United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1984
Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Freeze and Arms Reduction Act of 1984 - Provides for the establishment of a comprehensive freeze by the United States and the Soviet Union on the testing, production, and deployment of any nuclear weapon, delivery system, or any subsystem or component for a nuclear warhead, weapon, or delivery system (the comprehensive freeze). Directs the House and Senate Select Intelligence Committees to begin oversight hearings on verification procedures for the comprehensive freeze. Requires such committees to report to their respective Houses within 90 days of enactment of this Act on the adequacy of U.S. verification procedures. Sets forth information to be included in the report. Requires the Director of the Arms Control Disarmament Agency to begin preparing an operational plan for U.S. implementation of the comprehensive freeze within 120 days of enactment of this Act. Directs the Director to submit the plan to specified congressional committees within 60 days of enactment of this Act. Declares that the President should: (1) invite the Soviet Union to participate in a comprehensive bilateral and verifiable nuclear weapons freeze; and (2) encourage the Soviet Union to write to the United States whether it intends to implement the comprehensive freeze. Requires the President, 120 days after enactment of this Act, to direct the implementation by the United States of the comprehensive freeze which shall continue so long and to the extent that the Soviet Union acts in a reciprocal mannner. Requires the President to certify to the Congress the nature of Soviet noncompliance with the freeze, all relevant evidence, and his recommendations for the U.S. response if the President finds evidence that the Soviet Union is not acting in a reciprocal mannner. Requires the appropriate congressional committees to report a bill setting forth the extent to which the United States should modify its participation in the comprehensive freeze. Declares that the United States and the Soviet Union should begin nuclear arms reduction negotiations as soon as the comprehensive freeze is implemented.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1984
Enterprise Zone Community Development and Employment Act of 1984 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of enterprise zones by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for purposes of extending the tax incentives and regulatory flexibility measures provided by this Act. Provides that State and local governments shall nominate areas for such designation. Limits the designation of enterprise zones to a specified number of nominated areas per year (one-third of which must be in rural areas). Limits the period during which such designations shall remain in effect. Provides that the Secretary may designate such zones only if: (1) the area is within the jurisdiction of the local government; (2) the boundary of the area is continuous; (3) the area has a population of at least 4,000 if any portion thereof is located within a standard metropolitan statistical area (with a population of at least 50,000) or 1,000 otherwise, or is within an Indian reservation; and (4) the area meets specified unemployment and poverty requirements. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action which may include improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, or receiving commitments of private entities to assist employees and residents of the area. Describes areas to which preference shall be given by the Secretary in deciding to designate enterprise zones. Limits the authority of the Secretary to designate enterprise zones to a period of ten years after the publication of regulations pertaining to such zones. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation not later than two years after the Secretary first designates areas as enterprise zones. Requires that any tax reduction effected by a local government under the terms of this Act be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of a State or local government for Federal assistance or benefits. States that designation of an enterprise zone shall not give displaced persons from such an area any rights or benefits under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. Provides that the designation of an enterprise zone shall not constitute a Federal action for purposes of applying the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act or other provisions of Federal law relating to the protection of the environment. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: Credit for Employers - Allows employers located in enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit for increased employment expenditures and employment of the disadvantaged. Allows a three-year carryback and 15-year carryover of such credit. Sets the amount of such credit at the sum of: (1) ten percent of the increase in payroll (taking into account a maximum of $15,000 in wages per year per employee); (2) a specified percentage of the wages paid to certain disadvantaged workers; and (3) 50 percent of the economically disadvantaged medical or day care expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year. Phases out such credit in the last three years of the enterprise zone designation. Disallows a deduction for the portion of wages taken into account for such credit. Allows employees located in enterprise zones an income tax credit for a specified amount of wages earned plus, in the case of economically disadvantaged individuals, a specified amount of medical or day care expenses. Phases out such credit in the last three years of the enterprise zone designation. Subtitle B: Credits for Investment in Tangible Property in Enterprise Zones - Allows businesses an additional investment tax credit for investment in certain tangible property located in enterprise zones. Limits such credit to five percent for zone personal property and ten percent for new zone construction property, including rental property. Requires that the property subject to such credit be predominantly used in the zone, be purchased after zone designation, and not be acquired from relatives or related corporations. Requires the recapture of such credit upon early disposition of the property. Phases out such credit in the last three years of the enterprise zone designation. Allows the waiver of the 30-year rule with respect to the income tax credit for certain rehabilitation expenditures in the case of rehabilitated buildings in enterprise zones. Increases the limitation on used property eligible for the investment tax credit in the case of enterprise zone property. Provides a refundable income tax credit for 35 percent of rehabilitation expenditures incurred by organizations organized and operated primarily for purposes of rehabilitating real property located in an enterprise zone. Subtitle C: Special