably contributing to the support of his spouse, or has a child or children, the monthly rate of pension under this Act shall be $150. Provides that if the veteran is unmarried (or married but not living with or reasonably contributing to the support of his spouse) and has no child, the monthly rate of pension shall be $135. Provides that if the veteran has a disability by reason of which he is permanently housebound, the monthly rate hereunder shall be increased by $50. Provides that veterans in need of regular aid and attendance shall have their monthly rates increased by $125. Directs the Administrator to pay to widows of veterans, receiving benefits under this Act at time of death, pension benefits at a schedule provided in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1974
Medicare Long-Term Care Act - Establishes, under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare), a voluntary program to provide long-term care benefits for aged and disabled individuals who elect to enroll under such program, financed from premium payments by enrollees together with contributions from funds appropriated by the Federal Government and contributions by the States. Lists criteria for eligibility for long-term care service benefits. Provides that the benefits provided to an individual by this Act shall consist of (1) home health services, (2) homemaker services, (3) nutrition services, (4) long-term institutional care services, (5) day care and foster home services, and (6) community mental health center outpatient services. Enumerates the requirements for a State long-term care agency. Provides for the payment of premiums for benefits received under this Act. Establishes on the books of the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Federal Long-Term Care Trust Fund. Creates a body to be known as the Board of Trustees, composed of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, all ex officio. States that the Secretary of the Treasury shall be the Managing Trustee of the Board of Trustees and that the Commissioner of Social Security shall serve as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees. Provides that the Board of Trustees shall meet not less frequently than once each calendar year. Enumerates the duties of the Board of Trustees. Declares that a community long-term care center shall: (1) provide the items and services listed in this Act to each individual (i) who is eligible for benefits under this part, (ii) who resides in the area served by such center and (iii) who is certified as requiring such services; (2) evaluate and certify the long-term care needs of an individual for whom such care may be required in order to maintain such individual in an independent living arrangement which is reasonable given such individual's state of health and other circumstances (but not including such individual's economic circumstances); (3) maintain a continuous relationship with (and periodically evaluate not less than annually) each individual who is receiving any of the items and services listed in this Act; (4) provide full opportunity for such individual and his family to participate in the determinations and functions under this Act; (5) provide an organized system for making its existence and location known to all individuals in its service area who are eligible for benefits under this part, and for making known to such individuals the method or methods by which they may most efficiently obtain and use the services which it makes available; and (6) performs such other functions as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare may by regulation prescribe in order to have such center most effectively carry out the purposes of this Act. Provides a formula for payments to States for the reimbursement of community long-term care centers. Directs the Secretary, after consultation with organizations representing the chief executives of the various States, and other interested parties, to develop and make available to community long-term care centers one or more methods of obtaining payment for the benefits covered under this Act on a prospective basis. States that once a community long-term care center elects a particular prospective method, it may not alter its election without the prior approval of the Secretary. Provides that whenever the Secretary finds that the number of community long-term care centers electing a particular prospective payment method promulgated in accordance with this Act is not sufficient to provide an adequate basis for either the operation or evaluation of that method, the Secretary shall withdraw that method and allow the community long-term care centers which have elected such method to select another method withn 30 days of notice of such withdrawal. Permits a Governor of a State to certify to the Secretary a method of prospective payment other than those promulgated under this Act. States that the determination of whether an individual is entitled to benefits under this Act shall be made by the Secretary in accordance with regulations prescribed by him. Provides for increases in supplemental security income benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1974
Geothermal Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act - Title I: Geothermal Energy Coordination and Management Project - Establishes the Geothermal Energy Coordination and Management Project, which shall have responsibility for management and coordination of a national geothermal energy research, development, and demonstration program. States that such responsibility shall be carried out in cooperation with the Interior Department, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Atomic Energy Commission, and National Science Foundation. Directs the Project to explore and assess national geothermal resources and to identify promising areas for industrial exploration and development. Directs the Project to initiate a research and development program to resolve technical problems inhibiting commercial utilization of geothermal resources, including: (1) development of effective drilling methods; (2) development of methods for converting geothermal energy to useful forms; and (3) development of improved methods for controlling emissions and wastes from geothermal utilization. Directs the Project to initiate a program to design and construct geothermal demonstration plants, including design and construction of plants to produce electrical power and large scale production and utilization of useful byproducts. Title II: Loan Guarantees - Authorizes the guarantee of loans by financial institutions for