Rules for Enterprise Zone Corporations - Allows an income tax deduction up to a maximum of $25,000 per year for the purchase of stock originally issued by an enterprise zone small business having a net worth of less than $2,000,000. Treats as ordinary income any amount previously taken as a deduction upon the sale or disposition of such stock. Provides tax penalties if such stock is sold within three years. Treats as an ordinary loss any loss incurred on the sale or exchange of enterprise zone industrial development bonds or enterprise zone corporate bonds. Limits such treatment to an aggregate amount of $50,000 per year. Excludes from gross income 50 percent of income earned from stock in or obligations of enterprise zone corporations. Limits such exclusion to an aggregate amount of $100,000 per year. Extends the net operating loss carryover period for enterprise zone corporations from 15 years to the year in which the designation of enterprise zone expires. Subtitle D: Rules Relating to Industrial Development Bonds - Provides that limitations on the cost recovery deductions for property financed with tax-exempt industrial development bonds shall not apply to enterprise zone property. Provides that the termination of the small issue exemption shall not apply to industrial development bonds the proceeds of which are used to finance facilities in such enterprise zones. Subtitle E: Sense of Congress with Respect to Tax Simplification - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Internal Revenue Service should simplify the administration and enforcement of any provision of the Internal Revenue Code affected by this Act. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Revises the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified businesses (as defined in title II of this Act), governments, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations which pertain to the carrying out of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve such a request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in continuation of the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement (including the Davis-Bacon Act and Fair Labor Standards Act) or which would present a danger to the public health and safety. Provides that any waivers or modifications of a rule shall remain in effect as long as the zone designations. Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to promote the coordination of all enterprise zone programs and consolidate all periodic reports required under such programs into one summary report. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Board to consider on a priority basis and expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. States that to the maximum extent practicable foreign-trade zones should be established within enterprise zones.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1984
Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to eliminate reductions in cost of living increases for railroad retirees, and railroad spouse and survivors' annuities, as a result of increases in certain social security benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1984
States that the House of Representatives disapproves the appointment of Anne M. Burford as Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, and urges the President to withdraw her appointment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1984
Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the expressions of anti-Jewish and racist sentiments such as those made by Minister Louis Farrakhan which were broadcast on June 24, 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1984
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1984 - Title I: Public Water Systems - Amends the Safe Drinking Water (the Act) to revise provisions for national primary drinking water regulations. Provides that, effective on the date of enactment of this Act, each national interim primary drinking water regulation promulgated before such date shall be deemed to be a national primary drinking water regulation. Provides that no such regulation shall be required to comply with specified standards under this Act unless such regulation is amended to establish a different maximum contaminant level after the date of enactment of such amendments. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), within specified time periods for certain contaminants, to: (1) simultaneously propose maximum contaminant level goals and national primary drinking water regulations; and (2) after opportunity for public comment, simultaneously publish maximum contaminant level goals and promulgate national water regulations. Directs the Administrator to do so: (1) within 18 months after the enactment date of this Act, for the 14 contaminants listed in the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in a specified issue of the Federal Register; and (2) within 36 months after such enactment date, for each of the contaminats listed in the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in a specified later issue of the Federal Register. Requires the Administrator, if such goals and regulations for a particular contaminant are not to be proposed and published by such deadlines, to make and publish a determination in the Federal Register that such a regulation is not necessary because the levels of such contaminant currently found in public water systems do not represent a threat of a known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons. Directs the Administrator to publish maximum contaminant level goals and simultaneously promulgate national primary drinking water regulations for each substance (other than those contaminants referred to in the previous paragraph) which, in the Administrator's judgment, may have an adverse effect on the health of persons. Requires the Administrator on January 1, 1988, and at annual intervals thereafter, to publish a list establishing priorities for the review of substances which may require regulation under the Act to prevent known or anticipated adverse effects on the health of persons. Requires the Administrator's consideration, in establishing such priorities, to include substances regulated as toxic water pollutants under the Clean Water Act and substances registered as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Directs the Administrator, within three years of each contaminant's being listed on such priority list, to either: (1) simultaneously publish a maximum contaminant level goal and promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation; or (2) make and publish a determination in the Federal Register that such a regulation is not necessary for such contaminant because its levels in public water systems do not represent a threat of a known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons. Requires that each maximum contaminant level goal established under this Act be set at the level which, in the Administrator's judgment, no known or anticipated adverse effects on the health of persons occur and which allows an adequate margin of safety. Requires that each national primary drinking water regulation for a contaminant for which such a goal is established specify a maximum level which is as close to the goal as is feasible. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation that requires the use of a treatment technique in lieu of establishing a maximum contaminant level, upon a finding of overriding economic and technological constraints on monitoring. Requires the Administrator, in such case, to identify those treatment techniques which, in the Administrator's judgment, would prevent known or anticipated adverse effects on the health of persons to the extent feasible. Requires that such regulations specify each treatment technique known to the Administrator which meets such requirements, but authorizes the Administrator to grant a variance from any such specified treatment technique. Requires that the specified regulatory deadlines for certain contaminants be complied with in the promulgation of any such treatment technique use requirement for any such contaminant. Directs the Administrator to propose and promulgate regulations requiring: (1) filtration as a treatment technique for all public water systems supplied by surface raw water sources; and (2) disinfection as a treatment technique for all public water systems. Authorizes the Administrator to grant variances from these requirements. Authorizes the Administrator, after opportunity for public comment, to change maximum contaminant level goals or the list of treatment techniques. Requires the Administrator, simultaneously with such change, to amend the national primary drinking water regulations concerned accordingly. Defines "feasible," for purposes of the establishment of maximum contaminant levels or treatment technique requirements. Directs the Administrator to provide the Science Advisory Board an opportunity to comment prior to proposal of a maximum contaiminant level goal and national primary drinking water regulation. Adds provisions for monitoring unregulated contaminants. Authorizes the Administrator to take into consideration the size of a public water system and the contaminants likely to be found in its drinking water in requiring a system to monitor for unregulated contaminants. Directs the Administrator, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, to promulgate regulations for every public water system to conduct a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants. Provides that such regulations shall: (1) require monitoring of drinking water supplied by the system; and (2) vary the frequency and schedule of monitoring requirements for systems based on the number of persons served and the contaminants likely to be found, but requires each system to monitor surface sources and representative supply wells at least once within five years after the effective date of the Administrator's regulations. Requires such regulations to list the unregulated contaminants which the systems may be required to monitor, but allows each State with primary enforcement authority to add or delete contaminants for individual systems on the basis of approved assessments. Requires each such State to submit to the Administrator an assessment which shall be treated as approved on the date 30 days after its submission, unless disapproved by the Administrator within such 30-day period. Requires that notification of the availability of the results of such monitoring (or of monitoring by a system which is given a waiver) be given to the persons served by the system and the Administrator. Authorizes the Administrator to waive the monitoring requirements for a system which has conducted a monitoring program after January 1, 1983, upon determination that the program has been consistent with regulations promulgated under specified provisions for records and inspections. Provides that any system supplying less than 150 service connections shall be treated as complying with such monitoring requirements if such system supplies appropriate water samples to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to arrange for analysis of such samples. Revises provisions for enforcement of national primary drinking water regulations. Directs the Administrator to notify the public water system involved, as well as the State, in cases of noncompliance with regulations under the Act. Directs the Administrator, if the State has not commenced appropriate enforcement action within 30 days of the notification of noncompliance, or if the State does not have primary enforcement responsibility, to either: (1) issue an order requiring the public water system to comply with the regulation or requirement; or (2) commence a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court to require such compliance. Sets forth provisions for compliance orders by the Administrator. Authorizes the Administrator to issue such orders in any case in which the Administrator is authorized to bring a civil action for compliance with respect to any regulation under the Act. Provides for notice and opportunity for public hearing, and an opportunity to confer with the Administrator for any State with primary enforcement responsibility, before such an order takes effect. Requires that copies of any such order issued to a corporation be issued to appropriate corporate officers. Sets forth civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day for violation of such orders. Authorizes the Administrator to assess such penalties of up to $5,000 per day, but requires that such penalties above $5,000 per day be assessed by the appropriate U.S. district court. Directs the Administrator, within 12 months after the enactment date of this Act, to amend regulations relating to public notification of such violations of regulations to provide for different types and frequencies of notice based on differences between intermittent or infrequent violations and those which are continuous or frequent, and taking into account the seriousness of any potential adverse health effects. Requires that notice for violations designated by the Administrator as continuous or posing a serious potential adverse health effect: (1) be given no less frequently than every three months; and (2) include notice in a newspaper of general circulation serving the area served by the public water system (as determined by the Administrator). Provides that the regulations in effect on the enactment date of this Act shall remain in effect until such amendments are promulgated. Revises provisions for variances. Provides that a variance may only be issued to a public water system after a system's application of the best technology, treatment techniques, or other means, which the Administrator finds are available (taking cost into consideration). Directs the Administrator to propose and promulgate such findings at the time of proposal and promulgation of the maximum contaminant levels involved. Allows such finding to vary depending on the number of persons served by the system or for other physical conditions related to engineering feasibility and costs of compliance. Requires a State to prescribe a schedule for compliance and implementation of any additional control measures at the same time it grants a variance. (Current law gives the State one year to prescribe such schedule after granting a variance.) Revises provisions for exemptions. Requires a State to prescribe a schedule for compliance and implementation of control measures at the same time it grants an exemption. (Current law gives the State one year to prescribe such schedule after granting an exemption.) Requires that such schedules require compliance by the public water system with each contaminant level and treatment technique requirement with respect to which the exemption was granted as expeditiously as practicable but not later than: (1) 12 months after the enactment date of this Act, in the case of exemptions granted with respect to such a level or requirement prescribed by the national primary drinking water regulations promulgated before such enactment date; and (2) 12 months after the issuance date of the exemption, in the case of exemptions from such regulations promulgated after such enactment date. Authorizes States with primary enforcement responsibility, or the Administrator in any other case, of such compliance deadlines for a period not to exceed three years after the issuance date of the exemption, if the public water system establishes that it: (1) cannot meet the standard without capital improvements which cannot be completed within the exemption period; (2) has entered into an agreement to obtain necessary financial assistance for necessary improvements; or (3) has entered into an enforceable agreement to become a part of a regional public water system. Allows one or more additional two-year period renewals of such extensions of exemptions granted under specified provisions in the case of any system which does not serve more than 500 service connections, which needs financial assistance for the necessary improvements, and which establishes that it is taking all practicable steps to meet the standard. Adds new provisions relating to tampering with public water systems. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for such tampering and for attempts or threats to tamper. Adds new technical assistance provisions. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance to small public water systems to enable such systems to achieve and maintain compliance with national drinking water regulations. Permits such assistance to include "circuit-rider" programs, training, and preliminary engineering studies. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989 for such technical assistance. Title II: Protection of Underground Sources of Drinking Water - Revises provisions for protection of underground sources of drinking water. Adds new provisions for restrictions on underground injection of hazardous waste. Prohibits disposal of any hazardous waste by underground injection above or into a formation which contains (within one-quarter mile of the injection well bore) a drinking water source. Authorizes the Administrator to allow injection of contaminated ground water into the aquifer from which it was withdrawn, upon determination (pursuant to specified approved procedures) that such injection is an appropriate and environmentally acceptable aspect of a cleanup, removal, or remedial action for the contaminated aquifer. Adds new provisions relating to the regulation of State programs. Directs the Administrator, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, to revise regulations issued under the Act to require monitoring of underground injection wells so as to provide the earliest possible detection of fluid migration into or towards an underground source of drinking water. Directs the Administrator, in cooperation with the States, to compile an inventory of all wells in the United States which inject hazardous wastes. Requires that such inventory be made available to the public within nine months after the enactment of this Act. Requires that the inventory include such information as the Administrator deems necessary to define the scope and nature of hazardous waste disposal in the United States through underground injection. Revises provisions for enforcement of State underground injection control programs. Directs the Administrator, if the State has not commenced appropriate enforcement action within 30 days of the notification of a violation by any person subject to a requirement of an applicable underground injection control program, or if the State does not have primary enforcement responsibility, to either: (1) issue an order requiring the person to comply with such requirement; or (2) commence a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court to require such compliance. Declares that such court has the jurisdiction to require such compliance with any requirement of an applicable underground injection program. Raises from $5,000 to $25,000 the amount of the civil penalty which may be imposed by such court for each day of such a violation. Shortens to 30 days (currently 60 days) the period after notification which must expire before imposition of such civil penalty may begin. Sets forth provisions for compliance orders by the Administrator. Authorizes the Administrator to also issue such orders in any case in which the Administrator is authorized to bring a civil action for compliance with respect to any requirement of an applicable underground injection program. Provides for notice and opportunity for public hearing, and an opportunity to confer with the Administrator for any State with primary enforcement responsibility, before such an order takes effect. Requires that copies of any such order issued to a corporation be issued to appropriate corporate officers. Sets forth civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day of violation of such orders. Authorizes the Administrator to assess such penalties of up to $5,000 per day of violation, but requires that such penalties above $5,000 per day be assessed by the appropriate U.S. district court. Adds new provisions for State plans to protect underground sources of drinking water. Requires each State, after notice and opportunity for public hearing and within 30 months after the enactment of this Act, to adopt and submit to the Administrator a State plan to protect underground sources of drinking water from contamination that may adversely affect the health of persons. Sets forth requirements for such plans. Sets forth procedures for approval of such plans. Prohibits any State from exercising primary enforcement responsibility for a State underground injection control program if that State has not complied with specified requirements for approval or if any portion of the plan has not been approved or treated as approved by the Administrator before the expiration of specified periods. Requires, in States where oil or natural gas exploration occurs, that such State plan, consistent with underground injection requirements, protect underground sources of drinking water from brine contamination which may adversely affect public health and which is associated with the recovery of oil or natural gas. Allows any State to provide special protections under such plan for any areas designated under specified provisions for interim regulation of underground injections. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to such States to implement such special protections. Directs the Administrator, within 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, to establish criteria for areas to be so designated and eligible for such special protections. Requires such criteria to include aquifer use , vulnerability, water quality, and unavailability of alternative supplies of drinking water. Requires that such area designations made before the enactment of this Act be reviewed and reevaluated in accordance with such criteria. Title III: General Provisions - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989 for the following programs under the Act: (1) research, technical assistance, information, and personnel training; (2) grants for State programs for supervision of public water systems; and (3) grants for State programs for underground water source protection. Provides that any need certifications or orders issued under provisions for assurances of availability of adequate supplies of water treatment chemicals shall remain in effect for up to one year. Directs the Administrator, upon the application of any State, to make grants to the State for 50 percent of the costs incurred by such State (as determined by the Administrator) in developing and implementing a State plan to protect underground sources of drinking water. Authorizes appropriations for such purpose for FY 1986 through 1989. Reserves ten percent of such funds for grants to States for implementation of special protections for designated areas. Repeals specified provisions for grants to public water systems which are required under State law to meet drinking water turbidity standards more stringent than those in effect under the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1984
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on the collection of information by the Department of Health and Human Services in order to determine what information is being collected from the same class of individuals more than once. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on such study by a specified date. Requires that such report include detailed recommendations for collecting information more efficiently and reducing information collection that is duplicative.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1984
Establishes the National Commission on Federal Budget Deficit Reductions to review all relevant elements of fiscal and monetary policy. Requires particular emphasis to be given to the causes of cyclical and structural Federal budget deficits and the impact which growing structural Federal deficits have on employment, capital formation, and the vigor and viability of economic growth in the United States. Requires the Commission to: (1) identify problems which may hinder the control and reduction of Federal budget deficits; and (2) analyze all potential options which would result in deficit reductions and place the Government on a sound financial basis. Requires the Commission to report to the President and Congress by January 15, 1985, detailed findings, conclusions, and recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions as it considers appropriate. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of such report.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1984
American Footwear Act of 1984 - Limits the imports of nonrubber footwear to 400,000,000 pairs per year. Directs the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) to allocate the import limitations among foreign countries, taking into consideration: (1) average levels of imports for the period 1978 through 1982; (2) findings of unfair trade practices with respect to nonrubber footwear products; and (3) recent market trends. Requires the Secretary to publish annually in the Federal Register the permissible level of imports by country, groups of countries, or area. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to take all necessary actions to enforce this Act. Authorizes the Secretaries to issue such implementing regulations as necessary to effect the purposes of this Act and to enforce its provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 31 May 1984
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to apply a uniform duty rate on imported bicycles and bicycle parts, tires, and tubes. Provides that such duty rate shall not apply to the existing suspension of duty on other specified bicycle parts.
United States · United States Congress · 31 May 1984
Expresses the sense of Congress that television and radio networks and stations broadcasting coverage of the XXIII Olympiad should include public service announcements or other informational programming warning young people of the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1984
Secondary School Basic Skills Act - Establishes a program of grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) having especially high concentrations of children from low-income families to enable such agencies to provide more effective instruction in basic skills for economically disadvantaged secondary school students. Defines "basic skills" to include reading, writing, and mathematics computational proficiency as well as comprehension and reasoning. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1990. Makes certain amounts of such appropriations available for specified activities and types of grants under this Act. Makes a secondary school eligible to receive assistance under this Act for program grants only if 20 percent or more of children aged 14 to 17, inclusive, who are enrolled in such school are counted under LEA basic grant provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as modified by the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA). Requires that funds made available under this Act for program grants be used to develop new approaches to, and carry out, educational services and activities designed specifically to raise the basic skills of low achieving disadvantaged children. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, through the National Institute of Education (NIE) and from specified funds appropriated for program grants for FY 1985 through 1990, to make grants to LEAs, institutions of higher education, and other public agencies and nonprofit private organizations. Provides that such grants shall be made to such entities on behalf of and for the purpose of assisting eligible secondary schools to develop, implement, and carryout new approaches to achieving improved basic skills instruction of low- achieving economically disadvantaged secondary school students. Sets forth application requirements. Requires that the application be made on behalf of the eligible school by: (1) the LEA; or (2) an institution of higher education, public agency, or private nonprofit organization if such entity will provide educational services or conduct educational activities subject to the proposal. Requires applicants to assure their participation in a national evaluation. Requires that administrators and teachers in the eligible school participate in the preparation of the proposal. Requires that the appropriate State educational agency (SEA) review and comment on the application before submittal to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to assure that: (1) eligible applicants represent various geographic regions of the country, including both rural and urban secondary schools within those various geographic regions; and (2) at least one demonstration grant is made in each State in each fiscal year, unless no applications are received from a State. Requires each LEA which desires to receive program grants under this Act to file with the Secretary an application containing specified assurances. Provides that each LEA and each institution of higher education, public agency, and private nonprofit organization applying on behalf of an eligible secondary school may receive payments for any fiscal year in which it files an application with the SEA. Sets forth requirements for such applications. Requires consultation with parents and teachers of low-achieving economically disadvantaged secondary school students in program design and implementation. Establishes a National Secondary School Basic Skills Panel in NIE to: (1) identify successful model programs; and (2) advise the Secretary with respect to specified aspects of program grant applications and proposals. Directs the Secretary, through NIE, to annually conduct a national evaluation of the effectiveness and the implementation of program grants. Requires that such assessment results be submitted to Congress and disseminated to SEAs, LEAs, State legislatures, and Governors. Directs the Secretary, through NIE, to monitor grants and coordinate activities under this Act with other research activities conducted by NIE and through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Authorizes NIE, once program grants are awarded, to provide eligible recipients with technical assistance. Prohibits the Secretary from disapproving an LEA application without affording notice and opportunity for a hearing. Directs the Secretary to make payments as expeditiously as possible after approval of applications. Prohibits any grant from being made with respect to any eligible secondary school for more than two fiscal years unless there is: (1) an improved performance of the targeted secondary school students at the school on a State approved basic skills test; or (2) a decrease in the dropout rate at the school. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations relating to such prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1984
Veterans' Compensation Amendments for Fiscal Year 1985 - Title I: Disability Compensation and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation - Part A: Rate Increases - Increases the rates of: (1) veterans' disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for dependents; (3) the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans; and (4) dependency and indemnity compensation. Part B: Compensation Program Amendments - Includes lupus erythematosus systemic among the chronic diseases considered to be service-connected for purposes of veterans' benefits if it manifests itself to a degree of ten percent or more within one year of separation from service. Decreases from 50 to 30 percent the percentage of disability required to make a peacetime service-connected disabled veteran eligible to receive additional compensation for dependents. Title II: Other Veterans' Program Improvements - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to establish the Advisory Committee on Veterans Exposed to Ionizing Radiation to advise the Administrator on benefits provided, compensation needs of veterans, dependents, and survivors, and disabilities or disorders stemming from a veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation during active military service. Requires the Committee to report to the Administrator by July 1, 1985, and biannually thereafter on activities of the Veterans Administration and recommendations for changes pertaining to veterans exposed to such radiation. Directs the Administrator to submit such report to Congress. Requires a permanently and totally disabled from a non-service-connected disability veteran under age 50 who applies for and receives a military pension to undergo a vocational evaluation. Allows any veteran who the Administrator of Veterans Affairs determines can achieve a vocational goal to undertake such training. Limits such training to 48 months. Suspends pension payment to any veteran failing to participate as required by the Administrator. Continues the drugs and medicine entitlement of housebound or regularly attended veterans who participate in vocational training without regard to income limitations. Increases the maximum amount of insurance available under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance program. Increases the amount of automobile and adaptive equipment assistance the Administrator of Veterans Affairs may provide to an eligible person.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1984
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Reagan administration and succeeding administrations: (1) stress to China the importance the American people attach to religious freedom; and (2) urge the Chinese Government to release from prison five Roman Catholic priests and persons of various faiths who are being held because of religious activities.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1984