commercial development of geothermal resources. Limits such loan guarantees to 75 percent of the project costs. Requires repayment of such loans in 30 years, and limits such loans for any project to $25,000,000. Authorizes the payment of the interest on such loans by an agency designated by the Project chairman if the borrower is unable to pay the interest and such payment is in the public interest. Establishes the Geothermal Resources Development Fund in the Treasury to carry out the loan guarantee and interest payment provisions of this title. Title III: General Provisions - Requires that activities under this Act shall not endanger persons or the environment. Requires semi-annual reports to the President and Congress on the progress of activities under this Act. Provides for the transfer of functions of the Project upon the establishment of a permanent Federal energy agency. Authorizes the appropriation of $2,500,000 to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal year 1975 for research, development, and related activities, funded by it under this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of $50,000,000 each year to carry out the loan guarantee provisions of title II.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1974
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) it most strongly condemns all acts of terrorism in the Middle East; (2) the President and the Secretary of State should and are hereby urged and requested to (a) call upon all governments to condemn this inhuman act of violence against innocent victims; and (b) strongly urge the governments who harbor these groups and individuals to take appropriate action to rid their countries of those who subvert the peace through terrorism and senseless violence; and (3) the President should request the American Ambassador to the United Nations to take appropriate action before that body in order to have introduced a Security Council resolution condemning this brutal act of violence.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1974
Provides under title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, that persons who are blind and have at least six quarters of coverage shall be eligible for disability insurance benefits. Outlines those regulations which apply to the amount of benefits to be received. Defines blindness as used in this Act. Continues payment of such benefits as long as the blindness lasts, notwithstanding the amount of the individual's earnings.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1974
Arthritis Prevention Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act - Makes it the purpose of this Act to establish: (1) a long-range plan to expand and coordinate the national research, treatment, and control effort against arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases; (2) centers for arthritis prevention, research, screening, early detection, training, treatment, and rehabilitation programs; and (3) programs to develop new and improved methods of arthritis screening and early detection and to establish a central arthritis screening and early detection data bank. Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health to establish a National Commission on Arthritis and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases. Specifies the composition, duties, and powers of the Commission. States that the Commission shall formulate a long-range plan to combat arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases with specific recommendations for the utilization and organization of national resources for that purpose. States that the plan shall include a plan for a coordinated research program encompassing existing and proposed Federal, non-Federal and local programs. Enumerates investigations, studies, and programs to be carried out under such plan. Authorizes to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out the above purposes. Establishes within the National Institute on Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases the position of Associate Director for Arthritis and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases. States that the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall establish an Inter-Institute Arthritis and Related Diseases Coordinating Committee to better coordinate research activities relating to arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases. Provides for the development, establishment, construction, and operation of arthritis research and training centers. Specifies the purposes to be achieved by such research and training programs. Provides for the geographical distribution, operational support, and evaluation of such research and training centers. Authorizes specified appropriations for fiscal years 1975, 1976, and 1977 for the establishment of such centers. Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish and support arthritis screening, early detection, prevention, and control demonstration programs. Specifies the purpose of such programs. Authorizes specified appropriations for fiscal years 1975, 1976, and 1977 for the establishment and support of such programs. Requires the Secretary to establish the Arthritis Screening and Detection Data Bank as soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act. Provides that not less than $500,000 of the sums appropriated to the National Institutes of Health to carry out the purposes of this Act shall be obligated for basic and clinical orthopedic research conducted or supported by the National Institute on Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Metabolic Diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Housing and Urban Development Act - Title I: Community Development Block Grants - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to States and units of general local government to help finance Community Development Programs. Authorizes the Secretary to incur obligations for such grants of up to $8,050,000,000 until July 1, 1977. Authorizes $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1975, 1976, and 1977 for grants to general local government units for urgent community development needs. Requires grant applicants to: (1) formulate community development programs and housing assistance plans; (2) operate such programs in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Public Law 90-284 (relating to fair housing) and (3) inform affected citizens of the various aspects of the program. Requires annual reviews and audits to determine if grantees are carrying out their programs as required by this Act. States that community development programs approved under this title may include: (1) acquisition of real property that is deteriorating or useful for public purposes; (2) installation of public works facilities; (3) rehabilitation of buildings; and (4) provisions for health, social counseling, and training services under activities within this title. Prescribes the allocations of grant funds under this title, including a ratio to determine amounts for individual cities which relates to poverty and housing overcrowding in the city. Requires that 80 percent of the non-urgent grant funds go to metropolitan areas. Prescribes the full "hold-harmless" amount of a metropolitan city or urban county under this title. Prescribes a discretionary grants fund for special projects, including new communities, United States territories, and disaster-caused development needs. Authorizes the guarantee of notes or other obligations of general local government units for acquisition of real property for community development programs. Prohibits discrimination based upon race, color, national origin, or sex under programs funded by this title. Sets wage standards for labor performed under contracts funded by this title. Requires the termination or reduction of funds to grantees failing to comply with this title. Allows judidical review of such actions. Allows 20 percent of the urgent-need grants to be applied toward the payment of principal and interest on temporary loans made to a local government unit under the Housing Act of 1949. Provides for the employment of low-income persons under programs approved by this title. Title II: Assisted Housing - Authorizes assistance, under the United States Housing Act of 1937, to low-income families. Allows public housing agencies to make assistance payments for the use of existing dwelling units. Allows assistance payments for contracts with owners or prospective owners who construct or rehabilitate housing which will be used at least in part for low-income families. Requires such assistance contracts to set a maximum monthly rent, according to prescribed guidelines. Sets forth a time limit on such contracts for assistance payments. Preserves all ownership, management, and maintenance responsiblilities in the owners. Requires 30 percent of families assisted under this title to be "very low-income" families. Requires the Secretary to insure that special projects for the handicapped authorized under the United States Housing Act of 1937 provide quality services and management consistent with the needs of the occupant. Prohibits the approval of a housing assistance plan under the United States Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, or the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 unless the general local government unit certifies that such assistance is consistent with a housing assistance plan approved under title I of this Act. Requires the allocation of assistance under provisions of the above-mentioned laws according to rates of property, overcrowding, and substandard housing. Makes public housing agencies eligible as mortgagors under the National Housing Act's provisions relating to housing for moderate income and displaced families. Specifies minimum rentals for low-rent housing under the United States Housing Act of 1937. Requires the establishment of sound management practices by public housing agencies. Increases the annual contribution to public housing to maintain low rents to $400,000,000 for fiscal year 1973 and $965,000,000 for fiscal year 1974. Extends the home ownership, cooperative and rental mortgage provisions of the National Housing Act until June 30, 1975. Title III: Mortage Credit Programs - Extends the regular FHA insurance programs and the interest rate authority for veterans' home loans. Increases the maximum mortgage amounts under the FHA one to four-family and multifamily mortgage insurance programs. Makes changes in downpayment requirements for regular FHA one to four-family mortgages. Increases the amounts and time limits on home improvement loans. Permits the co-insurance of any mortgage, advance, or loan in addition to co-insurance otherwise provided by this Act. Prohibits the issuance of such insurance until it is determined that such co-insurance demonstration program will not disrupt the mortgage market or reduce the availability of mortgage credit to borrowers who depend upon mortgage insurance under this Act. Prohibits the purchase of mortgages by the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation if the outstanding principal balance of the mortgage at the time of purchase exceeds 80 percent of the value of the property, with specifed exceptions. Eliminates the provisions of Federal law concerning the retirement of common and preferred stock in FNMA. Prohibits sex discrimination in Federal mortgage assistance payments under this title. Title IV: Rural Housing - Allows loans for the repair and improvement of rural dwellings to make them safe and sanitary (where the borrower does not otherwise qualify) of up to $500. Extends veterans preference to rural housing programs under the Housing Act of 1949. Authorizes funds for loan programs for rural housing programs. Authorizes direct and insured loans to provide housing and related facilities for elderly persons and families in rural areas. Authorizes direct and insured loans to provide condominium housing for low-and moderate-income families in rural areas. Title V: Miscellaneous - States that it is the purpose of this part to encourage the formation of State development agencies which have broad and flexibile authority to carry out development activities designed to: (1) provide housing and related facilities for persons and families of low and moderate income, (2) promote the sound growth and development of neighborhoods through the revitalization of slum and blighted areas, and (3) increase and improve employment opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed through the development and redevelopment of industrial, manufacturing, and commercial facilities. Permits the guarantee of bonds, debentures, notes and other obligations issued by State development agencies to finance development activities described in the purposes of this title. Establishes a revolving fund to provide for timely payment of liabilities incurred as a result of such guarantees. Allows supplementary grants for projects assisted by the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities. Includes waste disposal facilities among eligible land improvements. Authorizes appropriations for comprehensive urban planning.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Expands the meaning of "subdivision," under the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to include land "in any State or in a foreign country." Extends the revocation period, relating to qualified land contracts, of 48 hours as provided in the Act to 72 hours. Adds industrially and commercially zoned property to the list of property exempt from the Act when enumerated conditions are met.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1974