Veterans' Health Care and Facilities Improvement Act of 1984 - Revises the requirements concerning the special policemen who protect Veterans Administration (VA) property. Increases the maximum fines for violations of regulations governing such property. Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to appoint a chief inspector to supervise VA police officers. Sets forth requirements concerning police uniform design and cost reimbursement. Directs the Administrator to report to the Veterans' Affairs Committees within 90 days on the implementation of these provisions and the number and salary of officers proposed to be assigned to such facilities. Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to furnish medical treatment to veterans of the Vietnam era who served in Southeast Asia and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Limits treatment of such disorder to specified VA medical facilities. Directs the Administrator to compile and publish research results concerning the causes and treatment of such disorder. Terminates such assistance after FY 1988. Modifies the due date of the Comptroller General's report on the compliance of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget with certain statutory requirements relating to funded personnel ceilings for the VA's Department of Medicine and Surgery. Directs the Administrator to make an annual rather than a triennial report to Congress on the adequacy of per diem rates for payments made to States providing domiciliary, nursing home, and hospital care to veterans. Makes the first report due June 30, 1985 (currently, due June 30, 1986). Extends from FY 1984 to FY 1985 the authority of the Administrator to contract for hospital care or medical services in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands without reference to patient loads or incidence of provision of medical services for veterans treated by the Veterans Administration in the contiguous 48 States. Expands the amount of authorizations available for the research and education activities of Veterans Administration geriatric centers. Authorizes the Administrator to provide States with funds for the acquisition as well as the construction of State home facilities for veterans. Entitles veterans receiving service-connected disability compensation who are housebound or in need of regular aid to VA furnished drugs and medicines.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1984
Increases the adapted housing benefit ceiling for veterans with specified permanent and total service-connected disabilities. Increases the maximum home loan guaranty available to eligible veterans generally and for the purchase of a manufactured home. Amends the national cemeteries and memorials provisions of Federal law to require that each grave marker in a national cemetery be upright.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1984
Sex Discrimination in the United States Code Reform Act of 1983 - Title I: Armed Forces, Soldiers' Home, Coast Guard, Lighthouse Service, and Merchant Marine - Amends Federal laws dealing with the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard to eliminate gender-based distinctions. Title II: Elimination of Gender-Based Distinctions Under the Social Security Act and the Railroad Retirement Act - Eliminates gender-based distinctions in the social security and railroad retirement programs. Title III: Amendments to United States Code - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Walsh-Healey Act, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the Federal criminal code and other Acts (dealing with Indian affairs, transportation, public lands, Saint Elizabeth's Hospital, contract law, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, longshoremen and harbor workers, conservation programs, internee benefits, and the spouses of former presidents, among other subjects) to eliminate gender-based distinctions. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date for the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1984
Title I: 15 Percent Increase in Rates - Increases veterans' educational assistance, including assistance for survivors and dependents, by 15 percent. Revises the formula for the reimbursement of administrative expenses to State and local agencies who monitor educational institutions attended by GI bill veterans to increase such allowance. Increases the subsistence allowance rate under the vocational rehabilitation program. Title II: Veterans' Employment in Civil Service - Extends veterans' readjustment appointments in the Federal Government up to and including the GS-11 level (currently fixed at GS-7). Grants a Vietnam veteran so appointed and terminated within the year to the same right of appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board as is held by a career or career-conditional employee during the first year of employment. Extends such appointments through FY 1987 (currently through FY 1984). Requires the Office of Personnel Management's annual report to Congress on veterans' readjustment appointments to breakdown by agency the number and grade of appointments, the number converted to career or career-conditional appointments, and the number and categories of causes of termination. Requires such report to breakdown such information for all veterans, with a separate breakdown veterans of the Vietnam era who are disabled.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1984
Authorizes the President to: (1) enter into a trade agreement with Israel providing for the continuance of existing duty-free treatment of and the elimination of existing duties and other import restrictions on products of Israel; and (2) proclaim such continuances and modifications of tariff treatment of and import restrictions on such articles as necessary to carry out the trade agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1984
SSI Equitable Improvements and Reform Amendments of 1984 - Title I: Treatment of Income - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to exclude from income unearned income received in the form of real or personal property: (1) if it meets the existing criteria for exclusion from resources; (2) which is of a type not normally converted into cash or otherwise used for the production of income, which is not so converted or used, and which cannot be used for food or clothing; or (3) which is received as a gift or heirloom possessing emotional or sentimental value and which is not converted into cash or otherwise used for the production of income. Makes permanent SSI and AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children, part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) provisions which exempt in-kind home energy assistance provided by a private nonprofit organization. Provides for the exclusion of certain interest and dividend income. Provides that any temporary one-time income which is received by an individual in the individual's initial month of SSI eligibility shall be taken into account only for that month. Excludes from income amounts received by holocaust survivors as reparations from foreign countries. Title II: Treatment of Resources - Provides that to the extent that an overpayment results because a recipient's resources exceed the applicable limit, such overpayment shall be determined to be the lesser of: (1) the amount of benefits received or for which the recipient would have been eligible but for such resources; or (2) the amount by which the value of the resources exceeded the applicable resource limit. Modifies penalties where assets are