International Science and Technology Transfer Act - States that the purpose of the Act is to facilitate the transfer of developments in science and technology from the United States to projects in cooperation with less developed countries and from such countries to the United States. Establishes an institute to be known as the International Science and Technology Transfer Institute. States that the Council of the Institute shall be composed of specified representatives from within the government. Directs the Council to establish standards and procedures concerning: (1) the translation of information transmitted by the Institute pursuant to this Act; (2) the hours of operation of the Institute's communication center; (3) encouraging countries which have a communication center established under this Act to establish an entity similar to the Institute to permit greater coordination with the Institute; (4) using the Institute's communication center and the communication center of any less developed country to provide support for and encourage the transfer of science, technology, culture, and our information from such less developed country to researchers and institutions in the United States; and (5) using the Institute's communication center to transmit information to the communication center in any less developed country during a natural disaster in such country. Provides that the Director of the Institute, with the approval of the Council, shall establish procedures: (1) to enable the Institute to monitor on an on-going basis discoveries, inventions, and research developments in science and technology (including satellite applications thereof), made in the United States, made at any location with financial assistance from the United States Government, or made at any location by a corporation or any other person which is owned or controlled by a United States citizen; and (2) obtain by purchase or gift any information concerning any discovery, invention, or development included in paragraph (1) from the individual who owns the patent or copyright for such discovery, invention, or development, or (if no one owns such patent or copyright) from the individual who makes such discovery, invention, or development. States that the Institute shall retain all information it obtains and shall disseminate such information to foreign persons pursuant to the provisions of this Act. Requires any less developed friendly country to submit a request to the Council for permission to receive information retained by the Institute. Provides that the Council shall approve any such request if (1) the requesting country agrees not to apply customs duties or other charges on information received in that country from the Institute under this Act, (2) the requesting country agrees not to charge any fee not authorized to any person in that country for requesting or receiving any information under this Act, and (3) the Council determines that its approval of the requesting country is in the United States' national interest. States that, immediately after the approval of the request from a developing country, the Director of the Institute shall send members of the Institute's staff to that country. Provides that the members of the staff and officials of that country shall jointly determine: (1) the complexity of the communication center which that country needs in order to obtain information from the Institute's communication center in the United States, and (2) the amount of funds, if any, the Institute will contribute toward the costs of establishing and maintaining that country's communication center. Provides that the Institute shall receive any request for such information from a less developed country's communication center if the request originated from (1) any national of such country, or (2) any foundation, corporation, international organization, or any other person for such person's project in such country. Authorizes appropriations of not more than $50,000,000 to the National Science Foundation to carry out the provisions of this Act for the first five consecutive fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1974
Geothermal Energy, Research, Development, and Demonstration Act - Title I: Geothermal Energy Coordination and Management Project - Establishes the Geothermal Energy Coordination and Management Project, which shall have responsibility for management and coordination of a national geothermal energy research, development, and demonstration program. States that such responsibility shall be carried out in cooperation with the Interior Department, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Atomic Energy Commission, and National Science Foundation. Directs the Project to explore and assess national geothermal resources and to identify promising areas for industrial exploration and development. Directs the Project to initiate a research and development program to resolve technical problems inhibiting commercial utilization of geothermal resources; including: (1) development of effective drilling methods; (2) development of methods for converting geothermal energy to useful forms; and (3) development of improved methods for controlling emissions and wastes from geothermal utilization. Directs the Project to initiate a program to design and construct geothermal demonstration plants, including design and construction of plants to produce electrical power and large scale production and utilization of useful byproducts. Title II: Loan Guarantees - Authorizes the guarantee of loans by financial institutions for commercial development of geothermal resources. Limits such loans guarantees to 75 percent of the project costs. Requires repayment of such loans in 30 years, and limits such loans for any project to $25,000,000. Authorizes the payment of the interest on such loans by an agency designated by the Project chairman if the borrower is unable to pay the interest and such payment is in the public interest. Establishes the Geothermal Resources Development Fund in the Treasury to carry out the loan guarantee and interest payment provisions of this title. Title III: General Provisions - Requires that activities under this Act shall not endanger persons or the environment. Requires semi-annual reports to the President and Congress on the progress of activities under this Act. Provides for the transfer of the functions of the Project upon the establishment of a permanent Federal energy agency. Authorizes the appropriation of $300,000,000 to the National Science Foundation for fiscal years 1975-1980 for research, development, and demonstration projects funded by it under this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of $50,000,000 each year to carry out the loan guarantee provisions of Title II.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1974
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act - Makes appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for research and development, construction of facilities, and research and program management.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1974
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of a national park, recreation area, or wilderness area in the Ridgelands east of the San Francisco Bay in the State of California. Authorizes to be appropriated the sums necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1974
Establishes a fine of not more than $5,000, or a prison term of not more than 5 years, or both, for the seeking or acceptance of clemency in furtherance of a scheme to obstruct justice.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1974
National Huntington's Disease Control Act - States that it is the purpose of this Act to establish a national program for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of, and research in, Huntington's disease. Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants for projects for the establishment and operation of Huntington's disease screening, treatment, and counseling programs. Authorizes the appropriation of $500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, and for each each of the next two fiscal years for such grants. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Huntington's disease. Authorizes the appropriation of $1,500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 and for each of the next two fiscal years for use for such grants. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to develop information and educational materials relating to Huntington's disease and to disseminate such information and materials to persons providing health care and to the public in general. Authorizes the appropriation of $25,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, and for each of the next two fiscal years to carry out this information program. Sets forth the requirements for applications for grants under this Act and the administration of such grants. Directs the Secretary to establish a program within the Public Health Service to provide for voluntary Huntington's disease screening, counseling, and treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1974
Federal Housing Act - Declares the finding of the Congress that the general welfare of the American people requires, as a matter of national purpose, the sound development of housing, together with adequate financing thereof. Creates, under the provision of the National Housing Act, a body corporate in the executive branch of the Government to be known as the Federal Housing Administration which shall carry on and continue the functions, powers, and duties of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under this Act. Provides that nothing contained herein shall be deemed to prohibit the FHA from servicing other housing programs under this Act, provided such servicing is based on sound credit and actuarial standards. Provides that the FHA shall have succession until dissolved by Act of Congress. Provides that all of the FHA's powers under this Act, including the authority to insure mortgages, and fix maximum amounts, interest rates, and loan-to-value ratios for such mortgages, shall continue in full force and effect and may continue to be exercised until the FHA is dissolved by Act of Congress. Provides that FHA shall maintain its principal office in the District of Columbia, and shall be deemed, for purposes of venue in civil actions, to be a resident thereof. Authorizes agencies or offices to be established by the FHA in such other place or places as it may deem necessary or appropriate in the conduct of its business. Provides that the management of the FHA shall be vested in a Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as the 'Board'), and a Commissioner who shall also be a member of the Board. Provides that the Board shall consist of the Chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Comptroller of the Currency, or their delegates. Provides that the Board of Directors shall be vested with the responsibility to exercise general direction and supervision over the performance of all functions, powers, and duties vested in the FHA when relating in the judgment of the Board to matters of a broad and general supervisory, advisory, or policy nature, including the approval of regulations promulgated by the Commissioner, the setting of maximum mortgage amounts, fees, and premimums, the setting of competitive mortgage market interest rates, and the declaration of high cost areas for increased mortgage insurance. Provides that all administrative powers, functions, and duties of the FHA shall be exercised and performed by the Commissioner. Provides for the administration of the FHA. Provides that the Commissioner shall, among his responsibilities, advise the Board and the President with respect to Federal programs and activities relating to matters concerning development of housing under the authority of this Act, and provide technical assistance and information, including a clearinghouse service, to States, counties, towns, villages, and other local governments, in developing housing. Provides that the Commissioner shall also be responsible for maintenance of such liaison with Congress as may be necessary for proper administration of the FHA. Requires the Commissioner, as soon as practicable after the end of each calendar year, to make a report to the President for submission to the Congress on the activities of the FHA during the preceding calendar year. Transfers to and vests in the FHA all of the functions, powers, and duties of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under specified provisions of the National Housing Act. Authorizes the Commissioner, upon such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, to insure banks, trust