transferred at less than fair market value. Provides that if assets are so transferred, the period of ineligibility shall bear a reasonable relationship to the uncompensated value of such resource. Permits a waiver of the penalty if: (1) the individual is in a hospital, nursing home, or other medical institution and cannot reasonably be expected to be discharged; (2) title was transferred to the individual's spouse or to the individual's child who is under age 21 or is blind or disabled; (3) the individual intended to dispose of the resource either at fair market value or for other valuable consideration; or (4) the inclusion of the resource in the individual's resources would work an undue hardship. Provides that in any event, if a State waives a similar penalty under Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) for such individual, the SSI penalty shall also be waived. Excludes from resources, for 12 months from the date of receipt, SSI or OASDI (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, title II of the Social Security Act) underpayment amounts received in the form of a retroactive check. Increases the SSI resources limit for single individuals from $1,500 to $2,000, and for married couples from $2,250 to $3,000. Excludes from the SSI resources limit an automobile, household goods, and personal effects. (Current law also exempts such items, but only to the extent determined reasonable by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.) Title III: Determination of Benefit Amounts - Revises SSI provisions providing for a one-third reduction in benefits for an SSI recipient who lives in another person's household and who receives support and maintenance in kind from such person. Provides that an individual shall not be considered to be "living in another person's household and receiving support and maintenance in kind from such person" if such individual lives in a household with another person and such individual's pro rata share of the expenses of maintaining such household does not exceed the benefit payable to an individual with no other income who is living in another person's household and receiving support and maintenance from such person. Provides for the continuation of regular SSI benefits until the end of the second consecutive month of institutionalization if an eligible individual is institutionalized. Increases the benefits standard payable annually to: (1) an institutionalized individual from $300 to $420; and (2) an institutionalized couple from $600 to $840. Title IV: Provisions Relating to Eligibility - Provides that a disabled child who is living outside the United States with his or her parents shall maintain SSI eligibility so long as the parents retain legal residence in the United States. Provides for the payment of benefits due a deceased SSI recipient to certain individuals who contributed to the support of the deceased. (Current law provides for the payment of benefits following a beneficiary's death only to the surviving spouse.) Provides for an exemption from the requirement that an SSI applicant or recipient must file for OASDI or other pension benefits if receipt of such benefits would cause the applicant or recipient to be ineligible for SSI or Medicaid. Reduces from six months to one month the length of time that an SSI individual and spouse must live separately before they will be treated as separate individuals for SSI purposes. Title V: Overpayments, Underpayments, and Benefit Reductions - Provides that, in situations where there has not been fraud in connection with an SSI overpayment, overpayments shall be recovered through adjustments in future benefits which do not reduce any benefit payment by more than the greater of ten percent or ten dollars. Expands the SSI interim assistance program to include payment of retroactive SSI funds to a State for assistance provided during any period following the termination of an individual's SSI benefits, if and to the extent that: (1) the individual is subsequently found on reconsideration of the termination to have been eligible for such benefits; and (2) a retroactive payment of benefits for months in that period is due the individual. Repeals the penalty imposed against an SSI recipient because the group living facility in which the recipient lives fails to meet applicable standards. Increases from $100 to an amount equal to monthly SSI benefits for three months the emergency cash advances available to a presumptively eligible individual. Provides that: (1) if at any time both an overpayment and an underpayment exist in the case of an individual without a final adjustment or recovery having yet been made with respect to either of them, no such adjustment shall be made with respect to the underpayment until the individual has had a reasonable opportunity to seek a waiver of the overpayment; and (2) the existence of the underpayment shall not preclude the granting of such a waiver of the overpayment or otherwise affect the disposition thereof. Prohibits the Secretary from taking any action to recover an SSI overpayment until the Secretary has sent the SSI recipient who has been overpaid a notice containing, in clear and understandable language, certain information, including a statement of the individual's right to seek a waiver of the overpayment and to seek a reconsideration of the determination that an overpayment exists. Title VI: Extension of SSI Program - Includes the Virgin Islands and Guam within the SSI program. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the feasibility of extending the SSI program to Puerto Rico and to report the results to Congress. Title VII: Other Amendments - Directs the Secretary to conduct a statistically reliable survey of current and potential recipients of SSI benefits, with the objective of determining the extent to which the program is being used by individuals who are or may be eligible for SSI benefits and the extent to which current data (on the number of such individuals and their reasons for filing or not filing SSI applications) are accurate, and to report the results of such survey to Congress together with any recommendations. Directs the Secretary to establish and conduct an ongoing program designed to provide information about SSI benefits (and State supplementary benefits) to individuals who are not currently receiving such benefits. Directs the Secretary to assist applicants and recipients in executing and filing applications for SSI benefits and in furnishing any other information which may be required, with particular attention to cases where such applicants and recipients because of their physical or mental condition are incapable without undue difficulty of executing or filing such applications or furnishing such information. Directs the Secretary to take certain steps to assure that all information and forms for SSI applicants and recipients are clear and readily understandable. Sets forth the effective date.