companies, personal finance companies, mortgage companies, building and loan associations, installment lending companies, and other such financial institutions, which the Commissioner finds to be qualified by experience or facilities and approves as eligible for credit insurance, against losses which they may sustain as a result of loans and advances of credit, and purchases of obligations representing loans and advances of credit, made by them on and after July 1, 1939. Authorizes the Commissioner, directed by such regulations or procedures as he shall deem advisable, to prevent the use of any financial assistance under this Act with respect to new residential structures other than mobile homes that have not been completed and occupied for at least six months, or which would, through multiple loans, result in an outstanding aggregate loan balance with respect to the same structure exceeding the dollar amount limitation prescribed in this Act for the type of loan involved. Grants the authority whereby this subparagraph may in the discretion of the Commissioner be waived with respect to the period of occupancy or completion of any such new residential structures. Authorizes and directs the Commissioner, with respect to mobile homes to be financed under this Act, to: (1) prescribe minimum property standards to assure the livability and durability of the mobile home and the suitability of the site on which the mobile home is to be located; and (2) obtain assurances from the borrower that the mobile home will be placed on a site which complies with the standards prescribed by the Commissioner and with local zoning. Sets forth the limitation amounts on loans and mortgages insured by the FHA. Sets forth eligibility requirements for insurance coverage by the FHA. Requires the financial transactions of the FHA to be audited by the General Accounting Office. Requires an annual report of such audit to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1974
Provides that the bonus value of food stamps is to be included in the "hold harmless" amount guaranteed to recipients of supplemental security income benefits under the Social Security Amendments of 1972. Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to prescribe regulations for the adjustment of an individual's monthly supplemental security income payment in accordance with any increase to which such individual may be entitled under this Act provided, that such adjustment in monthly payment, together with the remittance of any prior unpaid increments to which such individual may be entitled under this Act, shall be made no later than the first day of the first month beginning more than sixty days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 December 1973
Fire Prevention and Control Act - Title I: Establishes within the Department of Commerce a National Bureau of Fire Safety headed by a Director appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Declares the function of the Bureau to be to improve the nation's efforts in fire prevention and control through public education, advanced technology, training and education, improved statistics, and other relevant efforts. Requires the Director to undertake programs in public education for the further development of fire technology. States that the Director shall operate directly or through contracts an integrated, comprehensive national fire data program based on the collection, analysis, publication, and dissemination of fire information related to the prevention, occurrence, control, and results of fires of all types. Establishes, within the Department of Commerce, as part of the Bureau, a United States Fire Academy which shall have the mission of advancing the professional development of fire service personnel, civil defense personnel, and related fire safety personnel. States that the Academy shall be headed by a Superintendant. Sets forth the duties of the Superintendent. Authorizes to be appropriated an amount not to exceed $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1975 to carry out the provisions of this title. Title II: Establishes within the Department of Commerce a Fire Research Center which shall perform and support basic and applied research on all aspects of fire with the aim of providing scientific and technical knowledge applicable to the prevention and reduction of fires. Requires such program to include investigations of (1) the physics and chemistry of combustion processes; (2) the dynamics of flame ignition, flame spread, and flame extinguishment; (3) the composition of combustion products developed by various sources and under various environmental conditions; (4) the unique aspects of fire hazards arising from the transportation and use in industrial and professional practices of combustible gases, fluids, and materials; and (5) design concepts for providing increased fire safety consistent with habitability, comfort, and human impact, in buildings and other structures. Directs the Center to conduct research on: (1) the biological and physiological effects of toxic substances encountered in fires; (2) the trauma, cardiac conditions, and other hazards resulting from exposure to fires; (3) the development of simple, reliable tests for the determination of the cause of death from fires; (4) improved methods of providing first aid to the victims of fires; (5) the psychological and motivational characteristics of persons who engage in arson, and the prediction and cure of such behavior; (6) the conditions of stress encountered by firefighters, their effects, and their alleviation or reduction; and (7) such other biological, physiological, and psychological effects of fire as may have significance for purposes of this Act. Authorizes to be appropriated for purposes of this title an amount not to exceed $3,500,000 for fiscal year 1975. Title III: Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish, within the National Institutes of Health, and expanded program of research on burns, treatment of burn injuries, and rehabilitation of victims of fires. Authorizes to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1975 to carry out the provisions of this title. Title IV: Provides that the Secretary and the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access to any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipient that are pertinent to its activities under this Act for the purpose of audit or to determine whether a proposed activity is in the public interest.
![Official portrait of Rep. Hanna, Richard T. [D-CA-34]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000164_200.jpg)